The Soldotna and Homer boys basketball teams opened up the 28th Annual Alaska Prep Shootout at Dimond High School on Wednesday with losses.
The Stars dropped a 67-43 decision to Grace Christian, while Homer fell 65-27 to Dimond.
In the fourth-sixth place semifinals, the Stars play Service at 3 p.m. today. The Cougars took a 68-62 loss to Anchorage Christian Schools on Wednesday. Also in the fourth-sixth place semifinals, the Mariners face Mt. Edgecumbe at 4:30 p.m. today. The Braves sustained a 77-24 loss to Palmer on Wednesday.
In today’s semifinals, ACS and Grace play at 6 p.m., and Palmer and Dimond face off at 7:30 p.m.
Grace Christian boys 67, Soldotna 43
The Grizzlies led 13-8 after the first quarter, 32-19 at halftime and 54-28 after three quarters.
Sloan Lentfer paced Grace with 19 points, hitting 9 of 13 from the floor. Lentfer also hauled down 17 rebounds, leading to a 33-16 rebound advantage for the Grizzlies.
Tyler Binder added 17, hitting 6 of 10 from the floor, while Luke Lentfer had 15, hitting 3 of his 7 2-pointers and 3 of his 5 3-pointers. Grace shot 56% in the game, while Soldotna was at 32%.
Also for the Grizzlies, Hunter Finch had five, Caden Nanninga had four, Joshua Ivanoff and Clayton Jackson each had three, and Jacob Banker added one.
For the Stars (3-4 overall), Andrew Pieh led the way with 12 points, hitting 5 of his 11 shots. Also in double figures with 10 apiece were Daniel McRorie, hitting 4 of 8, and Ethan Sewell, hitting 4 of 11.
Also for SoHi, Zac Buckbee had six, Derrick Jones and Will Inman had two apiece, and Blake Inger had one.
Dimond boys 65, Homer 27
The Lynx led 11-4 after a quarter, 22-8 at halftime and 44-21 after three quarters.
Dimond was able to take the victory despite going 3 for 17 from 3-point range. The Lynx made up for it by going 24 of 39 on 2-pointers and outrebounding Homer 41-17.
Luke Johnston had 12 for Dimond, while Xzavier Baker had 11, Merrick Hajdukovich and Amari Hill each had nine, Chance Kile had seven, Thor Yeager had five and Malachi Casey, Kaleb Fautanu and Maguire Hamey each had four.
For Homer (1-3 overall), which finished 25% from the floor, Carter Tennison poured in 20 points and also led the team with six rebounds. Also for the Mariners, Tim Hatfield had four points and Braden Huffman added three.
