The Nikiski and Kenai Central girls won first-round games Thursday at the ACS Pepsi Invitational in Anchorage, while the Kenai Central and Soldotna boys dropped first-round games.

In girls action, the Bulldogs topped First Christian Academy of Florida 54-10, while the Kardinals defeated Kotzebue 52-27.

In boys action, the Kardinals fell 72-64 to Barrow, while the Stars suffered a 59-48 loss to Eielson.

The Nikiski and Kenai girls meet in the semifinals today at 4 p.m. The Kenai boys face First Christian Academy, a 59-13 loser to Valdez, in the consolation bracket at 10:30 a.m. The Stars take on Hutchison, a 96-66 loser to ACS, in the consolation bracket at 1:30 p.m.

For the Nikiski girls, Bethany Carstens led the way with 16 points, while Lillian Carstens pitched in 12 and Kelsey Clark added 10. For First Christian Academy, Ashley Mowrer and Annmarie Mowrer each had three.

For the Kenai girls, Brooke Satathite and Elizabeth Hanson each had 11 points, while Alanna Conwell poured in 15 for Kotzebue to lead all scorers.

Kenai led 12-7 after the first quarter, then took control by winning the second quarter 14-4.

The Barrow and Kenai boys were tied at 18 after the first quarter, but the Whalers took a 37-32 lead at the half. The squads played to a 15-all draw in the third before Barrow won the final frame 20-17.

Anthony Fruean had 26 points to pace the Whalers, while Jefferson Nobleza added 25. For the Kards, Evan Stockton exploded for 28 points to lead all scorers, while Andrew Bezdecny had 16 and Adam Trujillo pitched in 11.

Eielson took a 12-7 lead after the first quarter before Soldotna cut the gap to 25-21 at halftime. But the Ravens opened up a 46-32 advantage heading into the final quarter.

Brock Renson paced Eielson with 15 points, while Christian Bolton and Jaydenn Manibusan each had 11 points.

For the Stars, Jersey Truesdell led the way with 13 points.

Thursday girls

Bulldogs 54, Lions 10

Nikiski 19 10 14 11 — 54

FCA 0 5 5 0 — 10

NIKISKI (54) — Jeffreys 3, Wik 2, L. Carstens 12, Bostic 2, Johnson 2, B. Carstens 16, B. Epperheimer 2, Clark 10, S. Epperheimer 0, Hooper 0, Riechert 3, Zimmerman 2. Totals — 24 4-5 54.

FIRST CHRISTIAN ACADEMY (10) — As. Mowrer 3, Ch. Phillips 0, Brown 0, Jennings 0, Sullivan 0, C. Poyner 2, F. Poyner 0, Nugent 3, An. Mowrer 2, Keene 0, Co. Phillips 0. Totals — 3 2-8 10.

3-point goals — Nikiski 2 (B. Carstens, Reichert); FCA 2 (As. Mowrer, Nugent). Team fouls — Nikiski 8, FCA 8. Fouled out — none.

Kardinals 52, Huskies 27

Kenai 12 14 14 12 — 52

Kotzebue 7 4 9 7 — 27

KENAI CENTRAL (52) — Calvert 6, Villegas 0, Pierce 2, Hamilton 8, Maw 4, Hanson 11, Streiff 2, L. Satathite 6, Severson 2, B. Satathite11, Reis 0. Totals — 24 2-8 52.

KOTZEBUE (27) — Gallahorn 3, Sheldon 0, Short 0, Martin 2, Schaeffer 0, Baker 0, Swanson 5, Thomas 0, Hughes 2, Conwell 15. Totals — 8 10-18 27.

3-point goals — Kenai 2 (Hanson, B. Satathite); Kotzebue 1 (Gallahorn). Team fouls — Kenai 15, Kotzebue 8. Fouled out — none.

Thursday boys

Whalers 72, Kardinals 64

Barrow 18 19 15 20 — 72

Kenai 18 14 15 17 — 64

BARROW (72) — Unutoa 9, K. Nobleza 3, Matthews 4, Mongoyak 4, Texeira II 1, Weyiouanna 0, J. Nobleza 25, Fruean 26, Elliot 0. Totals — 27 11-18 72.

KENAI CENTRAL (64) — Efta 3, Felchle 4, Baker 2, Custodio 0, Bezdecny 16, Stockton 28, Trujillo 11, Pitsch 0, McKibben 0. Totals — 23 13-20 64.

3-point goals — Barrow 7 (Fruean 3, J. Nobleza 3, K. Nobleza 1); Kenai 5 (Stockton 4, Trujillo). Team fouls — Barrow 13, Kenai 12. Fouled out — none.

Ravens 59, Stars 48

Soldotna 7 14 11 16 — 48

Eielson 12 13 21 13 — 59

SOLDOTNA (48) — Rich 3, Morrison 8, Chumley 9, Truesdell 13, Kant 4, Wells 2, Rosin 0, Michael 9, Denna 0. Totals — 18 5-10 48.

EIELSON (59) — Bolton 11, Tucker 0, Scarboro 8, Ford 8, Castro 0, Minibusan 11, Scott 6, Renson 15. Totals — 26 4-7 59.

3-point goals — Soldotna 7 (Chumley 3, Truesdell 3, Rich); Eielson 3 (Manibusan 3). Team fouls — Soldotna 12, Eielson 10. Fouled out — none.