The championship games today at the Peninsula Conference Tournament at Homer High School will feature the conference’s representatives at state from last season.
Ninilchik and Nikolaevsk will play for the championship on both the girls and boys sides, as those four squads all picked up wins in Thursday’s semifinals. The Wolverines swept the conference titles last season.
The boys title game will be at 6:30 p.m., while the girls play for the hardware at 8 p.m.
The loser of those title games still must come back and win Saturday to claim second place and a state berth.
On the girls side, Birchwood Christian and Lumen Christi will play at 3:30 p.m. Friday for a spot in Saturday’s 1 p.m. second-place game.
On the boys side, the second-place quarters feature Lumen Christi and Cook Inlet Academy at 2 p.m. today and Wasilla Lake Christian and Birchwood Christian at 5 p.m. today. The winners of those games meet in the second-place semis at 11:30 a.m. Saturday, then the second-place game is at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Ninilchik boys 80, Lumen Christi 21
The Wolverines bombed away for 16 3-pointers in returning to the conference championship.
Dalton Geppert led the way with seven treys on the way to 25 points, while Matt Bartolowits hit four trifectas in scoring 16. Also for the Wolverines, Tyler Presley had 17 and Austin White had 10.
Jarret Fortune had nine points to lead the Archangels.
Nikolaevsk boys 62, Birchwood Christian 38
Nikolaevsk returned to the finals with a comeback victory over Birchwood Christian.
Birchwood Christian jumped to a 19-16 lead after the first quarter, but Nikolaevsk led 29-21 by halftime and won the third quarter 20-8.
Kalenik Molodih had 24 points to lead the Warriors, while Nikit Fefelov pitched in with 13. For Birchwood, Tanner Reich and Collin Becker each had 10.
Ninilchik girls 57, Birchwood Christian 12
The defending champion Wolverines made a convincing return to the finals.
Ninilchik, which led 21-1 after one quarter, received 20 points from DeeAnn White and 19 from Olivia Delgado.
Maddy Carey and KiAra Sullivan each had five points for Birchwood Christian.
Nikolaevsk girls 43, Lumen Christi 29
The Warriors used stifling defense to return to the conference finals.
Lumen led 9-8 after the first quarter, but scored just 10 points in the next two quarters as Nikolaevsk opened up a 35-19 lead.
Markiana Yakunin had 15 points for the Warriors, while Elizabeth Fefelov had 10 points. Chiamaka Lebechi and Maeve Bakic each had nine points for the Archangels.
CIA boys 62, Kodiak ESS 41
The Eagles kept their season alive behind 20 points from Noah Leaf.
Cook Inlet Academy, which blew open a close game with a 21-5 third quarter, also received 16 points from Brady Hammond.
Gunnar Nelson had 15 points for Kodiak ESS, while Chris Phillips added 12. Kodiak ESS saw its season end.
Wasilla Lake boys 60, Nanwalek 56
The Rams received 21 points from Jadin Kurtz and 19 points from Jordan Auldridge in ending Nanwalek’s season.
Nanwalek trailed 36-26 at halftime, and made up one point in the third quarter and five in the fourth quarter.
Malachi Joseph had 32 points to lead Nanwalek, while Marcus Wilson pitched in with 10 points.
Thursday boys
Rams 60, Eagles 56
Nanwalek 16 10 12 18 — 56
Wasilla Lake 17 19 11 13 — 60
NANWALEK (56) — Demas 1 1-2 3, Wilson 5 0-0 10, Bales 1 0-1 2, Joseph 14 1-2 32, Moonin 2 1-4 5, Evans 0 4-5 4.
WASILLA LAKE CHRISTIAN (60) — Dean 1 0-0 2, Venson 1 0-1 2, Kurtz 8 5-9 21, Shephard 4 0-0 9, Auldridge 8 2-4 19, Wilson 1 3-5 5, Roper 1 0-0 2. Totals — 22 9-18 60.
3-point goals — Nanwalek 3 (Joseph 3); Wasilla Lake 2 (Shephard, Auldridge). Team fouls — Nanwalek 18, Wasilla Lake 20. Fouled out — Bales, Evans.
Eagles 62, Kodiak ESS 41
Kodiak ESS 10 11 5 15 — 41
Cook Inlet 8 12 21 21 — 62
KODIAK ESS (41) — Phillips 4 0-0 12, Reed 0 0-0 0, Inga 0 0-0 0, Tr. Amodo 0 0-0 0, Te. Amodo 2 0-0 5, Reft 0 0-0 0, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Bogardus 0 0-0 0, Simeonoff 0 0-0 0, P. Nelson 2 1-2 7, G. Nelson 7 0-0 15, vonScheele 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 1-2 41.
