The Nikiski girls basketball team finished off an impressive run through the Lady Grizzly Hardwood Classic on Saturday in Anchorage by cruising past Sitka 47-28 in the championship game.
Sitka was No. 3 in Class 3A in the latest Winning Percentage Index release by the Alaska School Activities Association, while Nikiski was No. 4. The Bulldogs also defeated No. 6 Kotzebue on Thursday.
Nikiski dominated the championship game with defense, allowing just 14 points in the first three quarters. Heading into the final period, the Bulldogs had a 32-14 lead. Bethany Carstens had 23 points to lead Nikiski.
Monroe girls 34, Homer 23
The Rams used a big third quarter to take seventh place at the Lady Grizzly Hardwood Classic on Saturday in Anchorage.
The score was 11-10 at halftime, but Monroe won the third quarter 16-5.
Rylee Doughty had seven points to lead the Mariners.
Colony boys 58, Kenai 45
Chuck Martin has seen enough of the Kenai Kardinals.
“This game scared me to death,” Martin, Palmer’s head coach, said after the Moose grinded out a victory over the Kardinals Saturday at Palmer High School. “We’ve beat them three times. I sure hope we don’t run into them again. I don’t like familiarity.”
Palmer used Clayton Southwick’s 29 points and a stellar defensive effort in the fourth quarter to get past the Kards, and improve to 4-3 in Northern Lights Conference play.
The Moose led by only five at the end of the third, but Palmer held Kenai to only four points, and a single field goal, in the final eight minutes of play.
“This is the closest we’ve had to putting four quarters together,” Martin said. “We’re always going to go through little stretches where we don’t score. But we were really good defensively in the fourth quarter.”
The night before, Palmer led by more than 20 points, but saw its big advantage disappear. The Moose hung on to beat Soldotna. But Martin felt much better about his team’s win on Saturday.
“I think we played better,” Martin said. “Tonight, they got close, but it really wasn’t blowing a lead. They’re good. I don’t want to run into Kenai.”
Palmer jumped out to a 23-15 lead in the first, but the Kards played Palmer tough for the next two quarters.
“It’s a really good win today against a Kenai team I thought played really good in the second and third quarters,” Martin said. “Kenai’s got players.”
Southwick sparked the Moose early, scoring 14 of Palmer’s 23 first-quarter points. The total included a trio of 3s in the first eight minutes of play. The junior had 20 at halftime. Southwick also came through with seven of Palmer’s 12 points in the fourth. Payton Martin hit a pair of three-pointers and added nine points for Palmer.
Tristan Landry led Kenai with 10. Kalvin Daniels added nine, and Nick Beeson and Josh Jackman added eight each.
Kenai dropped to 1-8 in NLC play.
Kenai girls 49, Palmer 47, OT
The Kenai girls capped a three-day weekend in the Valley with an overtime win over Palmer.
Palmer senior Lorna Suaava hit the game-tying basket at the fourth-quarter buzzer to tie the score at 41 and force overtime, but the Kards edged the Moose 8-6 in the extra period to get the win. Brooke Satethite and Abby Beck each had buckets during the four-minute overtime, and Beck, Lara Creighton and Rebecca Miller combined to hit four free throws to help the Kards score the win.
Kenai held a lead for much of the first three quarters of play. Palmer jumped back into the game with a pair of key 3-pointers in the third quarter.
Abriana Busbey hit a 3 to tie the game at 28. Later in the third, Emma Uschmann hit another three-pointer to give the Moose the 32-30 advantage.
After Beck used a bucket to push Kenai ahead 37-35 with 1:59 left in the fourth, the NLC rivals traded the lead at the free-throw lines. Beck hit a pair of free throws with 42 seconds left to give the Kards the 41-38 lead. Busbey hit a free throw with 24 seconds left to cut Kenai’s lead to two.
Suaava’s game-tying bucket came with just a second left on the clock. Kassidy Bowman sent an inbounds pass to the paint to Suaava, who tied the game at 41.
Satathite scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Kards. She was 11 of 17 from the free throw line. Lara Creighton added 10 points in the win, and Beck chipped in nine.
Wasilla girls 52, Soldotna 27
McKenna Dinkel used a double-double to help the Warriors stay undefeated in Northern Lights Conference play.
