The Seward girls and Cook Inlet Academy boys won Friday to advance to the finals at the Class 1A/2A state basketball tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, while the Seward boys fell in the final seconds in their semifinal.

The Class 2A Seward girls, the No. 3 seed, defeated No. 2 Unalakleet 32-29 to improve to 25-2 and win for the 25th straight time.

The Seahawks will chase the second girls state title in school history Saturday at 6:30 p.m. against No. 4 Glennallen, which defeated No. 8 Chevak 55-37.

The Class 1A CIA boys, the No. 2 seed, defeated No. 11 Shishmaref 68-41. The Eagles will chase a fourth state title at 4 p.m. Saturday against No. 1 Shaktoolik, which defeated No. 4 Manokotak 83-68.

CIA, now 21-5, has lost twice this season to Shaktoolik.

The No. 4 Seward boys lost 44-42 to No. 1 Unalakleet to fall to the third-place game at 12:30 p.m. Saturday against No. 2 Metlakatla, which lost to No. 3 Cordova 46-45 in overtime.

The Seahawks, now 15-12, came up short of the first boys title in school history.

Seward girls 32, Unalakleet 29

The Seahawks closed the game on a 15-3 run to overcome a slow start.

Unalakleet rode its height advantage to a 13-4 lead after the first quarter. The Wolfpack led 21-14 at the half and 26-22 at the end of three quarters.

After allowing the Wolfpack to score 13 in the first quarter, Seward’s defense gradually tightened, allowing just 8 in the second quarter, 5 in the third quarter and 3 in the fourth quarter.

Coming out of the third quarter on a 5-0 run, the Seahawks started the fourth quarter on a 10-0 spurt with a Natalie Sieminski layup putting Seward up 32-26.

Lizabeth Ivanoff cut it to 32-29 with a 3-pointer, but that would be it for the Wolfpack in the final frame.

Mikinley Williams paced Seward with 11 points, while Ava Jagielski had 8, Natalie Sieminski had 6, Grace Fleming had 3 and Lia Shank and Addison Lemme had 2.

For Unalakleet, Ivanoff had 9, Keely Johnson had 7, Cedar Busk had 6, Violet Jack had 4 and Ourea Busk had 3.

The stats were relatively even — Seward won rebounds 30-27, Seward had 23 turnovers to Unalakleet’s 22, and Seward shot 31% while Unalakleet was at 26%.

CIA boys 68, Shishmaref 41

Since losing to Shaktoolik for the second time on Jan. 17, the Eagles have wanted a state final against Shaktoolik.

CIA wasted little time trying to assure one by outscoring Shishmaref 17-6 in the first quarter. Shishmaref cut it to 43-36 after three quarters, but the Eagles won the final quarter 25-5.

CIA won the rebound battle 25-10 and also shot 52% to the 35% of Shishmaref.

Alek McGarry had 20 to pace the Eagles, while Ian McGarry had 17, Brandt Rollman had 13, Zach Armstrong had 8, Lucas Oyoumick, Owen Braband and Hyrum Henderson had 3, and Matthew Phillips had 1.

For Shishmaref, Corben Nayokpuk had 10, Ivan Davis-Nayokpuk and Colton Hadley had 8, Norman Stenek had 6, Frederick Olanna had 5 and Noah Nayokpuk had 4.

Unalakleet boys 44, Seward 42

Paxson Commack of the Wolfpack broke a 42-all tie with a spinning fadeaway from the low block with under a second to play.

Seward got .3 seconds put back on the clock, but had to go the length of the court. An effort to toss the ball all the way to the free-throw line and try to tip it in did not get close as the horn sounded.

Unalakleet led 41-35 with 3 minutes left, but Talon Lemme had an old-fashioned 3-point play, and Emerson Cross hit a jumper, to cut it to 41-40 with 1:32 left.

The squads exchanged turnovers before Unalakleet’s Joshua Smith split a pair of free throws with 16 seconds left for a 42-40 game.

With 8 seconds left, Van Shank hit a spinning jumper in the lane while getting fouled to knot it at 42.

Shank made the foul shot, but that point was wiped off the board due to a lane violation. That set up Commack’s heroics.

Seward had fallen behind 25-10 after the first quarter, but backed off on the press and made it 27-23 at halftime.

The Seahawks hit 47% from the floor to the 40% of the Wolfpack, but Unalakleet won the rebound battle 28-18.

Lemme paced Seward with 17, while Jack Lindquist had 8, Noah Price and Shank had 6, and Cross had 5.

For Unalakleet, Commack had 17, Joshua Smith had 13, Isaac Smith had 6, and Trenton Towarak and Trevin Soderstrom each had 4.

Seward’s Natalie Sieminski (15) and Unalakleet’s Lizabeth Ivanoff (2) go for a loose ball during the Seahawks’ 32-29 semifinal win Friday, March 14, 2025, in the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 2A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)