At long last, the Kenai Central basketball teams have found a good home.
In their first season competing at the Class 3A level — following years of playing with the 4A teams — the Kardinal boys and girls have mixed it up well with fellow Southcentral Conference opponents.
The strong seasons for both the girls and boys teams continued Friday and Saturday with a pair of dominant Southcentral Conference sweeps on Cliff Massie court. Friday, the Kenai girls walloped Redington 42-18 and the Kenai boys prevailed 62-33 over Redington, then on Saturday, the Kardinal girls returned to beat Houston 57-37 while the boys dropped Houston 67-43.
It was the fifth straight win for the girls and the second for the boys. The winning streaks left the Kenai girls at 3-0 in conference play and 10-3 overall, while the boys jumped to 3-0 in conference and 9-6 overall.
“It’s been the right thing for sure,” said Kenai boys coach Ken Felchle. “I hold dear our 4A friends, but we’re not 4A anymore.”
With the competition on par with their school size, the Kardinals have been able to play much more competitively this year, as the days of facing 4A juggernauts Wasilla and Colony are gone.
Saturday, the Kenai boys were led by senior Adam Trujillo, who continued his breakout season with 17 points in a stellar effort against the Hawks.
“I ask a lot of him,” Felchle said. “He’s been our most consistent scorer this year, and I keep asking Adam for more and more.”
Trujillo said a full slate of offseason work has helped prepare him for this campaign, and with big games comes big confidence. Trujillo was seemingly hitting shots from every spot on the floor and used his size and speed to get to the rim better than Houston.
“I think my back door cuts have helped me,” Trujillo said. “We were able to move up the court with our offense today.”
Evan Stockton chipped in 13 points on 6-for-7 shooting, and Connor Felchle doled out nine assists to go with seven points.
Houston got the early break with a hot start, getting two 3-pointers from Cameron Wyrick in the first minute of the game to spark an 8-3 run.
Trujillo helped keep it from snowballing early by sinking a trey with 5:28 left in the first to tie it at 8, then added two more buckets from closer range to build the lead before the Hawks called timeout.
It was part of a stellar defensive effort by Kenai, which held Houston scoreless for nearly 10 minutes in the first and second quarters as the Kards scored 25 unanswered points to build a 28-8 lead.
“We switched up defenses so as to not be so predictable,” Felchle explained. “It hurts their offensive flow.”
Those two early 3s were Wyrick’s only points of the game. Kyle McLaughlin led the Hawks with 17 points.
Kenai led 35-22 at halftime, then continued the run with five points in the first 1:20 of the second half, getting a putback layup by Dominik Efta and a breakaway shot by Trujillo to built the gap to 40-23.
The Kards hit on a 10-0 run midway through the third quarter that helped seal the victory, a surge that was capped by a steal and breakaway bucket by Connor Felchle and a putback by Andrew Bezdecny.
In the girls game, Kenai used a stingy defensive press to force the Houston girls into a litany of errors and turnovers, which was enough to win 57-37.
Junior guard Liz Hanson led the way for Kenai with 14 points, while senior Brooke Satathite scored 12 and freshman sister Logan Satathite notched 10. Hanson said a 42-41 victory over Nikiski at the ACS Pepsi Invitational three weeks ago helped inspire confidence that the Kardinals can play with anyone in the state at Class 3A, and the good vibes have continued.
“We’ve been trying to beat them for years, and we’ve been working our butts off in practice,” Hanson said.
Hanson was able to cut into the Houston defense Saturday with stout team passing, and credited Hayley Maw and Brooke Satathite for executing well on both ends of the floor.
“We have this Hayley Maw girl who’s a speed demon,” Hanson gushed. “We’re flying around and she’s key to the defense.”
Kenai head coach Cary Calvert said as nice as it was to pick up two weekend wins, Saturday’s performance wasn’t up to the team standards.
“This was nothing inspiring on defense,” Calvert said. “We’re capable of playing very good ball, capable of dictating the tempo.”
Kenai led wire to wire, beginning with a 15-4 run to start the game. Logan Satathite played a big role during that run with a 3-pointer that was followed by a breakaway layup on a slick assist from her sister Brooke.
Houston senior Mary Graham helped bring the Hawks back into it with consecutive triples late in the first quarter, cutting the gap to 17-10, but her shots were immediately answered with an 8-0 Kenai run. Satathite scored six points in a larger 10-2 run to stake out a 27-12 lead for Kenai.
The Kards led 29-16 at the half, then continued to buckle down even harder on defense by holding the Hawks to six points in the third quarter. Houston had the advantage down to 33-22 with 2:40 left in the third, but Kenai used another 8-0 run to seal the win.