Dinkel collected 19 points and 10 rebounds in Wasilla’s 52-27 win over the Soldotna Stars on Saturday at Wasilla High School. Cheyenne Green added 10 points and six rebounds for the Warriors, who improved to 9-0 in the conference. Maclaren Obremski added nine points.
Ituau Tuisaula led Soldotna with eight points, as the Stars dropped to 4-5 in the conference.
Wasilla boys 66, Soldotna 48
Host Wasilla used a well-rounded attack to top the Stars. Four of Wasilla’s five starters hit double digits in scoring. Daniel Headdings led the Warriors with 16, Reilly Devine added 14, Aeron Milliron finished with a dozen and Kobe Brown chipped in 10.
Caleb Spence led Soldotna with 13.
Wasilla improved to 9-0 in the NLC.
Birchwood boys 62, CIA 40
The Birchwood Christian boys won a Peninsula Conference game over Cook Inlet Academy in Soldotna on Saturday.
Noah Leaf scored a game-high 25 points for the Eagles on 13-for-15 shooting from the free-throw line, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the depth of Birchwood, which outscored CIA 23-10 in the second quarter to take a 38-19 lead at halftime.
Birchwood continued the onslaught in the third quarter by outscoring CIA 18-7.
Houston boys 48, Seward 36
The Hawks defeated the Seahawks to win a Saturday afternoon matchup of Southcentral Conference teams.
Nik Pahno and Hunter Kratz both scored 12 points to lead Seward.
Nome boys 53, Homer 38
Host Nome got past the Mariners for the nonconference weekend sweep. Koby Etzwiler had 15 for Homer, while Charles Rohr had 14.
Su-Valley Crowley Classic
The Nikolaevsk boys defeated Susitna Valley 49-39 on Saturday to win the Su-Valley Crowley Classic.
The Warriors led 15-12 after one quarter, 22-15 at halftime and 37-25 after three quarters.
Nikit Fefelov had 13 points for Nikolaevsk, while Kalenik Molodih added 12 points. Also for the Warriors, Anfim Kalugin had 10, Michael Trail had eight and Zachary Trail had six. Molodih added nine rebounds.
Michael Trail won the boys heart and hustle award for Nikolaevsk, while Nikit Fefelov was MVP and Kalenik Molodih and Nikit Fefelov made the all-tournament team.
Nikolaevsk girls 43, Tri-Valley 40
Nikolaevsk took a 19-10 lead after the first quarter and held on for third place at the Su-Valley Crowley Invitational.
Tri-Valley cut the lead to 26-22 at halftime, but Nikolaevsk was able to keep it there for the rest of the game.
Elizabeth Fefelov and Kristin Klaich had 11 points apiece for Nikolaevsk, while Markiana Yakunin had eight points, Vera Fefelov had seven points and Justina Fefelov had six points. Elizabeth Fefelov added 16 rebounds.
Justina Fefelov won the girls heart and hustle award for Nikolaevsk, while Elizabeth Fefelov and Vera Fefelov made the all-tournament team.
Saturday girls
Rams 34, Mariners 23
Monroe 7 4 16 7 — 34
Homer 4 6 5 8 — 23
MONROE CATHOLIC (34) — Grahek 1 0-1 2, Wallace 4 0-2 10, Michel 4 2-2 11, Leslie 0 0-0 0, Clemens 0 0-0 0, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Allen 0 0-0 0, Pelayo 0 0-0 0, Thomas 0 0-0 0, Hajdukovich 4 0-0 11, Purysar 0 0-0 0. Totals — 13 2-5 34.
HOMER (23) — Carroll 0 0-0 0, Reutov 2 0-0 5, Metz 0 0-0 0, Knott 0 0-0 0, Doughty 3 1-3 7, Todd 2 0-0 4, Parish 0 0-0 0, Bales 1 0-0 2, Gillette 0 0-0 0, Veldstra 1 0-0 3, Cole 0 0-0 0, Box 1 0-0 2. Totals — 10 1-3 23.
3-point goals — Monroe 6 (Hajdukovich 3, Wallace 2, Michel); Homer 2 (Reutov, Veldstra). Team fouls — Monroe 7, Homer 8. Fouled out — none.
Bulldogs 47, Wolves 28
Nikiski 10 11 11 15 — 47
Sitka 0 9 5 14 — 28
NIKISKI (47) — Wik 1 2-2 4, Pitt 3 0-0 6, Vollertsen 1 0-0 2, Carstens 9 2-3 23, Kornstad 1 2-2 5, Clark 2 0-0 5, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Porter 1 0-0 2. Totals — 18 6-7 47.
