In one of their biggest tests of the season thus far, the Nikiski girls escaped with a 34-32 Southcentral Conference victory over Grace Christian, the defending region champions, Friday night in Anchorage. The win was the ninth straight for Nikiski.
Bethany Carstens paced Nikiski with 11 points, while Ayla Pitt had four points and 11 rebounds.
Grace boys 61, Nikiski 26
The Grizzlies took care of business Friday night at home against the Bulldogs.
Juneau girls 48, Soldotna 46
The Crimson Bears nipped the Stars in a nonconference game Friday night in Juneau.
The result still means a lot for both teams in the Win Percentage Index (WPI) standings, which will determine two “wild card” spots at the season-ending state tournament. Both Juneau and Soldotna are Class 4A schools. The most recent release of the WPI standings on Jan. 25 had Juneau third and SoHi 14th in the 20-team field.
Aliann Schmidt led SoHi with 14 points and Ituau Tuisaula added 12. Juneau was paced by Kendy Carson with 14 points.
After trailing 16-12 in the first quarter, the Stars rebounded to outscore Juneau 12-6 in the second quarter and take a 24-22 halftime lead. After cutting the lead to one, Juneau took the win by outscoring SoHi 13-10 in the fourth quarter.
Nikolaevsk boys 65, Tri-Valley 41
The Warriors boys used a powerful first half to cruise to a Friday victory over Tri-Valley at the Nenana Invitational Tournament.
Nikolaevsk advanced to play Tok in the fourth-sixth place game of the tournament at 12:30 p.m. Saturday.
The Warriors outscored Tri-Valley 25-11 in the first quarter and 18-4 in the second to stake out a 43-15 lead at halftime.
Nikit Fefelov scored a team-high 22 points to lead Nikolaevsk on 9-for-15 shooting, including four 3s. Michael Trails chipped in 11 points and 15 rebounds as well. Kalenik Molodih brought down 14 boards and dished out eight assists.
SuValley girls 56, Nikolaevsk 16
Susitna Valley took off for a 25-8 halftime lead and never looked back in a Friday night blowout over Nikolaevsk at the NIT tournament in Nenana.
Vera Fefelov paced the Warriors with 10 points, while Elizabeth Fefelov brought down six rebounds. Nikolaevsk struggled from the floor, shooting 5 for 34.
The Warriors will play in the third-fifth place game Saturday against the loser of the Nenana-Minto matchup.
Homer girls 40, Redington 11
After escaping with a one-point victory over Redington earlier in the season, the Homer girls pummeled the Huskies on Friday night at Redington.
Homer boys 60, Redington 25
The visiting Mariners rolled past the Huskies on Friday in Southcentral Conference play.
Seahawk Classic
After two days of the tournament in Seward, the Mt. Edgecumbe girls are 2-0, the Valdez girls are 2-0, the Seward girls are 0-2 and the Delta girls are 0-2.
On the boys side, the Delta boys are 2-0, Mt. Edgecumbe is 1-1, Seward is 1-1 and Ninilchik is 0-2.
The Mt. Edgecumbe girls notched a 55-34 victory in Seward, using a 17-10 spurt in the second quarter to take a 26-16 halftime lead.
For Mt. Edgecumbe, Julie Amatooklik had 14 points and Sasha Sacchews added 12. For Seward, Ashley Jackson had 13, while Riley VonBorstel had 10.
The Mt. Edgecumbe boys topped Seward 64-39, with a 19-5 run in the third quarter serving as the big moment.
Paul Bioff had 20 for the Braves, while Ronnie Brown had 18.
Sully Hauze, Zen Petrosius and Rhett Sieverts each had seven points to pace Seward.
The Ninilchik boys had their second high-scoring loss in two days, falling to Delta 76-70.
The Wolverines buried 15 3-pointers, with Tyler Presley hitting five treys for 17 points. Austin White led the way with 20 points, while Dalton Geppert had 13. Delta had 10 treys of its own.
Also Friday, the Valdez girls topped Delta 48-23.
Friday girls
Crimson Bears 48, Stars 46
Soldotna 12 12 12 10 — 46
Juneau 16 6 13 13 — 48
SOLDOTNA (46) — McGillivary 0 0-0 0, Miller 1 0-0 2, Blossom 3 1-2 8, A. Schmidt 5 4-4 14, Tuttle 0 0-0 0, Tuisaula 6 0-2 12, Kruse 0 2-2 2, Wells 1 0-0 2, D. Schmidt 3 0-0 6. Totals 19 7-10 46.
