The Southcentral Conference tourney in Homer promised some big upsets. It delivered Thursday.
The seventh-seeded Cordova girls knocked off second-seeded Grace Christian 44-43 on Thursday.
Cordova moves into the semifinals with a 6:30 p.m. game today with Homer, while Grace faces Houston in the third-place bracket at 11:30 a.m. today.
Dariah Songer paced the Wolverines with 20 points, hitting 7 of 12 from the floor. Ashley Logan connected on 6 of her 7 shots to have 12 points for Grace.
Homer boys 55, Nikiski 53, OT
The No. 3 Mariners narrowly escaped the upset bid of the No. 6 Bulldogs.
Homer moves to a semifinal with ACS at 8:15 p.m. today, while Nikiski will play Houston in the third-place bracket at 1:15 p.m. today.
Homer had to outscore Nikiski 11-6 in the fourth quarter just to make it to overtime, then won that period 9-7.
Jaruby Nelson had 23 points for the Mariners, while Kenneth Schneider had 14 and Sheldon Hutt added 10.
The Bulldogs enjoyed an 11-of-30 evening from 3-point land. Hunter Holloway had two of those bombs en route to 14 points, while Sam Tauriainen connected four times for 12 points. Nathan Carstens had three 3s and scored 11 points.
Homer girls 48, Houston 31
The Mariners finally solved the Hawks.
Homer, the No. 3 seed, lost twice to No. 6 Houston during the regular season, but was able to notch a decisive win in the opening day of the conference tourney.
Homer moves into a 6:30 p.m. semifinal today with No. 7 Cordova, which upset Grace. Houston and Grace play in the third-place bracket at 11:30 a.m. today.
The Mariners had a 15-4 lead after the first quarter and a 26-9 lead at halftime.
Kayla Stafford had 16 to lead the Mariners, who were 41.3 percent from the floor compared to 23.2 percent for Houston.
Madison Akers had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Homer, as the Mariners had a 46-24 advantage on the boards.
Kimberly Quincy paced the Hawks with nine points.
Seward moves into a semifinal matchup with No. 1 Nikiski today at 3 p.m. The winner not only gains the finals, but gets a Class 3A state berth. If Seward wins, that means a fifth-straight state berth. It would be two straight for the Bulldogs.
ACS will have to win a pair of games Saturday to claim third place and a state berth.
The Seahawks beat the Lions for the third-straight time this season with a tough defensive effort. ACS went up 10-4 after the first quarter, but Seward cut it to 10-8 at the half, then outscored the Lions 13-2 in the third quarter.
Jasmine Perea led the Seahawks, who enjoyed a 31-19 rebounding advantage, with 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting. Caroline Bowden paced the Lions with eight points.
Cordova boys 61, Seward 49
The No. 4 seed Wolverines used a solid second quarter to knock off the No. 5 seed Seahawks.
Cordova advances to the semifinals today at 4:45 p.m. against top-seeded Grace Christian. The winner moves to the finals and locks up a state berth.
Seward falls into the third-place bracket, where the Seahawks will have to win at 10:45 a.m. and 2:45 p.m. to earn third and a state berth.
The Seahawks and Wolverines had split a pair of games this season. After a 5-5 first quarter, Cordova won the second quarter 20-12 to take control of the game.
Cordova used its height to gain a 40-21 advantage on the boards. The Wolverines also shot 45.8 percent from the floor, while the Seahawks hit 33.3 percent.
Jacob Werner had 18 points for Cordova, while Cooper Jewell added 17. For Seward, Michael Wolfe had 20 points and Michael Marshall added 10.
ACS boys 76, Houston 35
The second-seeded Lions cruised past the No. 7 Hawks.
ACS moves into the semifinals today at 8:15 p.m. against Homer, while Houston plays in the third-place bracket today at 1:15 p.m. against Nikiski.
Levi Auble had 15 points to lead the Lions, while Ben Bitler led the way for the Hawks with 15 points.
