Alaska Sports Blog

Playing without leading scorer Juan Carlos Navarro, Spanish power Barcelona turned to another veteran for points production.

North Pole’s Brad Oleson.

The 30-year-old Alaskan pumped in a career-high 26 points in a 90-89 victory over Lagun Aro that assured Barca will finish no worse than third in the league.

Olson, of UAF fame, connected on 12-of-14 field goals, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers. He also sank 5-of-7 free throws.

His previous career high in the Spanish League was 24 points, set almost exactly a year ago, April 22, 2012, when he played for Caja Laboral. On that night he hit 6-of-9 3s.

He has averaged 9.9 points on 56 percent shooting in 14 games since getting traded to Barca earlier this season.

He nearly retired from the game. Tonight Corey Madden of Anchorage retired batters in an independent league in Texas.

The 28-year-old reliever with the Amarillo Sox made his debut in the American Association, getting the final two outs in the eighth inning in a 9-5 win over El Paso.

It was the 207th professional game for Madden, of East High fame.

He walked the first guy on a 3-2 count.

“It was a strike,” he told me.

He struck out the next batter before getting the next guy to pop up.

He threw 88 to 92 mph.

“I’ll get up to 94 within the end of the month,” he said.

Soldotna’s Joey Newby is expected to start Friday for Amarillo. Last season, Sitka’s Matt Way pitched in this league.

WNBA veteran Jessica Moore of Palmer today signed a free-agent deal with the Washington Mystics, her sixth team in what will be her ninth season in the league.

The 6-foot-3 center has played in 221 career WNBA games, the most of any player from Alaska. She has scored a total of 644 points and grabbed a total of 449 rebounds.

Moore, of Colony High fame, played for Atlanta and Connecticut last season. In Washington, she will reunite with former Connecticut Sun coach Mike Thibault.

Moore was the 24th overall draft pick in 2005 by the Charlotte Sting. She has since carved out the more professional career of any player from Alaska.

Her best season came in 2009 with the Indiana Fever when she averaged career highs in points [4.8], rebounds [3.1], minutes [19.8], FG% [.471] in helping the Fever advance to the WNBA Finals.

Known more of a defensive specialist, her career averages are 2.9 points and 2.1 rebounds per game.

After two seasons in the NWAACC, Colby Mitchell of Chugiak is headed to the GNAC, where he will play for a Western Washington team that has established itself as the best NCAA D2 team on the West Coast.

The 6-foot-7, 220-pound forward has signed his letter of intent and will have two seasons of eligibility.

Mitchell, of Chugiak High fame, played his first two seasons of college basketball for Mount Hood CC in Oregon. Last year he was team captain.

“He brings a lot of toughness and athleticism to our program,” head coach Tony Dominguez told the school’s website. “He also has some intangibles that we feel our team was needing moving forward.”

As a sophomore he led the team in points [13.6] and rebounds [7.3] per game. He shot 51 percent from the field.

Western Washington, the 2012 national champion, graduated six of its top eight players from a 31-3 team that reached the final four.

Mitchell is a veteran of the Spring Alaska Exposure Senior Trip, which tours NWAACC schools with travel coach Jim Young of Anchorage.

Arizona State senior Jordan Clarke of Anchorage etched his name in another record book, becoming the first Sun Devil in nearly two decades to win three conference shot put titles.

The defending NCAA champion won this year’s Pac-12 Conference championship in Los Angeles with a throw of 63 feet, 6 inches.

He is also just the fourth athlete in Pac-12 history to win the shot put three times.

It was the 33rd victory of his storied college career.

Clarke, of Bartlett High fame, also competed in the hammer throw and discus.

The 6-foot-4 All-American was fifth in the hammer throw at 204-11 and did not qualify for finals in the discus.

Wasilla’s Morgan Dampier has always had a flare for big races and the Big Sky Championships were no different.

The fab freshman for Sacramento State won the women’s 800 meters with an outdoor PR of 2:09.94 in Forest Grove, Ore.

It was only a year ago this weekend that she won the 800 as a high school senior at the Region III Championships.

Dampier was one of six individual conference champs to help Sacramento State claim its six consecutive Big Sky title.

For the second time in as many starts, Dylan Baker of Juneau didn’t allow an earned run.

Last time bad luck spoiled his quality start.

This time he took care of matters himself.

Baker threw a one-hitter over six innings for the Class A Lake County Captains in a 6-1 victory over Bowling Green, earning his first professional win in 14 career starts.

The 20-year-old right-hander struck out four and extended his scoreless streak to 13.1 innings.

He hasn’t allowed an earned run since April 27.

Baker [1-2] lowered his ERA to 3.09 in 32 innings over six games. He has 30 strikeouts vs. six walks.

Anchorage’s Emma Lewis helped Bowdoin College beat Endicott and advance to the Regional Final of the NCAA D3 Championships.

Lewis, of South High fame, won her doubles match 8-3 as part of fifth-ranked Bowdoin’s 5-0 sweep of Endicott in Maine.

The Polar Bears will take on Middlebury Sunday for a chance to move on.

A lot of goalkeepers in soccer were probably pushed into the position because they were the slowest, weakest, worst players on the field.

Not Katelyn Houston, though.

The 18-year-old from Anchorage was drawn to the position when she was just 8 because she was fearless.

“I have older brothers and we always messed around, and I wasn’t scared to run out to the ball and everything,” she told me. “I liked it right away.”

Houston, of Grace Christian fame, turned her passion into the opportunity of a lifetime as she will sign her letter of intent next week to play for the University of South Carolina.

It’s always been her dream to play for a NCAA D1 team.

“Honestly, as long as I can remember all I’ve wanted to do when I was older was to play soccer and I’ve always wanted to shoot for the highest level,” she said.

She picked South Carolina over Charleston Southern and Wingate University.

She toured a bunch of colleges in the South with her father, David, and met with the coaches at South Carolina. They invited her back for a camp and she did enough to secure a spot on the Gamecocks.

“Just making it to South Carolina is just perfect for me,” she said. “As soon as I stepped foot on campus I knew I was going there. It’s amazing.”

Her coaches at Grace Christian call her the ‘Dream Crusher’ because of her ability to steal goals with big saves.

“In my opinion it’s the highest pressure position on the field,” Houston said. “I like the mental stress that it brings; that’s a big part of the game. It’s a great learning process, learning how to stay calm, learning how to lead my teammates. It’s very talkative; I’m very good at that.”

With her college decision already made, she can relax and enjoy being a senior.

“I can just go out there and have fun,” she said.

He was in this situation two years ago with Israeli power Maccabi Tel Aviv, two victories from hoisting the Euroleague trophy. He was so close he could taste it.

Then disaster struck in the semifinals when he tore the ACL in his knee. His team won to reach the finals but lost in the championship game.

Doron Perkins of Anchorage was beaten, but not broken.

He never lost sight of returning to the final four and now he’s back with defending Euroleague champion Olympiacos of Greece. They will face CSKA Moscow in Friday’s first semifinal game.

Perkins, of Bartlett High fame, is a reserve guard for Olympiacos, having played in only five games since the team lured him away from China.

In China, Perkins was a starter. In Greece, he comes off the bench.

But he’s two wins from winning the title that has eluded him in his four seasons in the Euroleague, the world’s second-best league next to the NBA.

The 6-foot-3 combo guard has averaged double figures in each of his seven pro seasons overseas – even this year when he averaged 10.9 points in Urkaine and 14.4 points in China.

In 41 career Euroleague games, Perkins has averaged 9.4 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals.

His game career highs are 20 points, 9 rebounds, 9 assists and 7 steals.