JUNEAU (48) — Tuckwood 0 0-0 0, Carson 6 0-2 14, Bohulano 1 0-0 3, Pusich 5 0-0 11, Deinich 0 7-10 7, Robinson 1 0-0 3, Batija 4 0-0 10, Babvich 0 0-0 0, Cesar 0 0-0 0, Hickok 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 7-12 48.
3-point goals — Soldotna 1 (Blossom); Juneau 7 (Carson 2, Batija 2, Bohulano 1, Pusich 1, Robinson 1).
Team fouls — Soldotna 8; Juneau 7. Fouled out — A. Schmidt.
Braves 55, Seahawks 34
Mt. Edgecumbe 9 17 18 11 — 55
Seward 6 10 14 4 — 34
MT. EDGECUMBE (55) — Sunny 2 0-0 5, Coopchiak 2 0-0 4, Hunt 3 1-4 7, Sacchews 5 0-1 12, Amatooklik 6 0-0 14, Charlie 0 0-0 0, Goodwing 4 0-5 9, Ga 1 0-0 2, Long 1 0-0 2. Totals — 24 1-11 55.
SEWARD (34) — Cinereski 0 0-0 0, Hauze 0 0-0 0, Terry 1 0-0 3, VonBorstel 3 2-2 10, Jackson 4 1-2 13, Lapinskas 2 0-0 4, Sullivan 0 0-0 0, Petrosius 2 0-0 4. Totals — 12 3-4 34.
3-point goals — Mt. Edgecumbe 6 (Sacchews 2, Amatoolik 2, Sunny, Goodwing); Seward 7 (Jackson 4, VonBorstel 2, Terry). Team fouls — Mt. Edgecumbe 10, Seward 11. Fouled out — none.
Friday boys
Huskies 76, Wolverines 70
Ninilchik 16 16 16 22 — 70
Delta 14 19 27 16 — 76
NINILCHIK (70) — Presley 6 0-0 17, Koch 2 2-4 8, Geppert 4 2-2 13, Clark 0 2-2 2, Bartolowits 3 0-0 8, Mumey 1 0-0 2, White 7 4-6 20. Totals — 23 10-14 70.
DELTA (76) — Montees 3 0-0 9, Helkenn 8 4-8 21, Mosloutson 2 7-8 12, Powers 1 0-2 2, Durham 0 0-0 0, Gonzalez 4 3-4 12, Reiter 6 0-0 15, Moch 2 0-0 5. Totals — 26 14-24 76.
3-point goals — Ninilchik 14 (Presley 5, Geppert 3, Koch 2, Bartolowits 2, White 2); Delta 10 (Montees 3, Reiter 3, Gonzalez, Helkenn, Mosloutson, Moch). Team fouls — Ninilchik 15, Delta 17. Fouled out — Presley.
Braves 64, Seahawks 39
Mt. Edgecumbe 13 16 19 16 — 64
Seward 14 9 5 11 — 39
MT. EDGECUMBE (64) — Merculief 2 2-3 8, Rexford 0 0-0 0, Kasayuli 3 0-0 8, Hubbard 0 0-0 0, Brown 6 0-0 18, Williams 2 0-0 4, Dunaway 2 2-4 6, Bioff 8 3-3 20.
SEWARD (39) — Pahno 1 0-0 3, Kratz 2 0-0 5, Hauze 1 4-4 7, Estes 1 0-0 2, Wilips 1 2-2 4, Spanos 0 0-0 0, Sieverts 3 0-0 7, Nilsson 0 0-0 0, Deboard 2 0-0 4, Petrosius 3 1-2 7. Totals — 14 7-8 39.
3-point goals — Seward 4 (Pahno, Kratz, Hauze, Sieverts); Team fouls — Seward 11, Fouled out — none.
Juneau-Douglas’ Georgia Robinson, left, is fouled by Soldotna’s Aliann Schmidt while attempting a shot at Juneau-Douglas High School on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. JDHS won 48-46. (Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas’ Cassie Dzinich right, and Soldotna’s Abby Kruse battle for a loose ball at Juneau-Douglas High School on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. JDHS won 48-46. (Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
Juneau-Douglas’ Sadie Tuckwood, left, and Soldotna’s Mei Miller go for ball at Juneau-Douglas High School on Friday, Feb. 3, 2017. JDHS won 48-46. (Photo by Michael Penn/Juneau Empire)
