The Kenai Central girls and boys basketball teams won the Revolution Sport and Spine Therapy Al Howard Shootout on Saturday by finishing with 3-0 records.

The Kardinals girls finished with a victory over West Valley, while the Kenai boys capped off the tourney by defeating Cook Inlet Academy.

Kenai boys head coach Nolan Rose and Kenai girls head coach Jake Songer are both on staff at Kenai Middle School. Rose coaches the girls middle school team, while Songer coaches the boys middle school team.

“The boys and girls are synced,” Rose said. “We’re on the same page. We’re working toward the same things.

“The booster club is doing amazing things, and it just feels like everyone’s moving in a good direction right now.”

In January 1999, CIA boys head coach Ben McGarry, then a senior, was the leading scorer with 24 points and Rose, then a sophomore, was the team’s second leading scorer with 16 as the Skyview Panthers won what was then called the SoHi Tip-Off by defeating Soldotna 67-62.

Both the Kards and Eagles went into Saturday 2-0, but there was no way McGarry and Rose were both going to win the tourney again as they matched up as head coaches in a varsity game for the first time.

Rose won the matchup 63-52 to move to 8-6 overall and drop the Eagles to 10-4 overall.

“We were laughing before the game, how crazy is it that in the Al Howard Shootout championship game, two old Skyview guys are coaching?” Rose said of the school, which closed in 2014. “That’s a pretty cool thing for Ben and I. I grew up with Ben.”

All eyes were on Ben’s son, senior Ian McGarry as the championship game tipped off. McGarry scored 38 points on Thursday and 47 on Friday as the Class 1A Eagles knocked off a pair of Class 4A teams in Soldotna and Eagle River.

Rose and the Class 3A Kards were ready, employing a diamond-and-one defense with Carter Felchle or Ben Harris following McGarry everywhere. McGarry led CIA with 18 points.

“That was the key to the game, by far,” Rose said. “We came into the game feeling like, if we didn’t let him go off, we had enough juice to win.”

Ben said Ian handled the defensive challenge well, but the Eagles struggled to finish near the basket and hit open 3-pointers.

“I thought we actually got a lot of the shots we wanted,” coach McGarry said. “We just didn’t make them.”

Kenai led 18-8 after a quarter, 34-19 at the half and 52-34 after three quarters.

Although CIA is the smaller school, the Eagles were able to put more height on the floor. That hatched Kenai’s strategy on offense.

“We felt like if we could move the ball side to side, get three or four quick passes, maybe we could get a gap,” Rose said. “If we drove that gap, they’d have to rotate.

“And then we get into our kickout game.”

Anyone looking for someone to blame for the weekend’s wet weather should start with Kenai sophomore Reid Titus.

He had seven 3-pointers Friday to beat Soldotna. Then in the 3-point contest Saturday, he hit 20 treys in a minute to make the final, then made 17 more in a minute to win the final.

Saturday, he took advantage of that kickout game to make it rain again, hitting five 3-pointers and leading the team with 18 points.

“Reid’s been on fire,” Rose said.

The coach said Caleb Litke, who had 12, did a great job facilitating the offense. Rose also liked what Eli Smith, with 6, and Mason Tunseth, with two, did in a tough position on the bottom of the zone.

Also for Kenai, Miles Metteer had 13, Felchle had 7 and Harris had 5.

Coach McGarry saw plenty to like in the game. The Eagles came all the way back to cut the gap to 57-50 with 3:20 left in the game.

“I just told them, one possession at a time, work your way back, don’t give up,” McGarry said. “I was really proud they did step up in the fourth quarter.”

McGarry thanked Soldotna head boys coach Darren Zibell for the invitation to the tournament. He said it exposed some holes the Eagles must work on as they chase a state title.

“If we don’t learn from this weekend, it’s a real loss, not just a game loss,” McGarry said. “We need to be better from this. And I think we will.”

The coach always loves the effort he gets from Silas Barnes, and also liked the way Lucas Oyoumick stepped up with 12 points.

Alek McGarry had 11 for CIA, while Zach Armstrong had 6 and Owen Braband had 5.

The Kenai girls finished the tournament with a 45-39 victory over West Valley to move to 9-5 overall.

Willow Graham had 12 points to lead the Kards, while Sierra Hershberger had 10, Evelyn Cooper had 7, Bryleigh Williams had 6, Ellsi Miller had 5, Gracee Every had 3 and McKenzie Spence had 2.

For West Valley, Arianne Derrickson had 18, Brooke Pearson had 11, Aaliyah Hildebrand had 4, Angelina Chiklak had 3, Ayla Weller had 2 and Tessa Thompson had 1.

The Soldotna girls finished 2-1 at the tourney with a 46-29 victory over Eagle River to move to 9-7 overall.