COOK INLET ACADEMY (62) — Moos 2 1-1 5, Cragg 0 0-0 0, Hammond 6 2-2 16, Walsh 2 1-4 8, N. Leaf 9 2-7 20, Grossl 3 1-2 6, Peterson 0 0-0 0, J. Leaf 3 1-4 7. Totals — 25 8-20 62.
3-point goals — Kodiak ESS 6 (Phillips 4, Te. Amodo, G. Nelson); CIA 3 (Hammond 2, Walsh). Team fouls — Kodiak ESS 16, Cook Inlet 3 (Hammond 2, Walsh). Fouled out — none.
Nikolaevsk 62, Birchwood 38
Nikolaevsk 16 13 20 13 — 62
Birchwood Christian 19 2 8 9 — 38
NIKOLAEVSK (62) — Molodih 10 3-5 24, Jones 1 0-0 2, Yakunin 0 0-0 0, Fefelov 4 3-3 13, Nikitenko 0 2-2 2, Z. Trail 3 0-0 7, M. Trail 3 0-0 6, Kalugin 3 2-4 8. Totals — 24 10-14 62.
BIRCHWOOD CHRISTIAN (38) — Fortenbetty 0 1-2 1, La. Wohrle 2 2-2 7, Reich 4 0-0 10, Nunley 0 0-0 0, Balos 1 0-0 2, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Hoover 0 0-0 0, Lo. Wohrle 3 2-6 8, Becker 5 0-0 10. Totals — 15 5-10 38.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 4 (Fefelov 2, Molodih, Z. Trail); Birchwood Christian 3 (Reich 2, La. Wohrle). Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 8, Birchwood 3 (Reich 2, La. Wohrle). Fouled out — none.
Wolverines 80, Archangels 21
Lumen Christi 7 5 4 5 — 21
Ninilchik 15 28 24 13 — 80
LUMEN CHRISTI (21) — Merell 0 0-0 0, Kretchik 0 0-0 0, Fortune 3 3-6 9, May 0 0-0 0, Nagel 1 0-0 3, Streff 1 0-0 2, Bernert 0 0-0 0, Novcaski 1 0-0 2, Loeffler 0 0-0 0, Lebechi 2 1-4 5, Samuelson 0 0-0 0. Totals — 8 4-10 21.
NINILCHIK (80) — Presley 5 5-6 17, Koch 0 2-5 2, Geppert 8 2-2 25, Clark 1 0-0 2, Bartolowits 6 0-1 16, Mumey 3 0-0 8, McGinnis 0 0-0 0, White 4 1-4 10. Totals — 27 10-18 80.
3-point goals — Lumen Christi 1 (Nagel); Ninilchik 16 (Geppert 7, Bartolowits 4, Presley 2, Mumey 2, White). Team fouls — Lumen Christi 18, Ninilchik 9. Fouled out — Streff.
Thursday girls
Warriors 43, Archangels 29
Nikolaevsk 8 9 18 8 — 43
Lumen Christi 9 3 7 10 — 29
NIKOLAEVSK (43) — S. Klaich 0 0-0 0, K. Klaich 1 1-2 3, Yakunin 5 4-6 15, J. Fefelov 0 0-0 0, Johnson 1 0-0 3, Lasiter 0 0-0 0, E. Fefelov 5 0-2 10, V. Fefelov 2 2-5 8, Brown 0 0-0 0, Mametieff 2 0-0 4, Hickman 0 0-0 0. Totals — 16 7-15 43.
LUMEN CHRISTI (29) — Estes 1 0-0 2, Lebechi 4 1-2 9, Bakic 4 0-0 9, Dumas 1 0-0 2, Martin 2 0-0 4, Loeffler 1 1-3 3, McCormick 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 2-5 29.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 4 (V. Fefelov 2, Johnson, Yakunin); Lumen Christi 1 (Bakic 1). Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 4, Lumen Christi 13. Fouled out — none.
Wolverines 57, Warriors 12
Birchwood 1 6 4 1 — 12
Ninilchik 21 11 17 8 — 57
BIRCHWOOD (12) — Rios 1 0-1 2, Carruba 0 0-0 0, Kallander 0 0-0 0, Becker 0 0-0 0, Carey 2 1-3 5, Patterson 0 0-0 0, Jensen 0 0-0 0, Sullivan 2 1-2 5. Totals — 5 2-6 12.
NINILCHIK (57) — Delgado 6 7-8 19, Kain 0 2-2 2, Kreger 1 1-2 3, Johnson 2 0-3 4, White 9 2-2 20, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Pinnow 1 0-0 2, Clark 3 1-4 7. Totals — 22 13-21 57.
3-point goals — none. Team fouls — Birchwood 16, Ninilchik 9. Fouled out — none.
