The Cook Inlet Academy girls and the Nikolaevsk boys won Peninsula Conference second-place games Saturday at Lumen Christi in Anchorage to earn berths to the Class 3A state tournament.
The Nikolaevsk boys overcame a first-quarter deficit to lock up their second-straight state berth with a 58-45 win that avenged a 58-47 overtime loss to Cook Inlet Academy in Thursday’s semifinals.
CIA jumped to an 18-7 lead after the first quarter, but by halftime Nikolaevsk had cut the lead to 25-22. Nikolaevsk then led 40-29 after three quarters.
Nikit Fefelov had 20 points for the Warriors, while Neil Gordeev had 13, Felemon Molodih had 12 and Jonah Fefelov had 10.
For CIA, Timmy Smithwick had 23, while Johnny Smithwick added 18. The brothers had all but four of CIA’s points.
The Cook Inlet girls held off Ninilchik 29-21 to take a ninth-straight state berth as first-year coach Kenny Leaf, who was named girls coach of the year in the conference, continued the success enjoyed by his predecessors.
CIA led 5-2 after one quarter, 14-11 after two quarters and 16-14 headed into the final quarter.
Danielle Hills paced the Eagles with 14 points, while Melissa Clark bottomed out three 3-pointers en route to 12 for the Wolverines.
Ninilchik girls 34, Seldovia 32
The Wolverines advanced to the second-place game by holding off the Sea Otters.
Ninilchik led 6-4 after one quarter, 16-11 after two quarters and 23-17 after three quarters, but Seldovia mounted a fourth-quarter comeback only to come up short.
Melissa Ehlers had 14 points to lead Ninilchik, while Olivia Turner had 17 to lead the Sea Otters.
Nikolaevsk boys 54, Wasilla Lake 52
The Warriors won a tight battle to advance to the second-place game.
Wasilla Lake led by one after the first quarter, and the score was deadlocked after two and three.
Neil Gordeev led a balanced Nikolaevsk attack with 16 points, while Nikit Fefelov had 14 and Felemon Molodih and Jonah Fefelov added 10 points apiece.
For Wasilla Lake, Brody Neufeld had 21 points, while Braden Thorn added 18.
All-Conference awards
Boys sportsmanship — Nanwalek.
Girls sportsmanship — Birchwood.
Girls coach of year — Kenny Leaf, CIA.
Boys coach of year — Mark Janes, Seldovia.
Boys first-team all-conference — Timmy Smithwick (MVP), CIA; Aidan Philpot, Seldovia; Calem Collier, Seldovia; Austin White, Ninilchik; Tyler Keiffer, Birchwood.
Boys second-team all-conference — Neil Gordeev, Nikolaevsk; Braden Thorn, Wasilla Lake; Nikit Fefelov, Nikolaevs; Tyler Presley, Ninilchik; Wade Bartelson, Kodiak ESS.
Girls first-team all-conference — Megan Hickman (MVP), Nikolaevsk; Madison Orth, CIA; Aubrey Becker, Birchwood; Serafima Kalugin, Nikolaevsk; Tori Kruger, Lumen Christi.
Girls second-team all-conference — Audrea Roberts, Birchwood; Olivia Turner, Seldovia; Kilina Klaich, Nikolaevsk; Krista Sinclair, Ninilchik; Ashleigh Hammond, CIA.
Boys first-team all-tournament — Aiden Philpot (MVP), Seldovia; Timmy Smithwick, CIA; Nikit Fefelov, Nikolaevsk; Calem Collier, Seldovia; Austin White, Ninilchik.
Boys second-team all-tournament — Tyler Keiffer, Birchwood; Braden Thorn, Wasilla Lake; Wade Bartleson, Kodiak ESS; Felemon Molodih, Nikolaevsk; Xavier Romanoff, Nanwalek.
Girls first-team all-tournament — Madison Orth (MVP), CIA; Megan Hickman, Nikolaevsk; Serafima Kalugin, Nikolaevsk; Kilina Klaich, Nikolaevsk; Tori Kruger, Lumen Christi.
