Lathrop cracks the silence
By Laura Stickells | December 21, 2019
For three minutes and 25 seconds thuds from a basketball, tennis shoes squeaking on hardwood and calls from the Lathrop and Eielson boys basketball teams were the only sounds filling the Lathrop High School gymnasium on Friday night.
Occasionally spectators would shush a fan who let out a rogue cheer, having forgotten the tradition of the Silent Night Game - Lathrop’s first home game of the year where the crowd is asked to stay quiet until either team reaches 10 points.
The brief period of silence pays tribute to the late Joseph Tremarello, a key figure in Lathrop’s basketball history for more than five decades as well as a pillar in the entire Fairbanks basketball community.
When a team reaches 10, fans go wild.
This year, Lathrop junior Ben Kraska broke the silence after he pulled down an offensive rebound and made a shot from the low post to put the Malemutes ahead 10-3 on their way to a 70-52 victory.
“I was just going for the rebound and next thing you know it was it my hands and I just put it back up and the crowd was going crazy,” Kraska said about the moment, which has now become a family tradition.
Kraska’s sister, Olivia, now in her first year as a forward for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, scored the 10th point in a Silent Night Game when she was a Malemute.
Friday’s win was also the Malemutes’ first Silent Night Game victory in four years. Lathrop lost the season opener to Monroe in 2016, Delta in 2017 and Hutchison in 2018.
“We kind of like to share the love but we don’t like to share the love too much,” Malemute head coach Matt Wilken said after the game.
“It’s good to win though and get to that ten points first, that's for sure.”
In addition to the obvious bonus of holding an early lead, other positives come with cracking the silence.
For Wilken, when the crowd is silent he joked that he has to watch his language.
For Kraska, the silence can feel uncomfortable. “Going up to free throw and it’s silent and everyone is quiet, it’s really hard to focus,” he said.
The silence also appeared uncomfortable for the Ravens, potentially contributing to their slow start. Their offense lit up when the crowd did and they pulled within 16-14 early in the second quarter.
Despite the quick Malemute start and final score, the Ravens played well through the middle stretch of the game and closed within ten points multiple times.
Eielson senior Christian Bolton led the Ravens with 17 points, followed by sophomore Brandon Poleky with 11.
Both players also contributed to several key turnovers, which kept the Ravens in striking distance the majority of the game.
“With their intensity that they had, we had to be able to match it and we weren’t able to match it until later on in the game,” Ravens head coach Joe Ross said after the game.
“We have to be able to have that intensity and that fire as soon as we step on the floor.”
Senior Jhon Rones led the Malemutes with 19 points. Sophomore Tyriq Luke was next best with 17 and Kraska tallied 12.
“I thought it was one of the better first games I’ve ever been a part of especially considering that seven out of 12 on our roster are underclassmen,” Wilken said about his team, which features three seniors and two juniors.
Eielson senior Christian Bolton led the Ravens with 17 points, followed by sophomore Brandon Poleky with 11.
While the game was good practice for both teams, because it was an endowment game, the result will not count towards either teams’ record and proceeds from the game are donated to the Alaska School Activities Association.