The Cook Inlet Academy boys advanced to the semifinals while the CIA girls saw their season end Thursday at the Class 1A state basketball tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
The No. 2-seeded Eagles boys (20-5) defeated No. 10 Davis-Ramoth of Selawik 68-43 to advance to a 7:45 p.m. Friday semifinal with No. 11 Shishmaref.
Upset-happy Shishmaref topped No. 6 Buckland 57-55 in the opening round, then knocked off No. 3 Kake 68-67 in the quarterfinals.
The No. 16 CIA girls (11-11) fell to No. 8 Davis-Ramoth 54-30 in consolation play.
In its third straight year at state, the CIA boys are chasing a fourth state title for the program.
“A lot of these guys, it’s their third year at state, and we’ve lost in the quarterfinals the last two years,” CIA boys head coach Ben McGarry said. “There was just exuberance making it past and making it to the semifinals, kind of beating those demons from the past two years.”
The Eagles boys overcame some early fireworks from Davis-Ramoth from behind the 3-point arc with steady play from Ian McGarry and Alek McGarry.
Ian McGarry had 30 points on 13 of 24 shooting from the floor, plus eight rebounds. Alek McGarry had 25 points on 10 of 21 shooting, plus eight rebounds.
“Once they both kind of hit their groove in the second half and were both in attack mode, it really broke down their defense,” coach McGarry said of his sons. “It gave opportunities even beyond those two.”
That left 6 points for Zach Armstrong, 4 for Brandt Rollman and 3 for Owen Braband. Coach McGarry said both Armstrong and Rollman were under the weather but still played well.
The Wolves hit six 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to an 18-15 lead. Davis-Ramoth went 7 of 14 from 3-point land in the first half and took a 27-26 lead into the locker room.
CIA ran a matchup zone in the first quarter before switching to man-to-man for the rest of the game.
“We weren’t getting the rotations right, and they were hitting them from way farther out than we thought they would,” coach McGarry said of abandoning the zone.
The seeds of the undoing for the Wolves were already planted in the first half, as they were outrebounded 12-3, including 6-1 on the offensive glass. That turned into 29-8 and 16-4 advantages by the end of the game.
Wednesday in a 78-71 victory over Skagway, Davis-Ramoth won the rebound battle 45-32.
“That was a huge focus of our pregame,” coach McGarry said. “To play with grit and toughness, and win the rebound battle.”
CIA responded with an 11-0 run to start the second half for a 37-27 lead.
Coach McGarry said he made some adjustments on offense and told Ian McGarry to be more aggressive.
“Just reminded them that we’re the better team,” coach McGarry said. “We experienced the barrage of 3-pointers, you brought it back to one and you’re playing fine.
“You don’t need to freak out.”
The lead stayed at about that margin until the Eagles closed the fourth quarter on a 16-0 run.
Coach McGarry said the bench was another big factor.
“They were talking on defense to our guys,” he said. “They were getting up when plays happened.
“When you have that kind of energy coming from your bench, it really inspires the guys on the court to play better.”
For Davis-Ramoth, Ralph Stalker had 20, Gavin Hanshaw had 12, Brennen Stalker had 10 and Unky Ticket had 3.
Davis-Ramoth girls 54, CIA 30
CIA coach Josh Hawley said a team in which 7 of the 11 had never played varsity basketball this season came a long way, but finally ran out of gas.
“I think we kind of petered out,” Hawley said. “We just kind of had a hard time engaging at the very beginning..
“They shot the ball better and we struggled hitting our shots.”
The squad from Selawik hit 39% from the field, while the Eagles were at 25%.
Selawik led 18-10 after the first quarter and 31-15 at the half.
Hawley said he’s still proud of the squad for winning a conference title and making state. The lone state title for the CIA girls came in 2013.
“I think it was a real success and a real testament to who we are as a program,” he said. “We’ve got to do better at boxing out. We’ve got to do better controlling the tempo of the game and turnovers.
“Those are all things we can do this offseason and start working on with individual skills training.”
Hawley said it was tough to say goodbye to seniors Kristina Stoll, Kelsi Curren, Ella Rollman and Beka Dillingham.
“I can’t say enough about them, leading this group, creating the environment and the culture and sustaining it throughout the season and not losing sight of it,” Hawley said. “The girls are amazing, and they’re going to do well in life.”
The coach said Dillingham, Rollman and Stoll, as well as junior Clara Warren, had an important role as the only ones with previous varsity experience.
Rollman paced the Eagles with 14, while Warren had 7, Maria Smith had 4, Dillingham had 3 and Isabella Porsi had 2.
For Davis-Ramoth, Brooklyn Hingsbergen had 19, Zamara Ticket had 9, Calani Hingsbergen-Sheldon had 8, Ella Ticket and Erin Beylund had 7, and Hannah Mitchell and Lucy Gooden had 2.
Cook Inlet Academy’s Isabella Porsi (4) shoots over Davis-Ramoth’s Ella Ticket (15) during Thursday, March 13, 2025, action at the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 1A/2A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
Cook Inlet Academy’s Ian McGarry (3) scores against Davis-Ramoth on Thursday, March 13, 2025, in the 2025 ASAA March Madness Alaska 1A State Basketball Championships at Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center. (Klas Stolpe / Juneau Empire)
