Alaska Sports Hall of Fame

Hyaburg’s Damen Bell-Holter is only two years younger than Ramon Harris of Anchorage, but back in the day it might as well been two decades.

They were in high school. Bell-Holter was a promising sophomore. Harris was a senior and the Alaska player of the year.

“I honestly looked up to him,” Bell-Holter told me.

Tonight they will meet on the basketball court in the NBA Developmental League, and there’s a strong chance they will guard each other.

They have never faced off in a game.

“It’s a pretty cool opportunity,” Bell Holter said. “I’m excited to play against him.”

The 6-foot-7 Harris, 25, comes off the bench for the Fort Wayne Mad Ants to average 10.0 points and 4.0 rebounds per game. Last game he scored a season-high 12 points.

In 43 career D-League games, he has averaged 5.6 points and 3.2 rebounds. He is shooting .375 for his career, including 8-for-10 this year.

Harris attended the University of Kentucky and is one of only three Alaska players with ties to the NBA. The big names are NBA standouts Mario Chalmers of the Miami Heat and Carlos Boozer of the Chicago Bulls.

For Bell-Holter, he grew up idolizing these guys.

“I used all three as motivation,” he said.

The 6-foot-9 Bell-Holter, 24, is the starting center for the Maine Red Claws and is coming off his first professional double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds.

He played with the Boston Celtics in the preseason before he was released and signed with Maine. He is a rookie out of Oral Roberts University.

Bell-Holter is second on his team in rebounding [9.0] and sixth in scoring [8.0].