PALMER — After jumping out to a quick 11-0 lead, the Houston Hawks comfortably cradled its double-digit lead for more than three quarters.
But late in the game, all of a sudden, it was gone.
Houston overcame a late Soldotna push to edge the Stars 41-40 during the final day of the Palmer Elks Showdown Saturday afternoon at Palmer High School. The Hawks survived Soldotna’s 24-point fourth quarter and a pair of Stars 3-pointers during the final 15 seconds of play to improve to 1-2 in the four-team, round-robin tournament. The Stars also finished 1-2 in the tourney with the loss.
“For three quarters we were fantastic, but we kind of ran out of gas a little bit at the end,” Houston head coach Steve Henderson said after the victory.
Soldotna’s Caleb Spence hit a 3-pointer from the corner with about 15 seconds left to cut Houston’s lead to 41-37. After Houston turned the ball over on the ensuing inbound pass, Kyle Marcuson buried another three during the final seconds, but that would be the final possession of the game for the Stars.
Houston’s Kendell Ruta hit a key 3-pointer earlier in the quarter and Kade Taylor was 3 for 4 from the free-throw line during the final 1:13 to help the Hawks hang on to the win.
“Obviously you don’t want to win a game that way, but the fact we pulled it out, we can use that. It teaches us a lot,” Henderson said.
After going without a 3-pointer for the first three quarters of the game, Soldotna hit five shots from beyond the arc during the fourth. Marcuson hit a pair of late 3-pointers. Eli Sheridan and Brandon Crowder also had threes in the fourth. That came after Houston held Soldotna to a combined 16 points during the first three quarters. Soldotna scored four in the first, six in the second and six in the third.
Soldotna was also held scoreless for nearly the first half of the first quarter. The Stars were kept off the scoreboard until Spence found the basket with 4:35 remaining in the opening quarter.
“It was exactly like I told them. Get out and contest, and the three shouldn’t be any issue,” Henderson said of his team’s defense against Soldotna. “For three quarters it wasn’t.”
Taylor hit an early 3-pointer for Houston to spark the early 11-0 run. Taylor finished with seven of his 15 points in the first quarter. Ben Bitler added five of his 15.
“We were taking care of the ball,” Henderson said of the Hawks early work on offense.
Barrow girls 53, Soldotna 18
The host Whalers notched a nonconference victory over the Stars on Saturday.
Kenai Central boys 67, Kotzebue 47
Josh Jackman poured in 30 points to lead Kenai, while Luke Beiser had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Kalvin Daniels had 11 points Saturday at the O’Brady’s Invitational at South Anchorage High School.
The Kardinals took seventh place in the eight-team bracket with the win. The Ketchikan Kings claimed the tournament championship with a 64-47 win over West Anchorage.
Sand Point boys 70, CIA 31
The host Cook Inlet Academy basketball squad dropped a nonconference contest to Sand Point on Saturday.
Noah Leaf had 18 points to pace the Eagles.
Ninilchik girls 43, Lumen Christi 33
The visiting Wolverines withstood a 13-3 run by the Archangels in the third quarter to pick up the Saturday victory.
DeeAnn White paced the Wolverines with 14 points, while Shelly Johnson added 11.
Ninilchik boys 86, Wasilla Lake 41
The visiting Wolverines continued to roll through Class 1A compeition by blowing out Wasilla Lake Chrisitian on Saturday.
Ninilchik led 21-18 after the first quarter, but after that the blowout began.
Dalton Geppert had 24 points to lead Ninilchik, while Austin White had 19, Garrett Koch had 16 and Tyler Presley had 12.
King Cove girls 50, Nikolaevsk 47
The visiting T-Jacks edged the Warriors in nonconference action Saturday.
The game was tight throughout, with King Cove leading 14-10 after one quarter, 24-23 after two quarters and 38-36 after three quarters.
Elizabeth Fefelov had 15 points for the Warriors, while Vera Fefelov added 12.
King Cove boys 77, Nikolaevsk 55
The visiting T-Jacks dropped a 31-5 first quarter on the Warriors en route to the nonconference win Saturday.
Michael Trail had 16 points for the Warriors, while Nikit Fefelov and Zachary Trail had 14 apiece and Anfim Kalugin added 10 points.
Seward girls 43, North Pole 33
The Seahawks finished up play at the Delta Tournament with a victory over the Patriots.
Seward boys 55, Hutchison 37
The Seahawks topped off the Delta Tournament by defeating the Patriots.
Saturday girls
T-Jacks 50, Warriors 47
King Cove 14 10 14 12 — 50
Nikolaevsk 10 13 13 11 — 47
KING COVE (50) — Aichele 0 0-0 0, Uttecht 8 0-0 16, Branddl 4 0-3 8, Newton 1 0-0 2, Mack 3 0-0 6, Gould 3 0-0 6, Duarte 3 0-0 6, Yatchmendd 2 2-2 6. Totals — 24 2-5 50.
