The 35th Annual Elks Basketball Tournament in Valdez brought glory to the Buccaneers and a huge number of teams to Valdez.

The Lady Buccaneers took first place in the tournament, beating out the visiting Hutchison Hawks 46-43. Earlier in the three-day tourney, the Lady Bucs beat out the visiting Lady Warriors from Bethel, 57-35 and the Kotzebue Huskies 41-35.

The Buccaneers Boys Basketball Team took second place after battling for the top spot in the final game against the Barrow Whalers. The Bucs would outscore Barrow 15-10 in the final frame but it wasn’t enough, as the Whalers claimed their fourth straight Elks title, 51-33.

The Bucs were on a winning streak in the lead-up to the championship game. The team beat out Kotzebue 58-34 in its first game of the tourney and 50-46 against Bethel.

Awards for Girls Division: Elks Tournament MVP: Alex Derifield, Valdez. All Tournament Team: Barrow-Lynette Hepa and Hilary Lowery, Bethel-Kira Polk, Cordova-Misa Webber, Hutchison-Mimi Wood and Echo Winfrey, Kotzebue-Dessirea Kenworthy, Seward-Meg Berry and Chelsey Clark, and Valdez-Caitlin Auble. Three-Point Shooter Award: Coleen Snyder, Kotzebue

Sportsmanship Team Award: Seward. Truck Egan Award: Sara Goudreau.

Awards for Boys Division: Elks Tournament MVP: Colin Long, Barrow. All Tournament Team: Barrow-Eddie Benson, Bethel-Carlie Romer and Theodore Naneng, Cordova-Keith Nolan and William Roemhildt, Hutchison-Mark Rima, Nikiski-Colton Anderson, Seward-Jalen Terry, and Valdez-Max Duffy and Glacier Rohrer. Three-point Shooter Award: Mark Rima, Hutchison, and Colton Anderson, Nikiski.

Sportsmanship Award: Cordova.