Regina Johanos presents an old Haines High yearbook from the Sheldon Museum collection. (Claire Stremple for KHNS)

March is basketball season and the Upper Lynn Canal is getting a full dose. 

The 2019 Dick Hotch Memorial Basketball Tournament begins this weekend. It’s an annual event that’s honored the legacy of the Klukwan coach for the last 39 years. The Haines Sheldon Museum is also marking the event, since the tournament is coincident with the First Friday Art Walk. They’re prepaaring a basketball themed pop-up exhibit.

Museum Community Coordinator Reggie Johanos says the history of Haines basketball is about as old as Haines itself. Some basketball history is easier to hear than look at, like old team songs and cheers that museum staff found. Johanos says one of them is a little scandalous–it’s called Southeast Tournament Girl and it’s about a young woman who has a crush on every team.

The museum has a century’s worth of materials in the collection from old season tickets  to vintage jerseys. But Johanos says the best part is when women got their own teams.

“What I thought was really interesting when I was doing some research is we have the first girl’s basketball team at the high school in 1924, so we have a little bit of the history of women’s teams of the era,” said Johanos.

The pop-up exhibit is for a limited time only: from 5-7 pm on first Friday and through Museum visiting hours on Saturday. To see basketball history in the making, the Dick Hotch Tournament Games start at 12:30pm on Friday at the Haines High School gym and run all weekend.