Staff report

Ashley Bartolowits scored a team-high 16 points and Lindsay Schnabl and Grace Ehlers each added 13 in leading Ninilchik past Northway, 54-42, on Tuesday in the opening round of the Class 2A state basketball championships at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

"We started off real slow," Wolverines coach Dan Leman said via cell phone. "They came out and knocked down a couple of big shots and we just couldn't hit a shot to start with. But we tightened up on defense and kept it close."

Ninilchik trailed 11-10 after the opening eight minutes as the Warriors canned four of their 12 shots in the period, including one of their seven 3-pointers on the afternoon by Kayli Hildebrand, who hit five of her seven shots from beyond the arc and paced Northway with 21 points.

Two first-quarter fouls by Ninilchik point guard Lindsey Rohr and a third coming in the early moments of the second sidelined the senior for the remainder of the first half.

Without her, though, the Wolverines strung together a 17-12 second quarter and owned a four-point edge at halftime.

"That's a big one for us because we had to change the way we press and change the things we do on defense. And as a point guard, it effected us on offense, too," Leman said of Rohr's absence. "We just kind of had to weather that first half and bring her back out and picked things back up in the second half."

A strong offensive performance in the third, with the Wolverines shooting 42 percent from the field compared to just 31 percent by Northway, left the Wolverines in front by five entering the fourth.

And that was as close as the Warriors would get.

Behind five points from Ehlers and four from Rohr, Ninilchik put the game out of reach at 52-34 with a 13-0 run to open the final quarter, six of those points coming on second chances.

Aside from outrebounding Northway, 44-35, the Wolverines netted 20 second-chance points to just nine from the Warriors. Another deciding factor was the Wolverines' 13-for-19 performance from the foul line, compared to just four free throws by the Warriors, there only successful free shot coming from Katherine Albert, who added 19 points.

While scoring only six points, senior Heidi Skjold, the team's only returning starter from last season's squad, contributed heavily with eight rebounds, five assists and five steals and helped control the offense during Rohr's stint on the bench.

"Her shot wasn't going down (Tuesday). ... She's just real steady for us," Leman said. "She ran the offense for us and she had a busy day."

So did Bartolowits, a senior, who hit seven of her nine shots and also added six boards.

"Ashley had a monster game. She did what she does well she picks up a lot of stuff around the basket there for us on missed shots," Leman explained. "She had a great game for us offensively and was doing that, too, on defense for us."

The Wolverines are in familiar territory now, having advanced to the semifinals last season before being bounced by eventual 2A champion Yakutat and finishing third. This time, though, Ninilchik will take on defending runner-up Point Hope at 3:30 p.m. today at Sullivan Arena.

The Wolverines fell in overtime to the Harpooners, 52-48, at the Whaler Invitational in Barrow in January, but three players fouled out and Ninilchik was forced to close the game with only four players on the court.

"We didn't play our best and we know we can definitely play better. We're a better team now than when we played them at Barrow," Leman said. "They feel good about our chances."

He added this year's edition of Point Hope is as typical as they get, with a bunch of strong shooters, including Tammy Burgess, who dropped 20 points in leading the Harpooners past Kake, 54-47, on Tuesday.

"Point Hope is definitely an experienced team as far as state tournament's go," he said. "They've got three or four different players that shoot the lights out. You can't leave anybody open.

"(We're) really looking forward to the rematch."

WOLVERINES 54, WARRIORS 42

Northway 11 12 11 8 42

Ninilchik 10 17 12 15 54

NORTHWAY (42) Paul 0 0-0 0, Brown 0 0-0 0, S. Albert 0 0-0 0, Hildebrand 8 0-0 21, Thomas 1 0-1 2, Demit 0 0-0 0, K. Albert 8 1-3 19. Totals 17 1-4 42.

NINILCHIK (54) Skjold 3 0-3 6, Bartolowits 7 2-2 16, L. Schnabl 4 4-4 13, Rohr 2 2-2 6, T. Schnabl 0 0-0 0, Anderson 0 0-0 0, Dahl 0 0-0 0, Ehlers 4 5-8 13. Totals 20 13-19 54.

3-point goals Northway 7 (Hildebrand 5, K. Albert 2), Ninilchik 1 (L. Schnabl). Team fouls Northway 15, Ninilchik 11. Fouled out Thomas.