The Nikolaevsk boys punched their ticket to the Peninsula Conference championship game with a narrow semifinal win Thursday night, and they can thank a former rival for it.
The third-seeded Warriors prevailed 45-43 over second-seeded Lumen Christi, host of the tournament, taking the lead for good on a 3-pointer from JD Mumey with nine seconds left. Mumey previously played for Ninilchik, winners of the last two Peninsula Conference crowns, but transferred to Nikolaevsk this year.
Nikolaevsk will face Birchwood Christian 8 p.m. tonight for the title.
In Thursday’s semi, Nikolaevsk led most of the way, but Lumen clawed back and Lam Puoy connected on a go-ahead bucket with 26 seconds left to put the Archangels up 43-42.
Nikolaevsk came down the court and responded by getting Mumey the ball to retake the lead with nine ticks left on the clock. After that, Lumen missed a free throw opportunity and Nikolaevsk’s Kalenik Molodih was fouled. Molodih tipped the foul shot up for a rebound, and Lumen came down with the ball, but ran out of time.
Mumey finished with 11 points, while teammates Michael Trail, Sage Stanish and Molodih all also had 11. The quartet accounted for all but one of Nikolaevsk’s points. Puoy had 18 to lead Lumen.
Nikolaevsk lost to Birchwood 43-37 earlier this season, a game that was tied 21 apiece at halftime, and Klaich said his Warriors squad can pull out the conference title if they can avoid lapses in execution.
“The name of the game is to play a consistent four quarters,” Klaich said. “We can be there if we play a full game.”
In the tournament’s other semifinal, Birchwood Christian stomped on two-time defending Peninsula Conference champs Ninilchik with a 66-25 win. Ninilchik dropped into an elimination game against Nanwalek today at 1:30 p.m.
Birchwood had 11 players get into the scoring column Thursday, led by the 11 points of Logen Wohrle. Ninilchik was paced by Tristan White’s eight. Birchwood led 18-4 after one quarter and 31-11 at halftime.
In girls action, the Ninilchik girls stamped their name in the tournament title game with a 31-15 semifinal win over Cook Inlet Academy. The Wolverines will face Lumen Christi for the chance to win their second conference crown in three years tonight at 6:30 p.m. Lumen staked their claim in the title game with a Wednesday win over Nikolaevsk.
DeeAnn White netted 19 points to lead the Wolverines, while Adara Warren scored eight to pace the Eagles.
Ninilchik shook off a slow start by outscoring CIA 13-3 in the second quarter to grab a 21-6 halftime lead, and hung on from there. White had 17 points by halftime. Olivia Delgado began to take over for Ninilchik in the second half, scoring six in the third quarter.
Nikolaevsk girls 48, Birchwood 21
The Warriors had to win Thursday’s elimination game over Birchwood Christian to stay alive, and did so with a dominant win. The Warriors will face CIA today at 4:30 p.m. for a chance to play in Saturday’s second-place game, which sends one team to state.
Markiana Yakunin poured in 21 points for Nikolaevsk, starting with 13 in the first quarter, while Elizabeth Fefelov added 17.
The Warriors wasted no time Thursday after losing Wednesday’s semifinal, building up a quick 23-2 lead in the first quarter and leading 28-8 at halftime. Nikolaevsk outscored Birchwood 12-8 in the third to ice the victory.
Wasilla Lake boys 70, CIA 38
The Cook Inlet Academy boys’ season ended Thursday with an elimination-game loss to Wasilla Lake. The Eagle lost Wednesday’s quarterfinal to Birchwood Christian, dropping into Thursday’s loser-out bracket.
Wasilla’s Jaden Kurtz exploded for 31 points, scoring 10 points in the second quarter and 12 in the third. Hunter Moos led CIA with nine and Robert Walsh had eight.
Wasilla Lake led 29-20 at halftime, then won the third quarter 26-14 to grab a 21-point lead.
Nanwalek boys 36, Kodiak ESS 33
The Nanwalek boys escaped elimination with a close victory Thursday over Kodiak ESS.
Uriah Huntsman led Nanwalek with 18 points.
Nanwalek started fast in the win, grabbing a 12-4 lead in the first quarter, and led 19-12 at halftime.
The team won the third quarter to take a 29-18 lead, but Kodiak ESS came storming back in the fourth, outscoring Nanwalek 15-7 but ultimately falling short.
Thursday girls
Wolverines 31, Eagles 15
Ninilchik 8 13 8 2 —31
CIA 3 3 7 2 —15
NINILCHIK (31) — Delgado 3 0-0 6, Jasper 0 0-0 0, Robuck 0 0-0 0, Corey 0 0-0 0, Koch 1 0-0 2, White 7 4-6 19, Cooper 2 0-0 4, Okonok 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 4-6 31.
COOK INLET (15) — Delon 1 0-0 3, Hyatt 0 0-0 0, Cragg 0 0-0 0, Cizek 2 0-0 4, Hammond 0 0-0 0, Warren 3 2-3 8. Totals 6 2-3 15.
3-point goals — Ninilchik 1 (White); CIA 1 (Delon).
