The Ninilchik girls, the No. 5 seed, fell to No. 4 Cordova 37-18 in the first round of the Class 2A Interior Conference tournament at Glennallen on Wednesday.
There are two girls state berths available at the tournament, so the Wolverines can still come back to take second. Ninilchik starts play in the second-place bracket Friday at 2 p.m. The last time Ninilchik made state was in 2018 at the Class 1A level.
For Ninilchik (5-16 overall), Riley Tucker had 12, Lily Berger had four and Kate Hendryx had two.
For Cordova, Alayna Cross and Shaunessi Schandel had 14, while Kate Flores had three, and Jheryel Itliong, Jade Sharky and Katie Pallas had two.
The Ninilchik boys, the defending Class 2A state champs and defending Interior Conference champs, are the top seed at the tournament. They open play at 3:30 p.m. today at the tourney.
