Ketchikan has job potential. Alaska had 21 years of job gains up until 2009. After a year without, Alaska added 1,800 jobs in 2010 and 5,200 in 2011, according to the Alaska Department of Labor.

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Former Ketchikan resident Mike Thomas, 47, died Dec. 20, 2011, in Mohave, Ariz. He was born in Salem, Ore., on Nov. 25, 1964, but was raised in Ketchikan.

We welcome home Ketchikan High School's participants in the Southeast Region 4A basketball tournament with thanks - not just for great tournament play, but for a magical season.

There were some long faces in the deflated Mt. Edgecumbe High School gymnasium in Sitka, especially Saturday night, as our boys' team's hopes to move on to state ended so suddenly at the end of a great game.

We remember back to when "No. 1 seed" and "Kayhi's boys team" in the same sentence was thought to be at least an improbable dream.

Both the boys and girls teams had to deal with circumstances (we'll reserve "adversity" for life's more severe challenges) that had the potential to put the teams off track a bit for the year.

But the players and coaches didn't pay any attention then to what might have happened. They worked with what they had. As a result, each team did what, some years, would have been the stuff of fantasy: They beat Juneau and, in the boys' case, swept the Crimson Bears for the regular season.

That's the result of hard work and practice, and not going to state doesn't change that. Now is no time to start pining for what might have been; sure, we'd have written a different ending if we could. But our teams had a fine year.

Our dance and cheer teams did great - hardly could have been better, in fact - and that's not only a source of pride to them. The sort of support they provide, along with pep band and pep club (and of course, parents, friends and siblings) goes a long way toward an athletic team's success. We're all in this together. As the judges said in awarding Kayhi cheerleaders the region's top honors, they just never quit cheering.

Our region's 3A teams also come back from the competition with pride and a string of exciting games under their belts. The young and small 2A teams met their tournament's challenges with grit even if not W's. Those experiences will help them next season and in life.

Of course, It's not over yet for the Klawock boys, who took the 2A Southeast title in Juneau. They'll move on to state with the hopes of several islands behind them. Go, Chieftains!

We appreciate the athletes, performers, musicians and all who support our kids endeavors, in sports, academics, and other activities requiring time and devotion.

We're proud of you. Hope you had fun along the way - we sure did, even though we were just along for the ride. Thanks!