Thursday girls
Seahawks 30, ACS 26
Seward 4 4 13 9 —30
ACS 10 0 2 14 —26
SEWARD (30) — Tolson 0 0-0 0, Honebein 1 1-2 3, Jackson 2 0-1 5, Baldwin 1 0-0 2, Lapanskas 2 0-0 4, Perea 4 4-6 12, Clemens 0 4-6 4. Totals — 10 9-15 30.
ANCHORAGE CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS (26) — Bowden 3 0-0 8, Tebbits 0 0-0 0, Land 3 0-0 6, Williams 1 0-0 2, Carr 2 2-3 7, Thibodeaux 1 1-4 3. Totals — 10 3-7 26.
3-point goals — Seward 1 (Jackson 1); ACS 3 (Bowden 2, Carr). Team fouls — Seward 6, ACS 16. Fouled out — none.
Mariners 48, Hawks 31
Houston 4 5 7 15 —31
Homer 15 11 11 11 —48
HOUSTON (31) — May-Thomas 0 0-0 0, Bean 1 0-0 2, Bohl 1 0-0 2, Adair 1 0-0 2, Ruth 1 1-2 3, Moore 1 0-0 3, Apangalook 0 2-4 2, Wilkerson 0 0-0 0, Quincy 4 1-2 9, Kapuniai 1 0-0 2, Leonard 3 0-0 6. Totals — 13 4-8 31.
HOMER (48) — Fabich 0 0-0 0, Reutov 3 0-0 6, Alexander 3 0-0 6, Knott 0 0-0 0, Clark 0 0-1 0, Akers 6 2-3 15, Fellows 0 0-0 0, Waclawski 1 3-4 5, Stafford 6 3-6 16, Kann 0 0-0 0, Cole 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 8-14 48.
3-point goals — Houston 1 (Moore); Homer 2 (Akers, Waclawski). Team fouls — Houston 13, Homer 12. Fouled out — none.
Thursday boys
Wolverines 61, Seahawks 49
Seward 5 12 12 20 —49
Cordova 5 20 14 22 —61
SEWARD (49) — Berry 1 0-0 2, Marshall 4 0-0 10, A. Pahno 1 2-2 4, Zweifel 0 0-0 0, Wolfe 6 5-7 20, Sieverts 1 1-4 3, N. Pahno 0 0-0 0, DeBoard 1 0-0 2, Jackson 2 4-4 8. Totals — 16 12-17 49.
CORDOVA (61) — Brandt 0 0-0 0, Songer 3 1-2 8, Ridao 0 0-0 0, Muma 3 3-4 9, Jewell 8 1-2 17, Chesier 0 2-4 2, Werner 5 8-10 18, Plant 2 1-2 5, Warga 1 0-0 2. Totals — 22 16-24 61.
3-point goals — Seward 5 (Wolfe 3, Marshall 2); Cordova 1 (Songer). Team fouls — Seward 16, Cordova 15. Fouled out — Cheshier.
Mariners 55, Bulldogs 53, OT
Nikiski 12 19 9 6 7 —53
Homer 18 7 10 11 9 —55
NIKISKI (53) — Anderson 1 1-2 3, L. Johnson 2 1-2 6, Holloway 5 2-2 14, Tauriainen 4 0-0 12, N. Carstens 4 0-0 11, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Pamplin 2 0-2 5. Totals — 19 4-8 53.
HOMER (55) — Beachy 2 0-0 4, Edens 0 0-0 0, Reutov 0 0-0 0, Schneider 5 3-4 14, Nelson 8 4-5 23, Brown 2 0-0 4, Tedesco 0 0-0 0, Kniseley 0 0-0 0, Hutt 5 0-0 10. Totals — 22 7-9 55.
3-point goals — Nikiski 11 (Tauriainen 4, N. Carstens 3, Holloway 2, L. Johnson, Pamplin); Team fouls — Nikiski 15, Homer 14. Fouled out — none.
