This past weekend, the Cook Inlet Academy boys basketball team secured a spot in the Class 1A/2A state tournament from March 13 to 16 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage by winning the Class 1A Peninsula Conference.
This weekend, the bulk of the peninsula’s basketball programs have a chance to join the Eagles as state qualifiers.
Soldotna’s chance comes at the Northern Lights Conference tournament at Soldotna High School from Thursday through Saturday.
The tournament has two automatic berths to state for both the girls and boys. At Class 4A, there also are two at-large berths available to state. The 3A/4A state tournament is March 20 to 23 at the Alaska Airlines Center.
On the girls side, the No. 5 seed Stars open with No. 4 Palmer at 5:45 p.m. Thursday. The top three teams in the tournament are the top three teams in the state, according to the Alaska Sports Report/Class 4A Girls Coaches Poll.
Colony is the No. 1 seed, Wasilla is No. 2 and Mountain City Christian Academy is No. 3. That’s also the position for those teams in the poll.
The Soldotna boys are the No. 3 seed and open with No. 6 MCCA at 7:30 p.m. Colony is the No. 1 seed and Wasilla is No. 2, but none of the NLC boys teams have votes in the Alaska Sports Report Poll.
In Homer, the Mariners, Seward, Kenai, Nikiski and Grace Christian will battle for two state berths. There are no at-large berths to the 3A state tournament.
The top-seeded Grizzlies are the favorite to get berths for both the girls and boys and win the championships. That would leave the peninsula squads scrambling for the final berth.
On the girls side, Homer is the No. 2 seed, while Kenai is No. 3, Seward is No. 4 and Nikiski is No. 5. On the boys side, Seward is No. 2, while Homer is No. 3, Kenai is No. 4 and Nikiski is No. 5.
Ninilchik will play at the Interior Conference tournament in Nenana. That tournament has two state berths for both girls and boys, while there also is an at-large berth to state.
The Ninilchik girls start by facing Cordova at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. The Wolverines boys, the two-time defending Class 2A state champs, face the Susitna Valley-Effie Kokrine winner at 7:30 p.m. Thursday.
Northern Lights Conference tournament
At Soldotna High School
GIRLS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Soldotna vs. Palmer, 5:45 p.m.
Game 2 — MCCA vs. Kodiak, 2:15 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Colony, 1:30 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Wasilla, 5 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Third-place game — Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 10 a.m.
Fourth-place game — Third-place loser vs. Game 3 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m.
BOYS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Kodiak vs. Palmer, 4 p.m.
Game 2 — Soldotna vs. MCCA, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:45 a.m.
Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Colony, 3:15 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Wasilla, 6:45 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Third-place — Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 11:45 a.m.
Fourth-place — Third-place loser vs. Game 3 winner, 3:15 p.m.
Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:45 p.m.
Peninsula Conference tournament
at Homer High School
GIRLS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Seward vs. Nikiski, 10 a.m.
Game 2 — Homer vs. Kenai, 2 p.m.
Game 3 — Grace Christian vs. Game 1 winner, 6 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 2 p.m.
Championship — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Second place — Championship loser vs. Game 5 winner, noon
BOYS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Kenai vs. Nikiski, noon
Game 2 — Seward vs. Homer, 4 p.m.
Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Grace, 8 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon
Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 4 p.m.
Championship — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 8 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Second place — Championship loser vs. Game 5 winner, 2 p.m.
Interior Conference tournament
at Nenana
GIRLS
Wednesday’s game
Game 1 — Ninilchik vs. Cordova, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Game 2 — Su-Valley vs. Tok, 9 a.m.
Game 3 — Glennallen vs. Effie Kokrine, noon
Game 4 — Nenana vs. Game 1 winner, 3 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 6 — Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 9 a.m.
Game 7 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 5 loser, noon
Game 8 — Game 6 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 3 p.m.
Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 10 — Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 9 a.m.
Second place — Championship loser vs. Game 10 winner, 12:15 p.m.
BOYS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Tok vs. Nenana, 10:30 a.m.
Game 2 — Su-Valley vs. Effie Kokrine, 1:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Cordova vs. Game 1 winner, 4:30 p.m.
Game 4 — Ninilchik vs. Game 2 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 5 — Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 10:30 a.m.
Game 6 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 1:30 p.m.
Championship — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 8 — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, 10:30 a.m.
Second place — Championship loser vs. Game 8 winner, 1:45 p.m.
