The Wrangell Wolves boys basketball team earned their first two wins of the season against the Craig Panthers after starting with an 0-7 record, moving them up to fourth in their conference.

The night prior, they played a non-conference game against the Klawock Chieftains, also on the road, and lost 49-57.

Despite Klawock being in a different conference and a lower division than the Wolves, the teams thought it would provide good experience to fit another game into their schedules. The Chieftains had a 9-2 record going into the game on Thursday, Jan. 29. Klawock placed third out of eight teams in their division at the Southeast regional tournament last year.

The first half started a bit rocky for the Wolves, who were missing three of their top players in addition to playing against an unfamiliar team, and they were down 20-35 at the half.

In the second half, things sharpened up with better passes, more rebounding and a couple good drives to the paint, but Wrangell lost by a final score of 49-57.

Top scorers for the game were Aadyn Gillen with 18 points, Jackson Powers with 14 and Kai Wigg with 11. Rounding out the Wolves’ scoring were four points from Ben Houser and two from Lucas Stearns.

On Friday, Jan. 30, the Wolves played neck and neck versus Craig, and it was clear the Wolves came a bit more prepared for this matchup with their full-court press and aggressive rebounding.

The score was 23-26 at halftime, with Wrangell down by three. Leading the pack was Powers with 11 points, but Gillen, the previous night's top scorer, had yet to make a basket.

The Panthers were hunting for their first victory of the season, and it looked like they were going to get it when they were still up 38-31 going into the final quarter.

That was until Gillen got back into his groove and scored nine points for the Wolves in the last four minutes of the game. Additionally, Craig had committed so many fouls that Wrangell was sent to the free throw line seven times after being in the bonus for the final three minutes.

The Wrangell Wolves earned their first victory of the season with a final score of 56-47 on Friday.

Saturday night, Jan. 31, was looking even better for Wrangell, with their full-court press, lots of good rebounds, a couple of blocks and a 15-point lead for the Wolves by halftime.

Heading into the second half, the Panthers retaliated with their own full-court press, but once that fire was lit for Wrangell it couldn’t be put out. The boys won with a comfortable victory of 70-37. They were even able to put in some of their younger players like Jacoby Hunt and Turner Garrett to earn some experience in playing at the varsity level.

The next matchup for the Wolves will be against the Haines Glacier Bears on Friday and Saturday, Feb. 6-7, in Haines. The Wrangell boys have already faced Haines at home, losing both games.