The Cook Inlet Academy girls will go to the Class 1A state tournament for the first time since 2019 after defeating Birchwood Christian 46-21 for second place at the Class 1A Peninsula Conference tournament at Lumen Christi in Anchorage on Saturday.
The Eagles also earned a state berth in 2020, but that tournament did not happen due to the pandemic.
CIA (16-6 overall) received 23 points from Tatum Rozak and 15 from girls tournament MVP Hope Hillyer. Also for CIA, Ella Rollman had five and Kaitlyn Liles had three.
For Birchwood, Ella Phillips had 12, while Annemarie Weihrich had four, Kaylee Reich had three and Lanie Brisson had two.
The Lumen Christi boys defeated Birchwood 37-33 in overtime to earn second place and a state berth.
Birchwood had advanced to that game by ending the season of Nanwalek on Saturday morning in a 37-33 verdict.
For Nanwalek, which was looking for a second straight state berth, Sean Moonin had 17, Matthias Evans had nine, Macarius Evans had six and Juvenaly Evans had two.
Isaac Cavazos and Noah Guderian led the way for Birchwood with seven apiece.
The girls coach of the year was a tie between Brittani Sullivan of Birchwood and Kenny Barker of Lumen Christi. For the boys, the honor went to Ben McGarry of CIA.
The sportsmanship awards went to the Nanwalek girls and CIA boys.
The girls free-throw contest winner was Natalie Grubba of Lumen, while Tai Nelson won it for the boys.
The 3-point winner was Phillips of Birchwood for the girls and Jonah Brisson of Birchwood for the boys.
The post player challenge was Hillyer of CIA for the girls and Abraham Henderson of CIA for the boys.
Girls all-conference honors went to Amara Warren of Lumen, Hillyer of CIA, Rozak of CIA, Grubba of Lumen, Emily Ross of Lumen, Brisson of Birchwood, Phillips of Birchwood, Trinity Huntsman of Nanwalek, Alyson Seville of Nanwalek and Beka Dillingham of CIA.
Hillyer was the girls tournament MVP. Also on the all-tournament team were Grubba, Warren, Rozak, Ross, Phillips, Brisson, Huntsman, Dillingham, Seville and Rollman of CIA.
The boys all-conference team was Moonin of Nanwalek, Henderson, Alek McGarry of CIA, Ian McGarry of CIA, Bryce Sanders of Lumen, Nelson, Carson Wingate of Lumen, Kaleb Worley of Birchwood, Andrew Severns of Birchwood, Guderian of Birchwood and Damien Fournier of Holy Rosary.
Henderson was the tournament MVP. Also on the all-tournament team were Ian McGarry, Alek McGarry, Jeremiah Dillingham of CIA, Moonin, Nelson, Wingate, Sanders, Fournier, Guderian and Worley.
Kenai girls 47, Homer 29
The host Kardinals celebrated senior night by moving to 4-4 in the Class 3A Peninsula Conference and 13-11 overall, and dropping Homer to 2-6 and 8-15.
Malerie Nunn, Ella Yragui, Rylie Sparks and Chloe Goldsby were the seniors honored for Kenai.
The Kards led 12-8 after a quarter, 26-17 at the half and 35-20 after three quarters.
For Kenai, Emma Beck had 23, Goldsby had 13, Nunn had nine and Emilee Wilson had two.
For Homer, Sydney Shelby and Bethany Engebretsen had six, Lawson Alexson had five, Channing Lowney and Gracie Miotke had three, and Hannah Stonorov, Minadora Reutov and Emily Owens had two.
Kenai boys 71, Homer 34
The host Kardinals notched a victory to celebrate senior night and move to 6-2 in the league and 13-10 overall. Homer falls to 2-6 and 3-20.
Kenai honored seniors Luke Armstrong, Davion Swain, Owen Whicker, Roc Riggle, Daniel McRorie, Jakob Kvasnikoff, Bridger Beck, Wade James and Carnell Gump.
James and Kvasnikoff each led the charge against the Mariners by dropping in 24. Beck added 11, while McRorie had eight and Riggle had four.
For Homer, Morgan Techie had 10, Trent Fell had nine, Riley Huffman had four, Nathan Overson had three, and Spencer Dye, Henry Wedvik, CJ Burns and Niko Sulczynski had two.
Grace girls 63, Nikiski 23
The host Bulldogs dropped to 1-7 in the Class 3A Peninsula Conference and 7-17 overall with the loss to the Grizzlies.
Emma Weeks had nine for Nikiski, while Shelby Burman had four, Savanna Stock and Maggie Grenier had three, and Ember Nelson and Ashlynne Playle had two.
For Grace, Ella Boerger had 24, Sophie Lentfer had 11, Poppy Wiggers-Pidduck had nine, MJ Van der Horst had eight, Molly Schild and Olivia Jones had five and Jaden Helton had one.
Grace boys 65, Nikiski 15
The host Bulldogs fell to 1-7 in the Class 3A Peninsula Conference and 4-19 overall with the loss to the Grizzlies.
For Nikiski, Charlie Chamberlain had six, Drew Handley had five, and Braeden Porter and Seth Payne each had two.
For Grace, Sloan Lentfer had 20, Joshua Ivanoff had 10, Robbie Annett had seven, Tyler Binder and Kellen Jedlicka had six, Ashton Clarkson and Buster Stubbs had three, and Braeden Boerger, Bristol Tobin, Silas Kniegge, Clayton Jackson and Luke Lentfer had two.
Kodiak boys 56, Ninilchik 50
The Bears, a Class 4A school, were able to drop the Wolverines, a Class 2A school, to 19-5 overall.
For Ninilchik, Cole Moore had 20, Peyton Edens had 11, Kade McCorison had 10, Jaylin Scott had seven and Rowan Mahoney had two.
Kelly Ticman paced Kodiak with 17, while Aron Paguio had 10, Connor Case and Alex Holland had seven, JM Ticman had six and JJ Atanque had two.