NIKOLAEVSK (47) — K. Klaich 3 1-2 7, Yakunin 1 2-2 4, J. Fefelov 1 0-2 2, Johnson 3 0-0 7, E. Fefelov 5 5-8 15, V. Fefelov 5 0-1 12, Mametieff 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 8-15 47.
3-point goals — Team fouls — King Cove 14, Fouled out — none.
Wolverines 43, Archangels 33
Ninilchik 19 13 3 8 — 43
Lumen 10 14 13 6 — 33
NINILCHIK (43) — Delgado 2 4-4 8, J. Johnson 0 0-0 0, Koch 0 0-1 0, Kain 0 0-0 0, S. Johnson 5 1-2 11, White 4 5-9 14, Cooper 3 0-0 6, Clark 2 0-3 4. Totals — 16 10-18 43.
LUMEN CHRISTI (33) — Estes 2 0-0 4, Lebechi 3 1-1 7, Bakic 0 2-2 2, Dupras 3 1-2 7, Martin 3 0-0 6, McCormick 0 0-0 0, Puoy 2 3-4 7. Totals — 13 7-9 33.
3-point goals — Ninilchik 1 (White). Team fouls — Ninilchik 12, Lumen Christi 17. Fouled out — Lebechi.
Saturday boys
T-Jacks 77, Warriors 55
King Cove 31 11 20 12 — 77
Nikolaevsk 6 14 18 17 — 55
KING COVE (77) — Severian 7 2-4 16, Mack-Neff 1 0-0 2, Duarte 6 1-2 13, Samuelson 10 0-0 25, Babcock 0 0-0 0, Gould 9 0-0 19, Reeve 0 0-0 0, Larsen 1 0-0 2. Totals — 34 3-6 77.
NIKOLAEVSK (55) — Jones 0 0-0 0, Yakunin 0 1-2 1, Fefelov 5 2-2 14, Z. Trail 5 2-2 14, M. Trail 6 4-4 16, Kalugin 5 0-0 10. Totals — 21 9-10 55.
3-point goals — King Cove 6 (Samuelson 5, Gould); Nikolaevsk 4 (Fefelov 2, Z. Trail 2). Team fouls — King Cove 12, Nikolaevsk 4. Fouled out — none.
Wolverines 86, Rams 41
Ninilchik 21 19 34 11 — 86
Wasilla Lake 18 4 10 9 — 41
NINILCHIK (86) — Presley 3 5-6 12, Koch 5 4-4 16, Geppert 9 3-3 24, Clark 2 0-0 4, Bartolowits 1 1-2 3, Mumey 3 0-0 8, Adams 0 0-0 0, McGinnis 0 0-0 0, White 9 1-2 19. Totals — 32 14-17 86.
3-point goals — Ninilchik 8 (Geppert 3, Koch 2, Mumey 2, Presley); Team fouls — Ninilchik 11, Fouled out — none.
Hawks 41, Stars 40
Soldotna 4-6-6-24—40
Houston 14-7-9-11—41
SOLDOTNA (40) — Trammell 1 0-1 2, Spense 5 2-4 13, Sheridan 1 0-0 3, Crowder 3 0-3 7, Tuisaula 1 0-2 2, McElroy 2 3-5 7, Marcuson 2 0-0 6; Totals: 15 5-15 40.
HOUSTON (41) — Ka. Taylor 4 4-7 15, Ko. Taylor 1 1-2 3, Ruta 2 1-4 6, Ross 1 2-4 4, Bitler 5 3-6 13; Totals: 13 11-23 41.
Sand Point 70, CIA 31
Sand Point 18 12 27 13 — 70
CIA 8 5 10 8 — 31
SAND POINT (70) — Webster 6 0-0 13, Ortega 5 4-5 16, Gunderson 4 0-0 8, Bravo 1 0-0 3, Mack 10 0-1 22, Smith 1 0-0 2, Jackson 0 0-0 0, Starnes 3 0-0 6. Totals — 30 4-6 70.
COOK INLET ACADEMY (31) — Moos 1 0-0 2, Cragg 0 0-0 0, Hammond 2 2-4 6, Walsh 0 0-0 0, N. Leaf 5 7-8 18, Grossl 0 0-0 0, Peterson 0 0-0 0, J. Leaf 2 0-0 5. Totals — 10 9-12 31.
3-point goals — Sand Point (Ortega 2, Mack 2, Webster); CIA 2 (N. Leaf, J. Leaf). Team fouls — Sand Point 11, CIA 4. Fouled out — none.
