Friday hoops: Kenai sweeps SoHi at Howard tourney

The Kenai Central girls and boys basketball teams swept Soldotna on Friday at the Revolution Sport and Spine Therapy Al Howard Shootout at Soldotna High School.

The Kardinals were able to gain revenge after getting swept by Soldotna at the season-opening Craig Jung Kenai River Challenge at Kenai Central High School.

Also Friday, the Cook Inlet Academy boys moved to 2-0 at the tournament and the West Valley girls got a win.

The Kenai girls won 55-44 to move to 8-5 overall and drop the Stars to 8-7 overall. The Stars had defeated the Kards 39-26 at the Craig Jung tourney.

Kenai head coach Jake Songer said Soldotna was hitting shots in that first game, and his team was not.

The coach said his explanation, though, of the difference in the two games starts with defense — where everything starts for the Kards.

“Our goal is to not let them run their stuff, whatever their stuff is,” Songer said. “We want to just disturb them enough where they just can’t get to it.”

The Kards had a 15-0 lead after the first quarter and 25-23 lead at halftime. A spurt at the end of the third quarter put Kenai up 40-30, then the Stars got no closer than six in the fourth quarter.

Songer said a big part of the defense is the pressure of Sierra Hershberger, who had 3 points. Hershberger had several steals during that decisive spurt in the third quarter.

Freshman point guard Bryleigh Williams, who had 15 points, also got the Kards good shots during the run.

“Bryleigh started the season very good, and she’s gotten better every day,” Songer said. “And she’s a freshman, so she’s learning in leaps and bounds.”

Kenai’s three-headed monster of players underneath also made the Stars pay by crashing the boards and filling the scoring column.

Ellsi Miller had 18, while Willow Graham had 10 and McKenzie Spence had 7.

Songer said all three were starters at the beginning of the season, but he is now starting just two of the three.

He said all three are competitive and want to start. Miller did not get the start and came through with a big game.

“They want their starting spot, so we go to practice now, it’s more competitive,” Songer said. “We go in games, and they know when they get on the floor, they have to do their job.”

Soldotna head coach Rustin Hitchcock agreed that Kenai’s defense kept his squad from finding a rhythm.

“We couldn’t catch a ball to save our lives,” he said. “Part of us is we’re really working on mental toughness.

“We knew it was a trap game coming a mile away, and they played well and under control. We weren’t under control.”

Hitchcock also thought rebounding was a big factor in the game.

“They got inside position, and we relied on trying to just be taller,” he said. “You just can’t do that at this level.”

The coach said Anaulie Sedivy, who had 19 points, put the team on her back and had her best game for the Stars. Hitchcock also liked the way Laurel Johnson, who had 3, went to the bucket in the second half.

Also for SoHi, Hope Hillyer had 8, Alyssa McDonald had 6, Grayson Henry had 3, Brooke Walters and Ryan Queen had 2, and Cassidy Kruse had 1.

The Kenai boys defeated Soldotna 45-35 to move to 7-6 overall and drop the Stars fell to 6-9 overall. SoHi had defeated Kenai 51-29 at the Craig Jung tourney.

The Stars were without Izaiah Gilbert and Easton Hawkins. SoHi head coach Darren Zibell said the duo combines for 31 points a game.

Gilbert was out due to discipline after getting a technical foul in Thursday’s game. Hawkins was sick.

Kenai head coach Nolan Rose said the team had a plan ready for Gilbert.

“When we found out he wasn’t playing, we kind of scrapped the plan and decided we’re just going to pressure the heck out of them, like we try to do most nights,” Rose said. “And I think defensively, we gave them a lot of issues.”

Zibell said Kenai’s 1-3-1 trapping defense, with 6-foot-2 sophomore Miles Metteer at the top, gave his team trouble.

The Kardinals led 14-7 after a quarter, 19-11 at the half and 36-23 after three quarters.

Kenai sophomore Reid Titus was the only player in double figures for the game, hitting seven 3-pointers on the way to finishing with 23 points.

