Usually, Dimond spends December playing in tournaments in the Lower 48. This year, however, the Lynx played in the Joe Floyd Christmas Tournament. 

And they made their trip to the Emerald Isle worthwhile. 

In a true championship game Saturday night, Dimond dismantled Kodiak 54-21 to earn the girls title in the 43rd edition of the Joe Floyd Christmas Tournament — the longest-running high school tournament in the state — at Kodiak High School. 

This is Dimond’s second Joe Floyd Christmas Tournament title this decade and third overall. The Lynx also won in 1977 and 2005. 

“This is a very good tournament. The community does a great job. You can’t go wrong with the hospitality,” said long-time Dimond coach Jim Young, who attended Kodiak Middle School in 1979.  “I tell my girls you may never play in front of a crowd like this again. That is the really neat thing. The atmosphere is really awesome.”

The atmosphere was charged before the game, as fans prepared to watch a pair of teams that played each other at the 4A state tournament a year ago. Dimond won that game, which ended Kodiak’s miracle run last season. The Lynx wound up fourth at state. 

It didn’t take Dimond long to flex its muscles and take the crowd out of the game. The Lynx led 13-0 before the crowd had a chance to set down. 

“They rattled us early and we just never recovered,” Kodiak coach Brett Larsen said. 

“We talked about what the pressure was going to be like,” he added. “There is a difference between talking about it and handling it. We didn’t handle it very well.”

The opening quarter belonged to Dimond’s Keiahnna Engel.

The junior guard, who earned all-state second team honors last year, dazzled with drives to the rim, outside jumpers and shutdown defense that resulted in 11 points and several steals. She ended with a game-high 19 points and was later named the tournament’s most valuable player. 

“She is very good,” Larsen said. “She pretty much makes them go. She gets going and everybody else gets going.”

That is one reason why Engel is drawing attention from NCAA Division I programs.   

“She is a good athlete,” Young said. “Teams get better in the off-season and players get better in the off-season. She is a kid who spends numerous hours in the gym getting better. When you get to coach a kid like that you are very fortunate as a coach.”

During the summer, Engel played on a national-level team based out of Washington that won three tournaments. She didn’t start, but Young said the tournament made her a better player and opened the door to play at the next level. 

The biggest thing she did Saturday was take Kodiak guard Joanna Garcia out of her game. Garcia picked up four fouls in the first half and eventually fouled out in the third quarter with no points. 

“I put Keiahnna on her to test her psyche,” Young said. “She is a good little player, but I think mentally she just took herself out of the game early.”

Dimond led 35-8 at halftime and 53-15 at the end of the third quarter. 

Kodiak did outscore Dimond 6-1 in the fourth. 

Julienne Gregory and Megan Grupp paced the Bears with eight points each.  

“We started making some changes and some good things in the end,” Larsen said. “As a result, it was a good test and shows what we need to do in practice to get to where we need to be to be able to compete with a team like that. Because that team will be competing for a state title without a doubt.”

Friday night, Kodiak earned a 50-26 victory over Grace Christian. Garcia led Kodiak with 13 points, while Gregory added eight. On Dec. 28, Kodiak (2-1) plays in the Surf N’ Slam Tournament in San Diego. 

Saturday scores

LYNX 54, BEARS 21

Dimond   15 20 18 1 — 54

Kodiak   4 4 7 6 — 21

Dimond (54) — Fairchild 8, Huffman 3, Jackson, Prestegard, Rogers 9, Halverson 1, Engel 19, Lowe, Hanley 6, Bagsby, Anderson 8. FG — 21-49 (.428). FT — 12-14. 

Kodiak (21) — Yamat, Garcia, Taan 3, Hiatt, Grupp 8, Gronn, Tusitino, 2, Gregory 8, Lampl. FG — 6-36 (.166). FT — 9-11. 

GRIZZLIES 44, WARRIORS 39 OT

Bethel   9 7 5 12 6 — 39

Grace Christian   9 7 4 13 11 — 44

Bethel (39) — Ashepah 3, Forbes 4, Leary 12, Chavez 8, McWilliams 8, Dyment, Polk 11, Shields 1. FT — 17-29. 

Grace (44) — Dupea 10, Davis, Fredrickson 16, Todd, Eckmann 12, Burroughs 4, Birkey, Mcillvain 2. FT — 6-15. 

FRIDAY

BEARS 50, GRIZZLIES 26

Grace Christian 0 10 4 12 — 26

Kodiak 12 12 10 16 — 50

Grace (26) Dupea 2, Davis, Fredrickson 22, Todd, Echman, Burroughs, Birky 1, Mcllvain 1. FG — 10-34 (.294). FT — 4-9.

Kodiak (50) — Yamat 6, Garcia 13, Taan 2, Hiatt 2, Grupp 6, Gronn 4, Tusitinio 7, Gregory 8, Lampl 2. FG — 17-41 (.414). FT — 16-28.

LYNX 64, WARRIORS 15

Dimond (64) — Fairchild 5, Huffman 6, Jackson 2, Prestegard 6, Rogers 2. Halverson 1, Engel 17, Lowe, Hanley 6, Bagsby 13, Anderson 6. FT — 10-16.

Bethel (15) — Ashepak, Forbes 6, Leary 4, Stanley, Chavez, Dyment, Polk 2, Shields 3. FT — 1-5.