The top-seeded Ninilchik boys opened their Peninsula Conference tournament Wednesday night with a dominant 96-35 victory over the eighth-seeded Nanwalek boys at Homer High School.
The win advanced the Wolverines to Thursday’s 8 p.m. semifinal against Lumen Christi, a team that Ninilchik beat 85-23 earlier this season.
Dalton Geppert poured in 29 points to lead Ninilchik, getting a jump by scoring 10 points by the end of the first quarter. Garrett Koch added 18 points, Austin White had 17 and Tyler Presley notched 15.
Malachi Joseph scored 22 points to lead Nanwalek.
Ninilchik got off to a rocket start, leading 28-12 after one quarter and 50-24 at halftime. Geppert and Presley scored the Wolverine’s first 12 points to propell the No. 1 seeded team.
Ninilchik opened up a 76-31 lead after three quarters.
The win was the 31st straight for Ninilchik against 1A competition.
Nikolaevsk 57, CIA 35
The No. 3 Warriors picked off No. 6 Cook Inlet Academy with an opening-day win Wednesday evening in Homer.
The win advanced Nikolaevsk into today’s 5 p.m. semifinal against Birchwood Christian, which beat Kodiak ESS on Wednesday. The winner will play in Friday night’s championship game at 6:30 p.m. CIA dropped into the second-chance bracket with a 12:30 p.m. game today against Kodiak ESS.
Kalenik Molodih fueled Nikolaevsk with 18 points and teammate Nikit Fefelov chipped in 16 with two 3-pointers.
Noah Leaf led CIA with 15 points and Robert Walsh added 10.
After the Warriors got out to a 20-5 lead in the first quarter, the Eagles defense helped reel them back in with a 10-6 second-quarter effort, closing the gap to 26-15 at halftime. Molodih had 12 points at the half.
However, Nikolaevsk pulled away again in the third quarter to take a 43-28 lead, then iced the game in the fourth quarter.
Lumen Christi 78, Wasilla Lake 57
The No. 4 Lumen Christi boys took care of No. 5 Wasilla Lake to advance to the tournament semifinal round.
Despite Jordan Auldridge’s 29 points for Wasilla Lake, the Archangels escaped with the win on the back of 23 points from Chiebuka Lebechi and 21 points from Jarrett Fortune.
Wasilla Lake took an 11-9 lead early, but Lumen responded in the second quarter by outscoring the Warriors 27-19 to take a six-point lead at halftime.
Lumen pulled away in the third quarter by outscoring Wasilla 24-11.
Birchwood 61, Kodiak ESS 32
The No. 2 Birchwood Christian boys sailed off to victory over Kodiak ESS Wednesday evening to advance to the tournament semifinal round.
Birchwood will face Nikolaevsk for a chance to play in Friday’s final.
Collin Becker led Birchwood with 20 points and teammate Logan Wohrle added 17. Birchwood led 20-0 after one quarter and 32-8 at halftime.
Wednesday boys
Wolverines 96, Eagles 35
Nanwalek 12 12 7 4 — 35
Ninilchik 28 22 26 20 — 96
NANWALEK (35) — Demas 3 0-0 6, Wilson 0 1-2 1, Bales 0 0-0 0, Joseph 10 0-0 22, Moonin 0 0-0 0, Evans 3 0-0 6. Totals 16 1-2 35.
NINILCHIK (96) — Presley 7 0-2 15, Koch 9 0-0 18, Geppert 13 0-2 29, Clark 0 0-0 0, Bartolowits 4 0-0 8, Mumey 3 0-0 7, McGinnis 1 0-0 2, White 7 3-5 17. Totals 44 3-9 96.
3-point goals — Nanwalek 2 (Joseph 2); Ninilchik 5 (Geppert 3, Presley 1, Mumey 1).
Team fouls — Nanwalek 8; Ninilchik 7. Fouled out — none.
Warriors 57, Eagles 35
CIA 5 10 13 7 — 35
Nikolaevsk 20 6 17 14 — 57
CIA (35) — Moos 1 0-0 2, Cragg 0 0-0 0, Hammond 3 0-0 6, Walsh 4 0-0 10, Leaf 6 1-1 15, Grossl 0 2-3 2, Peterson 0 0-0 0, J. Leaf 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 3-4 35.
NIKOLAEVSK (57) — Molodih 9 0-0 18, Jones 0 0-0 0, Yakunin 0 0-0 0, N. Fefelov 7 0-0 16, Nikitenko 0 0-0 0, Z. Trail 3 0-0 6, M. Trail 4 1-2 9, Kalugin 4 0-1 8. Totals 27 1-3 57.
3-point goals — CIA 2 (Walsh 2); Nikolaevsk 2 (Fefelov 2).
Team fouls — CIA 3; Nikolaevsk 10. Fouled out — none.