Team fouls — Ninilchik 3, CIA 6. Fouled out — none.
Nikolaevsk 48, Birchwood 21
Nikolaevsk 23 5 12 8 —48
Birchwood 2 6 8 5 —21
NIKOLAEVSK (48) — S. Klaich 0 0-0 0, K. Klaich 2 0-0 4, Z. Fefelov 2 0-0 4, Lasiter 0 0-0 0, Yakunin 10 0-0 21, Brown 0 0-0 0, Mametieff 0 0-0 0, J. Fefelov 1 0-0 2, Hickman 0 0-0 0, E. Fefelov 8 1-2 17. Totals 23 1-2 48.
BIRCHWOOD (21) — Clark 2 0-0 4, Kallander 1 0-0 2, Becker 1 0-2 2, Becker 1 0-0 2, Rios 0 0-0 0, Tiner 3 1-4 7, Denny 0 0-0 0, Kaas 2 0-2 4. Totals 10 1-8 21.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 1 (Yakunin); Birchwood 0.
Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 8, Birchwood 5. Fouled out — none.
Thursday boys
Warriors 45, Archangels 43
Nikolaevsk 15 9 11 10 —45
Lumen Christi 9 8 16 10 —43
NIKOLAEVSK (45) — Molodih 3 4-10 11, Fefelov 0 0-0 0, Stanish 3 5-9 11, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Nikitenko 0 1-3 1, Mumey 4 0-0 11, Trail 4 3-3 11. Totals 14 13-25 45.
LUMEN CHRISTI (43) — Puoy 7 3-4 18, Bennett 1 5-5 7, Lych 0 0-0 0, Bernert 1 0-0 2, Bennett 4 1-3 11, Loeffler 2 1-2 5. Totals 15 10-14 43.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 4 (Mumey 3, Molodih 1); Lumen Christi 3 (Bennett 2, Puoy 1).
Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 14, Lumen Christi 17. Fouled out — Trail.
Birchwood 66, Ninilchik 25
Birchwood 18 13 14 21 —66
Ninilchik 4 7 10 4 —25
BIRCHWOOD (66) — Swanberg 1 4-4 6, Reich 1 0-0 2, Swanberg 3 0-0 7, Wohrle 2 0-0 4, Reich 3 0-0 9, Wohrle 4 1-2 11, Balos 1 2-2 5, Cramer 1 0-0 3, Nunley 0 0-0 0, Peterson 3 1-2 7, Alexander 4 1-6 9, King 1 0-0 3. Totals 24 9-16 66.
NINILCHIK (25) — Nelson 2 0-0 6, Corey 0 0-0 0, Koch 3 0-0 6, Hadro 0 0-0 0, Clark 2 1-2 5, McGinnis 0 0-0 0, White 4 0-0 8, Mumey 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 1-2 25.
3-point goals — Birchwood 9 (Reich 3, Wohrle 2, Swanberg 1, Balos 1, Cramer 1, King 1); Ninilchik 2 (Nelson 2).
Team fouls — Birchwood 11, Ninilchik 13. Fouled out — none.
Warriors 70, Eagles 38
CIA 8 12 14 4 —38
Wasilla Lake 17 12 26 15 —70
COOK INLET (38) — Moos 3 3-7 9, Johnson 2 1-4 5, Cragg 2 0-0 6, Walsh 3 0-0 8, Anderson 1 1-2 3, Boyd 2 1-2 6, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Leaf 0 1-3 1. Totals 13 7-18 38.
WASILLA LAKE (70) — Cramer 6 0-2 13, Vinson 0 0-0 0, Cliver 0 0-0 0, Schoolfield 1 0-0 2, Kurtz 14 2-7 31, Shepard 0 0-0 0, Auldridge 3 3-4 9, Keena 0 0-0 0, Bracken 3 0-0 6, Roper 0 0-0 0, Waddell-Brown 4 0-2 9. Totals 31 5-15 70.
3-point goals — CIA 5 (Walsh 2, Cragg 2, Boyd 1); Wasilla Lake 3 (Cramer 1, Kurtz 1, Waddell-Brown 1).
Team fouls — CIA 13, Wasilla Lake 19. Fouled out — none.
Nanwalek 36, Kodiak ESS 33
Kodiak ESS 4 8 6 15 —33
Nanwalek 12 7 10 7 —36
KODIAK ESS (33) — Inga 5 0-0 11, Amodo 2 1-2 5, Bircher 2 0-0 4, Amodo 1 0-0 3, Mullan 3 0-0 6, Bogardus 1 0-0 2, Gunderson 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 1-2 33.
NANWALEK (36) — Demas 3 0-1 6, Jimmy 1 0-1 2, Wilson 1 1-3 3, Bales 0 1-5 1, Jimmy 0 0-0 0, Moorin 3 0-0 6, Huntsman 9 0-6 18. Totals 17 2-16 36.
3-point goals — Kodiak ESS 2 (Inga 1, Amodo 1); Nanwalek 0.
Team fouls — Kodiak ESS 14, Nanwalek 5. Fouled out — none.