Titus outscored the Stars 12-11 after a half, and trailed 23-21 after three quarters. Rose said it was the best varsity game for Titus.

Also for Kenai, Riel Castillo, Metteer and Caleb Litke had 4, Carter Felchle had 3, and Eli Smith and Mason Tunseth each had 2.

“He shot really well,” Zibell said of Titus. “We were really trying to key in on Miles and Caleb. Reid stepped up and found gaps in our zone.

“That’s the risk you take.”

Zibell also said the Kardinals did a good job taking care of the ball. He said his squad was not able to get any easy transition baskets.

Though Rose did not like the way Kenai closed the game, he said the contest was a step forward for his squad.

“When we made mistakes, we kept forward-looking more than we have in some other games,” he said. “We’ve been talking about emotional maturity all season.

“Hopefully, tonight is a step in the right direction.”

For Soldotna, Owen Buckbee and Theo Huff had 8, Sam Strouse and Bryan Berg had 5, Damari Adams had 4, Liam Peck had 3 and Josh Babcock had 2.

The Class 1A Cook Inlet Academy boys defeated a Class 4A school for the second time in as many days, this time knocking off Eagle River 86-77 to improve to 10-3 overall.

Ian McGarry stayed hot for the Eagles, this time pouring in 47 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. Alek McGarry added 14, while Zach Armstrong had 8, Brandt Rollman had 7, Matthew Phillips and Lucas Oyoumick had 4, and Owen Braband had 2.

For Eagle River, Giovanni North had 15, Austin Atkinson had 14, Cameron Munnlyn had 13 and Jameson Skinner had 11. Also, Jude Nicholson had 8, and Florion David, Talha Nance and Jared Gladwill had 2.

In other Friday girls action at the tournament, West Valley defeated Eagle River 39-29.

Saturday, the Kenai girls can win the tourney title by defeating West Valley at 11 a.m. The Kenai and CIA boys play for the title at 12:30 p.m.

The SoHi girls face Eagle River at 2 p.m., while the SoHi boys face Eagle River at 3:30 p.m.

Susitna Valley sweeps Ninilchik

The visiting Susitna Valley basketball teams swept Ninilchik on Friday in Southern Conference play.

The Rams girls topped the Wolverines 40-14 as the Wolverines fell to 0-4 in the league and 2-9 overall.

Caelis Cress had 6 for the Wolverines, while Kate Hendryx had 4, Lily Berger had 3 and Aliah Maher had 1.

Jessie Wentworth had 9 for the Rams, while William Stewart had 7, Lily Esmailka had 6, Poppy Moren had 5, Amanda Lankard and Jayden Sliker had 4, Maura McDaniel and Ashley Delima had 2, and Sahai Benischek had 1.

The Rams boys notched a 77-60 victory as the Wolverines fell to 2-2 in the league and 6-6 overall.

Kade McCorison poured in 36 for Ninilchik, while Andon McCorison had 9, Holdon Cameron had 6, Eric Radar had 5, and Onyx Allen and Max Russell each had 2.

Miles Osmond paced Su Valley with 20 points, while Austin Barnard and Douglas Drover had 16 apiece. Also, Colton Thompson had 10, Gideon Bedingfield had 8, Landon Ballard had 4 and Owen Drumm had 3.

Nikiski drops 2 at Barrow tourney

The Nikiski girls and boys lost to Barrow on Friday at the Karl Derek Ahgeak 2nd Annual Invitational at Barrow High School.

The Bulldogs girls lost to Barrow 77-23 to fall to 2-8 overall. Blakeley Jorgensen had 8 for Nikiski, while Kailey Stynsberg had 7, Abby White and Avery Ellis had 3, and Natalie Huntsman had 2.

The Bulldogs boys lost to Barrow 83-44 to fall to 0-10 overall. For Nikiski, Carter Eiter had 22, while Kameron Bird had 7, Dylan Hall had 4, Kevin Love, Shane Hall and Zach Hockema had 3, and Ryder Maguire had 2.