Friday: Valdez boys defeat Kenai for 4th place in Class 3A state tourney

The Valdez boys defeated Kenai Central 71-49 on Friday for fourth place in the Class 3A state basketball tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

The No. 5 Buccaneers toppled the No. 6 Kardinals (19-10) in a repeat of the fourth-place game from 2023, which was Kenai’s last time to the state tournament.

Valdez was efficient scoring all game, finishing 47% from the floor, including 9 of 23 from the 3-point line.

At 35% and 6 of 24 from 3, Kenai could not keep up.

The Buccaneers led 15-9 after the first quarter, 41-22 at the half and 56-36 after three quarters.

“A disappointing conclusion to a positive season for the boys,” Kenai head coach Nolan Rose wrote in a text message. “Valdez wanted to play basketball at 9:30 a.m. and we were still hitting the snooze button.

“Hard to win basketball games in bed.”

Miles Metteer paced the Kardinals with 12 points, while Reid Titus had 10. Kenai senior Caleb Litke finished his career with 9 despite foul trouble, hitting 3 for 4 from 3-point range. Fellow senior Ben Harris had 2.

Also, Garrett McCanna had 7, Mason Tunseth had 4, Carter Felchle had 3 and Aidan Jackman had 2.

For Valdez, Tino Tucker had 26 points on 8 of 15 shooting while Jarrett Gage had 17 points. Each also had 9 rebounds to key Valdez’s 29-20 advantage on the glass.

Also for the Buccaneers, Jace Branshaw had 11, Romen Weber had 5, Zachary Holbrook had 4, Kian St. Amand had 3, Logan Beck and David Boone had 2, and Levi Wade had 1.

Rose wrote one game doesn’t diminish a season.

“The boys accomplished a lot this year winning the Al Howard Shootout in Soldotna, the Seward Seahawk Classic, Peninsula Conference champions and 3A academic award winners,” Rose wrote. “We’re very proud of the kids for achieving those accomplishments.”

The future of the Kenai program looks bright, with everybody a freshman or sophomore except for Litke and Harris.

“We’re young but we do graduate two kids, Caleb Litke and Ben Harris, that will be difficult to replace,” Rose wrote.

The Kenai coach wrote that the competition at state shows the work that must be done.

“Going forward, raising our athletic profile is going to be a priority, we need to add quality weight, get more players playing at rim level, and in general become more explosive in our movements,” Rose wrote. “We’re likely to face some of the same physical challenges we faced this year again next year unless we get some unexpected growth spurts.

“Our hope is each kid is self-driven to find that next level of play. We’ll take a couple weeks off but that process will get going in early April and we’ll get after it with a lot of energy and excitement.”

Class 3A boys state all-tourmament team

Alex Fruean, Barrow; Kaden Herrmann, Mt. Edgecumbe; Trey Johnson, Sitka; Miles Metteer, Kenai; Finn Gregg, Nome-Beltz; Tino Tucker, Valdez; Trey Demmert, Sitka; Richard Didrickson Jr., Mt. Edgecumbe; Orson Hoogendorn, Nome-Beltz; Jaziah Tivao, Barrow.

Class 4A boys state all-tournament team

Buob Marial, West; Gage Massin, Ketchikan; Armani Smith, Monroe Catholic; Noah Kroon, Wasilla; Bristol Tobin, Grace Christian; Deng Deng, East; Jeff McCullough, Monroe Catholic; Marek Hajdukovich, Dimond; Marcus Stockhausen, Ketchikan; Muhammed Sabally, East.