Holiday vacation doesn’t mean there’s nothing happening for prep basketball teams.
Peninsula teams began weekend tournaments Thursday with the Clarke Cochrane Christmas Classic in Ketchikan and the Joe Floyd Christmas tournament in Kodiak.
In Ketchikan, the Soldotna girls got the weekend underway with a 71-30 victory over Craig, sending the Stars to Friday’s semifinals with a 4 p.m. date with Thunder Mountain.
Brittani Blossom scored a game-high 22 points for SoHi while Aliann Schmidt netted 18, Ituau Tuisaula had 12 and Danica Schmidt posted 11.
Soldotna used stifling defense in the first half to grab a 43-13 lead, which helped the Stars cruise to the win in the final 16 minutes.
On the boys side of the bracket, SoHi came agonizingly short of toppling a Class 4A team from Oregon, the Philomath Warriors, falling 56-54 in overtime thanks to a buzzer-beater bucket. Philomath outscored SoHi 5-3 in the extra period, with SoHi’s only points coming on a Ray Chumley 3-pointer.
The loss left the Stars in a 2:15 p.m. Friday matchup with the winner of Thursday’s late game between Metlakatla and Ketchikan.
SoHi head coach Nolan Rose said in a text that Soldotna had a free-throw attempt with a chance to break a tied game with seven seconds left in OT, but the Warriors rebounded the missed foul shot and drove the length of the floor to sink the winning shot.
Rose said that not only is Soldotna playing its first varsity game of the year against a team that played its ninth, but Stars junior point guard Jersey Truesdell fouled out of the game with two minutes left in regulation, leaving one of SoHi’s most potent scorers on the bench at the end.
Chumley finished with a team-high 18 points for SoHi, while Truesdell and Tommy Wells scored 11 apiece.
Philomath led 39-33 heading into the fourth quarter, but SoHi used an 18-12 rally in the fourth quarter to tie it at 51-all and force OT.
Also in Ketchikan, the Nikiski boys lost to the Lewis and Clark Tigers 71-26. The Tigers are from Spokane, Washington. The loss dropped Nikiski into the fourth-place bracket with a Friday matchup with Bishop Blanchet at 10:45 a.m. Bishop Blanchet lost Thursday to Palmer.
Nikiski struggled to break through the Lewis and Clark defense, as Shane Weathers led the Bulldogs with nine points. Senior guard Jace Kornstad was held to six points, all in the first quarter, and Noah Litke also had six. Lewis and Clark had four players in double-digit scoring, led by Griffin Effenberger’s 16 points.
The Tigers went up 32-11 on Nikiski at halftime, then outscored the Bulldogs 23-8 in the third quarter to stake a 55-19 lead en route to the win.
Joe Floyd Christmas tournament
Down in Kodiak, the Ninilchik girls lost 30-20 to Kodiak, while the Ninilchik boys lost to Kodiak 63-25.
Friday’s action in Kodiak tips off with the Ninilchik boys taking on Bethel at 1 p.m. and the Ninilchik girls taking their shot at 4:30 p.m. against Bethel’s girls team.
In the girls game, Madi Cooper led the Wolverines with six points, while teammates Autumn Calabrese and Jancee Corey netted five points each. Against the Class 4A Bears, Ninilchik kept it close but had trouble scoring as Kodiak led 12-5 at halftime and 18-11 after the third quarter.
In the boys contest, Roberto Giron went off for 20 points, including 10 in the second quarter, to fuel the Bears. The Wolverines were paced by Garrett Koch’s 12 points.
Thursday girls
Stars 71, Panthers 30
Soldotna 20 23 15 13 —71
Craig 10 3 11 6 —30
SOLDOTNA (71) — McGillivray 0, Buckbee 0, Blossom 22, A. Schmidt 18, Bouscher 2, Tuisaula 12, Leadens 2, Crosby-Schneider 4, D. Schmidt 11.
CRAIG (30) — Johnson 0, Ruenham 0, Yates 8, Hansen 7, Bird 0, Johnson 5, Skan-Allen 8, Stumph 2, Bird 0.
3-point field goals — Soldotna 3 (Blossom 2, D. Schmidt 1); Craig 2 (Skan-Allen 2).
Team fouls — Soldotna 13; Craig 10. Fouled out — none.
Bears 30, Wolverines 20
Ninilchik 2 3 6 9 —20
Kodiak 8 4 6 12 —30
NINILCHIK (20) — Okonek 2, Jasper 0, Calabrese 5, Robuck 2, Corey 5, Cooper 6, S. Calabrese0, DehBoer 0, Ofstad 0, Okonek 0.
KODIAK (30) — Taboy 0, Quiambao 5, Medrano 0, Fangonilo 0, Gumtang 2, Bartel 6, Berg 6, Mangrobang 10, Nixon 1.
3-point field goals — Ninilchik 0; Kodiak 1 (Quiambao).
Team fouls — Ninilchik 14; Kodiak 13. Fouled out — none.
Thursday boys
Warriors 56, Stars 54
Soldotna 12 14 7 18 3 —54
Philomath 18 8 13 12 5 —56
SOLDOTNA (54) — Rich 5, Morrison 3, Chumley 18, Truesdell 11, Kant 2, Wells 11, Rosin 0, Michael 4, Denna 0.
PHILOMATH (56) — Lundy 4, Snuggerud 15, Hellesto 0, Stueve 6, Kantor 2, Manning 6, Reams 4, Bennett 2, Bratt 17, Roe 0, Edwards 0.
3-point field goals — Soldotna 10 (Chumley 3, Truesdell 3, Wells 3, Rich 1); Philomath 1 (Snuggerud).
Team fouls — Soldotn 17; Philomath 13. Fouled out — Truesdell, Stueve.
Tigers 71, Bulldogs 26
Lewis/Clark 19 13 23 16 —71
Nikiski 8 3 8 7 —26
LEWIS/CLARK (71) — Proost 7, Effenberger 16, Cleary 4, Merritt 15, Guillory 11, Scarlett 2, Sayer 5, Flaherty 1, Blockman 0, Carney 0, Schofield 10.
NIKISKI (26) — Mysing 3, Weathers 9, Smith 0, Kornstad 6, Handley 0, Litke 6, Payne 0, DeSiena 0, Gray 2.
3-point field goals — Nikiski 5 (Litke 2, Kornstad 1, Weathers 1, Mysing 1); Lewis and Clark 5 (Effenberger 3, Merritt 1, Sayer 1).
Team fouls — Nikiski 7; Lewis and Clark 9. Fouled out — none.
Bears 63, Wolverines 25
Ninilchik 8 5 9 3 —25
Kodiak 14 22 20 7 —63
NINILCHIK (25) — Nelson 3, Hadro 5, Koch 12, Clark 2, Moore 0, Devila 0, Lemons 3, Moto 0, Mumey 0.
KODIAK (63) — Giron 20, Galindo 7, Penamora 8, Vinberg-Barnett 1, Caldejon 4, Nocon 11, Macatuno 10, Docolaro 2, Bartel 0.
3-point field goals — Ninilchik 2 (Nelson 1, Koch 1); Kodiak 7 (Nocon 3, Macatuno 2, Penamora 1, Galindo 1).
Team fouls — Ninilchik 11; Kodiak 14. Fouled out — Koch.