Houston also was forced to play the final 5:33 of the game with four players after Hanna Elson fouled out and Houston coach Mathew Bredberg had no one else to substitute in due to a slew of injuries and ineligible players on the team.
Kenai boys 62, Redington 33
The Kardinals rolled to a blowout win Friday night over the Huskies to pick up a conference victory.
Adam Trujillo led a balanced offensive effort by the Kards to post 13 points with three 3s. Twelve players reached the scoring column for Kenai.
A close game early turned Kenai’s way as the Kardinals clamped down defensively to outscore Redington 19-2 in the second quarter, giving Kenai a 26-8 lead at halftime. Kenai then won the third quarter 23-8 to effectively ice the win.
Kenai girls 42, Redington 18
The Kenai girls recorded a Southcentral conference victory Friday night at home.
Like the boys game, the Kenai girls produced a very even scoring effort. Liz Hanson tallied eight points to lead the Kards, while Logan and Brooke Satathite each had seven.
Up 19-12 at halftime, Kenai stifled the Huskies with a tough third-quarter effort, outscoring Redington 13-2 to grab a 32-14 lead.
Saturday boys
Kardinals 67, Hawks 43
Houston 8 14 9 12 —43
Kenai 21 14 19 13 —67
HOUSTON (43) — Wyrick 6, M. Wyrick 6, Welsh 0, Faliniko 3, Croghan 0, Mulhaney 0, Jefferson 0, Mulhaney 7, Mose 4, McLaughlin 17.
KENAI (67) — Dunham 0, Efta 4, Felchle 7, Baker 8, Custodio 0, Bezdecny 6, McEnerney 6, Stockton 13, Trujillo 17, Stafford 0, Pitsch 6, McKibben 0.
3-point FG — Houston 5 (Wyrick 2, C. Wyrick 2, Mulhaney 1); Kenai 4 (Felchle 1, Baker 1, Stockton 1, Trujillo 1).
Team fouls — Houston 17; Kenai 17. Fouled out — none.
Saturday girls
Kardinals 57, Hawks 37
Houston 10 6 6 15 —37
Kenai 21 8 9 19 —57
HOUSTON (37) — Graham 11, Whitted 4, Bitler 8, Garcia 1, Elson 3, Ritchie 10.
KENAI (57) — Calvert 2, Galloway 2, Hamilton 1, Maw 4, Hanson 14, Streiff 0, L. Satathite 10, Severson 6, B. Satathite 12, Reis 4, Lauritsen 0.
3-point FG — Houston 2 (Graham); Kenai 1 (L. Satathite).
Team fouls — Houston 12; Kenai 16. Fouled out — Maw, Elson.
Friday boys
Kardinals 62, Huskies 33
Redington 6 2 8 17 —33
Kenai 7 19 23 13 —62
REDINGTON (33) — Bowman 10, Rogers 7, Straughn 0, Cosida 3, Sandman 2, Williams 3, Spake 7.
KENAI (62) — Dunham 2, Efta 4, Felchle 6, Baker 4, Custodio 4, Bezdecny 5, McEnerney 6, Stockton 8, Trujillo 13, Austin 1, Pitsch 0, Daniels 2, McKibben 4.
3-point FG — Redington 1 (Spake); Kenai 7 (Trujillo 3, Stockton 1, McEnerney 1, Bezdecny 1, Felchle 1).
Team fouls — Redington 16; Kenai 16. Fouled out — McKibben.
Friday girls
Kardinals 42, Huskies 18
Redington 6 6 2 4 —18
Kenai 7 12 13 10 —42
REDINGTON (18) — Summons 3, Williams 0, Stoker 0, Lyfte 2, Aparazirk 3, Fuller 9, Deane 0, Davis 1.
KENAI (42) — Calvert 6, Galloway 0, Hamilton 4, Maw 6, Hanson 8, Streiff 2, L. Satathite 7, Severson 2, B. Satathite 7, Reis 0, Lauritsen 0.
3-point FG — Redington 1 (Aparazirk); Kenai 0.
Team fouls — Redington 8; Kenai 17. Fouled out — none.
Kenai’s Adam Trujillo drives into the paint Saturday afternoon against the Houston Hawks at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai’s Tyrone McEnerney (right) drives the lane against Houston’s Cody Wyrick Saturday afternoon at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Houston’s Emily Bitler (right) works against the Kenai press Saturday afternoon against the Houston Hawks at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai’s Jaiden Streiff looks for space against Houston’s Icis Garcia Saturday afternoon at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai’s Logan Satathite dribbles to the arc against Houston’s Katie Ritchie Saturday afternoon at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai’s Brooke Satathite looks for an open teammate Saturday afternoon against the Houston Hawks at Kenai Central High School. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