Girls second-team all-tournament — Ashleigh Hammond, CIA; Melissa Ehlers, Ninilchik; Audra Roberts, Birchwood; Aubrey Becker, Birchwood; Olivia Turner, Seldovia.
Saturday girls
Wolverines 34, Sea Otters 32
Ninilchik 6 10 7 11 —34
Seldovia 4 7 6 15 —32
NINILCHIK (34) — Delgado 2 0-0 4, Sinclair 1 0-2 2, Goins 0 0-0 0, Ehlers 5 4-10 14, Finney 2 4-9 8, Me. Clark 2 1-2 6. Totals — 12 9-23 34.
SELDOVIA (32) — Joseph 0 0-0 0, Chissus 3 2-2 8, Meganack 0 0-0 0, Neumann 1 0-0 2, Mitchell 1 0-0 3, Labelle 0 0-0 0, Turner 7 0-0 17, Waterbury 1 0-0 2. Totals — 13 2-2 32.
3-point goals — Ninilchik 2 (Me. Clark 2); Seldovia 4 (Turner 3, Mitchell). Team fouls — Ninilchik 7, Seldovia 21. Fouled out — Joseph, Chissus.
Eagles 29, Wolverines 21
CIA 5 9 2 13 —29
Ninilchik 2 9 3 7 —21
COOK INLET ACADEMY (29) — Delon 0 0-0 0, Carey 0 0-0 0, Hills 7 3-4 14, Lyons 0 0-0 0, Hammond 1 5-8 8, McGahan 0 0-0 0, Orth 1 5-10 7. Totals — 7 16-29 29.
NINILCHIK (21) — Delgado 0 0-2 0, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Sinclair 2 0-0 4, Goins 0 0-0 0, Ehlers 1 3-5 5, Finney 0 0-0 0, Me. Clark 4 1-2 12. Totals — 7 4-9 21.
3-point goals — CIA 3 (Hills, Hammond, Orth); Ninilchik 3 (Me. Clark). Team fouls — CIA 9, Ninilchik 15. Fouled out — none.
Saturday boys
Warriors 54, Rams 52
Nikolaevsk 9 15 12 18 —54
Wasilla Lake 10 14 12 16 —52
NIKOLAEVSK (54) — K. Molodih 1 0-1 2, Trail 0 0-0 0, N. Fefelov 2 9-10 14, Gordeev 6 4-5 16, F. Molodih 4 0-0 10, J. Fefelov 3 4-6 10, Kalugin 1 0-0 2. Totals — 17 17-22 54.
WASILLA LAKE (52) — J. Stiner 3 1-2 8, Wilson 1 0-0 2, Bulos 1 0-0 3, Thorn 7 2-3 18, Neufeld 9 2-2 21. Totals — 20 5-7 52.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 3 (F. Molodih 2, N. Fefelov 1); Wasilla Lake 5 (Thorn 2, J. Stiner, Bulos, Neufeld). Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 9, Wasilla Lake 17. Fouled out — none.
Warriors 58, Eagles 45
Nikolaevsk 7 15 18 18 —58
CIA 18 7 4 16 —45
NIKOLAEVSK (58) — K. Molodih 1 1-2 3, Trail 0 0-0 0, N. Fefelov 7 2-2 20, Gordeev 6 1-2 13, F. Molodih 2 8-9 12, J. Fefelov 4 0-0 10. Totals — 20 12-15 58.
COOK INLET ACADEMY (45) — A. Hammond 1 1-2 4, B. Hammond 0 0-0 0, R. Smithwick 0 0-0 0, J. Smithwick 7 0-0 18, Solie 0 0-0 0, T. Smithwick 7 6-9 23.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 6 (N. Fefelov 4, J. Fefelov 2); CIA 5 (J. Smithwick 4, A. Hammond). Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 8, CIA 14. Fouled out — none.