SITKA (28) — Kirby 0 0-0 0, Bayne 2 1-2 5, Sibayan 0 0-0 0, Vidad 2 0-0 4, Krupa 4 0-0 8, Boord 2 0-3 4, Forrester 2 3-4 7, Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals — 12 4-9 28.
3-point goals — Nikiski 5 (Carstens 3, Kornstad, Clark). Team fouls — Nikiski 9, Sitka 8. Fouled out — none.
Kardinals 49, Moose 47, OT
Kenai 11 9 8 13 8 — 49
Palmer 6 10 12 13 6 — 47
KENAI (49) — Calvert 1 0-1 2, Miller 1 3-4 5, Wilson 1 0-2 2, Creighto 4 2-6 10, Satathite 5 11-17 21, Beck 3 3-4 9; Totals: 15 19-34 49.
PALMER (47) — Pettingill 2 0-0 4, Busbey 5 7-12 19, Suaava 6 3-8 16, Uschmann 1 3-4 6, Sutton 1 0-0 2; Totals: 15 13-24 47.
Warriors 52, Stars 27
Soldotna 7 3 9 8 — 27
Wasilla 13 15 17 7 — 52
SOLDOTNA (27) — McGillivary 0 1-2 1, Miller 2 0-0 5, Blossom 2 0-0 4, A. Schmidt 1 3-4 5, Tuisaula 3 2-4 8, Kruse 0 2-2 2, D. Schmidt 1 0-0 2; Totals: 9 8-12 27.
WASILLA (52) — Davies 2 0-0 6, Obremski 4 0-0 9, Baham 1 0-0 3, Brandenburg 1 1-2 4, Lawhead 0 1-2 1, Dinkel 8 2-3 19, Green 4 2-4 10; Totals: 20 6-15 52.
Saturday boys
Knights 58, Kardinals 45
Kenai 15 10 16 4 —45
Palmer 23 11 12 12 — 58
KENAI CENTRAL (45) — Daniels 3 0-0 9, Beeson 4 0-0 8, Hieber 1 0-0 3, Beiser 3 1-2 7, Landry 3 3-3 10, Jackman 2 3-4 8; Totals: 16 7-9 45.
PALMER (58) — Osiensky 2 0-0 4, Martin 2 3-6 9, Hughes-Duffy 3 1-3 7, Southwick 11 4-10 29, Halbert 1 0-0 3, Eiman 3 0-2 6; Totals: 22 8-21 58.
Warriors 66, Stars 48
Soldotna 8 12 8 20 — 48
Wasilla 18 14 16 18 — 66
SOLDOTNA (48) — Truesdell 1 0-0 3, Trammel 2 0-0 4, Spence 6 0-1 13, Sheridan 2 0-0 6, Crowder 1 0-0 3, Evans 4 1-2 9, McElroy 1 4-5 6, Michael 1 3-5 5; Totals: 18 8-13 48.
WASILLA (66) — Brown 1 2-2 10, Headdings 4 5-5 16, R. Devine 6 2-2 14, Edwards 2 0-0 4, Fife 0 2-2 2, I. Houck 3 2-2 8, Milliron 8 0-8 12; Totals: 22 13-21 66.
Warriors 62, Eagles 40
Birchwood 14 23 18 6 — 62
Cook Inlet 9 10 7 14 — 40
BIRCHWOOD (62) — Fortenberry 1 0-0 2, Cramer 1 0-0 2, La. Wohrle 2 3-5 7, Reich 3 0-0 7, Nunley 2 2-2 6, Balas 6 0-0 16, Peterson 0 2-2 2, Hoover 0 0-0 0, Lo. Wohrle 0 0-0 0, Becker 7 3-3 17. Totals 22 10-13 62.
CIA (40) — Moos 1 0-0 2, Craig 0 0-0 0, Hammond 3 1-1 7, Walsh 0 0-0 0, Leaf 6 13-15 25, Grossl 1 0-5 2, Peterson 0 0-0 0, Anderson 1 0-0 2, J. Leaf 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 14-21 40.
3-point goals — Birchwood 5 (Balas 4, Reich 1); CIA 0.
Team fouls — Birchwood 15; CIA 13. Fouled out — Becker.
