Grace Christian swept the Peninsula Conference titles Friday at Homer High School.
The top-seeded girls defeated No. 3 Kenai Central 51-7, while the top-seeded boys topped No. 2 Seward 50-40. The Grizzlies each earned automatic berths to the Class 3A state tournament with the victories.
The second berths to state will be decided today in games that are particularly important because Class 3A has no at-large berths.
The Kenai girls (10-14 overall) play No. 2 Homer (17-9) at noon for second place. The Mariners topped Kenai twice in the regular season, but lost to the Kards 53-45 on Thursday at the tournament.
Homer worked its way back into the second-place game by defeating No. 4 Seward 50-44 on Friday and topping No. 5 Nikiski 47-42 on Friday. The Seahawks end their season at 13-13, while Nikiski finishes 8-20.
The Seward boys (18-7) will play No. 3 Homer (9-17) at 2 p.m. for second place. The Seahawks are 3-0 against the Mariners this season, including a 69-39 victory in the first round of the tourney.
Homer worked its way to the second-place game by topping No. 5 Nikiski 60-33 and defeating No. 4 Kenai 60-52. The Bulldogs finish the campaign winless, while Kenai finishes at 7-19.
The Seahawks boys made the title tilt interesting, leading 11-10 after the first quarter and 21-19 at halftime. Grace led 30-29 after three quarters, then won the fourth 20-11.
Seward lost to Grace 79-42 on Jan. 27, then fell 54-46 on Feb. 27.
For Grace Christian, Kellen Jedlicka had 18, while Bristol Tobin and Robbie Annett had 10, Brayden Clarkson had 9 and Ashton Clarkson had 3.
For Seward, Ben Ambrosiani and Bergen Davis had 13, while Nick Ambrosiani had 10, and Talon Lemme and Emerson Cross each had 2.
Against Kenai for the Homer boys, CJ Burns had 17, while Lucas Story and Nathan Overson had 12, Einar Pederson had 9, Spencer Dye had 6 and Riley Huffman had 2.
For Kenai, Ben Harris had 14, while Miles Metteer had 12, Reid Titus had 9, Carter Felchle and William Wilson had 5, Trae Pitsch had 3, and Daniel Steffensen and Jacob Katzenberger had 2.
Against Nikiski for Homer boys, Spencer Dye pumped in 22, while CJ Burns had 10, Einar Pederson had 7, Lucas Story and Nathan Overson had 5, Justice Davidson had 4, Jamen Anderson had 3, and Riley Huffman and Ben Engebretsen had 2.
For Nikiski, Kevin Love and Seth Payne had 6, Carter Eiter, Kameron Bird and Dylan Hall had 5, Gavin Ley had 3, and Mylan Johnson, Ryder Maguire and Johnny Ralston had 1.
In the girls championship, Sophie Lentfer led the Grizzlies with 18, while Ella Boerger had 12, Olivia Jones had 9, Poppy Wiggers-Pidduck and MJ Van der Horst had 8, and Molly Schild had 2.
For Kenai, Ellsi Miller had 7, while Emma Beck and Emilee Wilson had 3, Grace Kahn had 2 and Alex Nelson had 1.
For the Homer girls against Nikiski, Channing Lowney and Minadora Reutov had 12, while Sydney Shelby had 10, Keagan Niebuhr had 5, Gracie Miotke had 4 and Madalyn Miotke had 2.
For Nikiski, Avery Ellis led the way with 14, while Alexa Iyatunguk had 13, Kailey Stynsberg had 7, Shelby Burman had 4, and Maggie Grenier and Mandee Roofe each had 2.
For the Homer girls against Seward, Sydney Shelby had 21, while Keagan Niebuhr had 14, and Channing Lowney and Gracie Miotke each had 2.
For Seward, Ava Jagielski had 12, while Robin Cronin had 10, Mikinley Williams, Natalie Sieminski and Stella Dow had 6, and Hailey Ingalls had 4.
