With the Cook Inlet Academy girls and boys basketball teams already having punched their tickets to the Class 1A state tournament by winning Class 1A Peninsula Conference crowns Saturday, other Kenai Peninsula teams at the Class 2A, 3A and 4A levels will chase state berths this weekend.
At the Class 4A level, the Soldotna girls and boys will play at the Northern Lights Conference tournament at Grace Christian Schools in Anchorage. The Stars girls and boys are both looking to return to state for the first time since 2019.
Both SoHi teams will need to move to the Saturday finals of the tournament to claim one of the two automatic berths to the state tournament.
There are two at-large berths to Class 4A state, which has eight teams each, for both the girls and boys, but those are determined by RPI rankings kept by the Alaska School Activities Association.
Heading into conference tournaments, the SoHi girls are 10th in the RPI rankings, while the Soldotna boys are 17th.
The SoHi girls are 2-8 in the league and open at 2:45 p.m. Thursday against Palmer. Soldotna is 1-2 against the Moose this season, with a win Dec. 21 and a pair of losses Feb. 28 and March 1.
If SoHi tops the Moose, top seed Wasilla stands between the Stars and a state berth.
The SoHi boys are 3-9 in the league and open at 4:30 p.m. Thursday against Colony. The Stars lost 59-54 to the Knights on Jan. 31 and 56-45 to the Knights on Feb. 1.
The Class 3A Peninsula Conference tournament will be held at Nikiski Middle-High School, with four teams in the girls tournament and three teams in the boys tournament.
There are two berths available to Class 3A state for both the girls and boys. Class 3A does not have at-large berths.
For the girls, the winners of the Friday semifinal games get the state berths.
Top seed Grace Christian plays No. 4 Homer at 3 p.m. Friday. To return to state, the Mariners will have to defeat the two-time defending Class 3A state champs.
The second girls semifinal features No. 2 Kenai Central and No. 3 Nikiski. Kenai was last to state in 2023, while Nikiski has not been since 2019.
The Bulldogs and Kardinals played twice this season and split those games.
The Homer boys already have their first state berth since 2022 by virtue of getting the No. 1 seed and advancing to the championship.
The second state berth will be determined when No. 2 Kenai plays No. 3 Nikiski at 5 p.m. Friday. The Kards will be looking to return to state for the first time since 2023, while Nikiski has not been since 2016.
The teams played twice this season and Kenai won by 20 and 39 points.
The Seward and Ninilchik teams will look for Class 2A state berths at the Southern Conference tournament at Lumen Christi in Anchorage.
Both the girls and boys tournaments get two state bids. There are no at-large berths to the Class 2A state tourney.
The Seward girls have not been to state since 2014, when the Seahawks were a Class 3A team, but Seward has the top seed in this tourney.
Seward is 6-0 in the league and has won 21 straight games. The Seahawks open at 6 p.m. Thursday against the winner of No. 5 Ninilchik and No. 4 Unalaska, which takes place at 6 p.m. Wednesday.
The Wolverines, who were last to state in 2018 when Ninilchik played at the Class 1A level, are winless in the conference.
A fierce battle for the state berths is shaping up on the boys side.
Seward was in line for the top seed before losing to top seed Susitna Valley on Friday and No. 5 seed Lumen on Saturday.
The Seahawks, who went to state last season at the Class 3A level, are now the No. 3 seed and open with No. 2 Ninilchik at 4:30 p.m. Thursday.
The Wolverines have been to Class 2A state the past three years, winning the state title in 2022 and 2023.
Ninilchik beat Seward 56-50 on Feb. 7, then lost to the Seahawks 85-66 on Feb. 21.
The winner of the Seward-Ninilchik game will advance to Friday’s championship, but must win that to secure a state berth.
The championship loser must come back and win Saturday against the survivor of the playback bracket.
Northern Lights Conference
At Grace Christian, Anchorage
GIRLS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Palmer vs. Soldotna, 2:45 p.m.
Game 2 — MCCA vs. Kodiak, 6:15 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Wasilla, 6:45 p.m.
Game 4 — Game 2 winner vs. Colony, 3:15 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:45 a.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 6 (Third place) — Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 11:45 a.m.
Game 7 (Fourth place) — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 3:15 p.m.
Championship — Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 6:45 p.m.
BOYS
Thursday’s games
Game 1 — Palmer vs. MCCA, 1 p.m.
Game 2 — Colony vs. Soldotna, 4:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Wasilla vs. Kodiak, 8 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Grace, 5 p.m.
Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 1:30 p.m.
Game 6 — Game 2 loser vs. Game 3 loser, 10 a.m.
Saturday’s games
Game 7 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 6 winner, 10 a.m.
Third place — Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 1:30 p.m.
Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m.
Peninsula Conference
At Nikiski Middle-High School
GIRLS
Friday’s games
Game 1 — Grace vs. Homer, 3 p.m.
Game 2 — Kenai vs. Nikiski, 7 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Third place — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon
Championship — Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4 p.m.
BOYS
Friday’s game
Game 1 — Kenai vs. Nikiski, 5 p.m.
Saturday’s game
Championship — Game 1 winner vs. Homer, 2 p.m.
Southern Conference
At Lumen Christi, Anchorage
GIRLS
Wednesday’s game
Game 1 — Unalaska vs. Ninilchik, 6 p.m.
Thursday’s game
Game 2 — Lumen vs. Su Valley, 3 p.m.
Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Seward, 6 p.m.
Friday’s game
Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 9 a.m.
Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6 (Championship) — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.
Satuday’s game
Second place — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 10:30 p.m.
BOYS
Wednesday’s game
Game 1 — Unalaska vs. Lumen, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday’s games
Game 2 — Seward vs. Ninilchik, 4:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Su Valley, 7:30 p.m.
Friday’s games
Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10:30 a.m.
Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 4 p.m.
Game 6 (Championship) — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday’s games
Second place — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, noon
