The Fort Yukon basketball teams continued their Kenai Peninsula trip with a pair of games against Ninilchik on Wednesday.
A day after being beaten by Cook Inlet Academy on a buzzer-beater, the Fort Yukon boys came away with a 71-59 win over Ninilchik, while the home team Ninilchik girls topped Fort Yukon 55-45.
Sam Mireles and Austin White combined for 41 points for the Ninilchik boys, but it was not enough to top the combined 49 points that Frank Carroll and Aaron Solomon scored for Fort Yukon. Solomon scored 10 points in the first quarter and 12 in the fourth quarter to end up with 31 total, while Carroll added 18. Mireles led Ninilchik with 21 points and White chipped in 20.
Fort Yukon staked out a 16-9 lead after the first quarter, which managed to hold up the rest of the game, even while Ninilchik stayed relatively even with the visiting Eagles for the final three periods of play.
Ninilchik girls 55, Fort Yukon 45
After a slow start, the Wolverines pulled away in the fourth quarter to top the visiting Eagles, hitting 9-of-16 from the free throw line in the final eight minutes.
Jordan Finney had a monster game for Ninilchik, scoring 28 points — including 13 in the fourth quarter — to lead all players. Teammate Olivia Delgado added 12 points.
Fort Yukon raced out to a 10-4 lead in the opening quarter, but Ninilchik slowly began to heat up, outscoring their opponents 12-6 in the second frame to keep a 16-16 tie at halftime.
After an even third quarter which resulted in a 32-all tie, Ninilchik notched 23 points in the fourth quarter to secure the win.
Both Ninilchik squads will face the Homer JV teams on Saturday.
Wednesday boys
Eagles 71, Wolverines 59
Ft. Yukon 16 19 16 20 —71
Ninilchik 9 14 17 19 —59
FT. YUKON (71) — Peter 1 3-7 5, Dayton 1 0-0 2, F. Carroll 8 1-3 18, J. Tremblay 0 0-2 0, Fields 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0, Solomon 14 3-4 31, P. Tremblay 0 0-0 0, J. Carroll 7 1-1 15. Totals 31 8-17 71.
NINILCHIK (59) — Koch 2 0-0 4, Appelhanz 0 1-4 1, Presley 4 3-5 11, Mireles 9 3-3 21, Geppert 1 0-0 2, Bartolowitz 0 0-0 0, Fidow 0 0-0 0, Pasqua 0 0-0 0, White 7 5-6 20. Totals 23 12-18 59.
3-point goals — Ft. Yukon 1 (F. Carroll); Ninilchik 1 (White). Fouled out — none.
Wednesday girls
Wolverines 55, Eagles 45
Ft. Yukon 10 6 16 13 —45
Ninilchik 4 12 16 23 —55
FT. YUKON (45) — Trembley 3 8-11 14, Van Dyke 7 3-4 19, Cadzow 1 0-0 2, Engler 0 0-0 0, Peter 2 0-0 5, Strom 2 0-0 5. Totals 15 11-15 45.
NINILCHIK (55) — Appelhanz 0 0-0 0, Delgado 4 4-10 12, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Sinclair 3 0-0 6, Goins 1 0-0 2, Finney 12 4-7 28, Mi. Clark 0 0-2 0, Me. Clark 2 3-5 7. Totals 22 11-24 55.
3-point goals — Ft. Yukon 4 (Van Dyke 2, Peter 1, Strom 1); Ninilchik 0. Fouled out — Peter, Strom.
