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The top-ranked Kendrick girls basketball team isn’t shy about traveling to find opponents, even if it means venturing into the hinterlands of Alaska.

Kendrick coach Ron Ireland had taken his team to Florida for a tournament two years ago in order to find some competition when Covid restrictions limited what basketball programs in neighboring states could do. But this season, with Kendrick already having a relationship with Chugiak High School in Alaska that dated back fifteen years ago when Kendrick and Chugiak hosted each other for a series of games, Ireland suggested reconnecting with Chugiak and seeing what they could put together.

And it worked.

In December, Ireland took his team to Sitka, Alaska for a trio of games.

“As a coach at a lower classification school, your dream is to see some of the girls go on to the next level,” Ireland said. “And I want to do anything I can to push them to get to the next level. So, what a cool opportunity to get the team out traveling and handle it like colleges do and give them a taste of what it could be like. It’s fun for them to get the opportunity to do something different.”

In a town with less than 400 residents, it’s definitely not an opportunity that’s as easily accessible compared to student athletes living in larger population areas with travel basketball programs.

And while the games weren’t as competitive as Ireland would’ve hoped—the Tigers won its games by an average of 39 points, including a 45-2 victory over Petersburg—the girls made the most of it, including participating in some shooting competitions. And they excelled in those too.

“It was super fun,” senior Harley Heimgartner said. “We had a hot shot competition—a 3-point shootout, free throw and shot blocking competition, which was great. The coaches held a putting competition too. We won all of those except for the shot blocking one. The Alaskan teams had some really physical girls.”

But experienced proved to be a valuable one when it came to connecting as a team.

“It was very good team bonding because we were together all of the time,” senior point guard Hailey Taylor said. “We ate together and shopped together and did everything together. And that’s not something we get to do during the regular season.”

Ireland also fostered that by renting out a home instead of parceling the girls out into a hotel. He also played chef.

“Because we stayed in a big house, I cooked breakfast for the girls in the morning and got to watch them bond. They don’t hang out like that at school, and it was pretty cool to watch.”

The players also found that element of the trip to be one of their favorites.

“My favorite part was staying in the house with all my teammates,” said Heimgartner. “We had a fun time. It was like a big sleepover.”

The team was also able to get out and visit some of the local attractions for an educational experience as well, including a trip to a raptor rehabilitation center.

However, the overall experience is something Taylor hopes will serve them well as they attempt to reach the 1AD2 State Tournament for the sixth consecutive season.

“I feel like it helped us connect,” she said. “Everything is finally starting to click and fall into place for us and we talk on defense more often and we’re doing things we never did before and working together a lot better.”