Anaulie Sedivy had 11 for the Stars, while Hope Hillyer had 10, Brooke Walters had 6, Grayson Henry had 4, Laurel Johnson, Isabelle Cruz and Ryan Queen had 3, Juliet Innes and Cassidy Kruse had 2, and Teagan Kobylarz and Anika Jedlicka had 1.

For the Wolves, Beverly Reed had 12, Gabby Palazzini had 7, Katherine Christy had 4, and Natalia Molero and Adelaide Masimer had 3.

The Soldotna boys ended the tournament 1-2 after defeating Eagle River 68-46 to move to 7-9 overall.

Izaiah Gilbert and Easton Hawkins returned to the lineup for SoHi with 24 and 13 points, respectively. Also, Bryan Berg had 8, Josh Babcock, Theo Huff and Kenai Lepule had 5, Jayden Stuyvesant had 4, and Owen Buckbee and Damari Adams had 2.

For the Wolves, Jameson Skinner and Austin Atkinson had 11, Giovanni North had 8, Florian David had 5, Dalton Smith had 4, Nick Collins had 3, and Carson Alexie and Cameron Munnlyn each had 2.

The Molly Tuter Award was a tie between SoHi’s Sedivy and Kenai’s Williams. The girls MVP award at the tournament was named this year in honor of Tuter, who was the Gatorade Alaska Player of the year in 1992 and 1993 for SoHi, and also the first Alaskan to play in the WNBA. Tuter died last year.

Also on the girls all-tournament team were Derrickson of West Valley, Miller of Kenai and Palazzini of Eagle River.

Ian McGarry was the boys MVP. Also on the all-tournament team were Skinner of Eagle River, Litke of Kenai, Alek McGarry of CIA and Titus of Kenai.

Nikiski girls win, Nikiski boys lose at Barrow tourney

The Nikiski girls finished 1-2 at the Karl Derek Ahgeak 2nd Annual Invitational at Barrow High School, while the Nikiski boys were 0-3.

Saturday, the Bulldogs girls topped Hutchison 56-16 to improve to 3-8 overall. Blakeley Jorgensen poured in 24 for the Bulldogs, while Abby White had 12, Madison Iyatunguk had 8, Avery Ellis and Kailey Stynsberg had 5, and Natalie Huntsman had 2.

The Bulldogs boys took a 78-27 loss to Hutchison to fall to 0-11 overall. Carter Eiter had 9 for Nikiski, while Kevin Love, Shane Hall and Kameron Bird had 6.

Ninilchik, Homer split

The Homer girls and Ninilchik boys picked up nonconference victories in Homer on Saturday.

The Homer girls topped the Wolverines 52-8. Homer is 2-7 overall, while Ninilchik is 2-10.

Channing Lowney had 20 for Homer, while Keagan Niebuhr had 14, Madalyn Miotke had 6, Emily Stafford had 4, and Abby Ostrom, Madisen Donyes, Leya Johnson and Stella Condon all had 2.

For the Wolverines, Caelis Cress had 6 and Audry Herndon had 2.

The Ninilchik boys defeated Homer 72-58 for their second victory over the Mariners this season. The Wolverines moved to 7-6 overall, while the Mariners are 2-6 overall.

Once again, the McCorison brothers were a problem for Homer. Kade McCorison had 31, while Andon McCorison pitched in 10. Max Russell added 10 for the Wolverines, while Brandt Mill had 6, Onyx Allen had 5 and Holden Cameron had 1.

For Homer, Henry Wedvik had 18, Ben Engebretsen had 11, Einar Pederson had 9, Graham Plumlee, Weston Marley and Jamen Anderson had 5, Preston Stanislaw had 3 and Espen Hennik had 2.

Seward sweeps Susitna Valley

The host Seward basketball teams swept Susitna Valley on Saturday in Southern Conference action.

The girls topped the Rams 54-24 to move to 2-0 in the league and 7-2 overall.

Lia Shank paced the Seahawks with 16, while Mikinley Williams had 11, Ava Jagielski had 9, and Addison Lemme, Natalie Sieminski and Grace Fleming had 6.

For Su Valley, Lily Esmailka had 13, Poppy Moren had 5, Ashley Delima had 4 and Jayden Sliker had 2.

The boys defeated the Rams 72-55 to move to 2-0 in the league and 5-4 overall.

Emerson Cross pumped in 20 to pace Seward, while Van Shank had 13, Talon Lemme had 12, Mason Elhard had 11, Noah Price had 7, Lane Peterson had 6 and Jack Lindquist had 3.

For Su Valley, Miles Osmond had 19, Austin Barnard had 14, Colton Thompson had 11, Earl Davidson had 6, Landon Ballard had 3 and Douglas Drover had 2.

Kenai Central’s Caleb Litke drives on Brandt Rollman of Cook Inlet Academy on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, at the Revolution Sport and Spine Therapy Al Howard Shootout at Soldotna High School in Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)