After the events of Monday night’s 7.9-magnitude earthquake and ensuing tsunami scare, the Kodiak Emerging Small Schools basketball program was tasked with taking their show on the road to face Peninsula Conference opponent Cook Inlet Academy.
The collection of athletes from around Kodiak Island stayed steady in a 37-32 win over CIA Thursday night in Soldotna, giving the team a boost of confidence in a trying 2-6 season.
“Everyone was making their way to the tsunami (shelters) on the hillsides,” described Kodiak ESS coach Phyllis Amodo about the events of Tuesday’s early morning quake.
The Eagles fell to 0-11 overall after the loss, continuing a winless campaign that head coach Ryan McMilin would like to see finish with a few wins.
“I told them that in the last minute (of the game), we were executing our press well and forcing them into mistakes,” McMilin said. “But we weren’t doing that most of the game.”
Hunter Moos led CIA with 18 points, while Mason Mullan and Micha Bircher each had 10 to lead Kodiak ESS.
The visitors led 37-25 with just over two minutes remaining, but CIA put on a late 7-0 run to cut the gap to five points within a 1:45 span, highlighted by a steal and layup by Isaac Johnson and a jumper from Lucas Cragg, but the Eagles ultimately ran out of time to finish the job.
McMilin said he was missing two players — Josh Boyd was out for an ankle injury sustained last week and Robert Walsh was out due to illness — on an already small team, but added that Thursday’s loss was due more to several near misses with the ball.
“We were reaching in for steals, which made it easy for (K0diak) to be open for rebounds and shots,” he said. “We were taking gambles and losing.”
Brennan Bogardus hit four buckets for eight points in the first quarter to get Kodiak off to a fast start with an 11-8 lead after eight minutes.
Kodiak led 21-15 at halftime, but the Eagles kept it close with timely shots. Moos laid in a bucket with 5:35 left in the third quarter to cut the gap to 23-18 and connected on a long jumper with 1:24 left in the frame for a 27-20 game.
The Eagles host the two-time defending Class 1A state champion Ninilchik boys Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Nikolaevsk Warrior Rumble
The Nikolaevsk boys escaped with a 50-48 comeback victory over Nenana late Thursday.
The Lynx led 46-39 entering the fourth quarter, but Nikolaevsk outscored Nenana 11-2 over the final eight minutes. Zachary Trail put the Warriors up for good with a bucket and Kalenik Molodih hit a late free throw. Molodih scored a team-high 17 points and Trail netted 14, as did Michael Trail.
Al Lane had a game-high 19 points for Nenana, which eked out a slim 32-31 halftime lead prior to the late drama. Nenana outscored Nikolaevsk 14-8 in the third quarter.
In the girls game, Nenana dominated Nikolaevsk to the tune of a 57-14 final.
Julie Frankson led Nenana with 18 points, all on 3-pointers, while six players got into the scoring column for the Warriors.
Nikolaevsk was shut out in the second quarter as Nenana built up a 36-5 halftime lead.
Earlier in the day, the girls from Nunamiut School in Anaktuvak Pass notched a 35-29 victory over Lumen Christi. Abi Fry had 10 points for Nunamiut, while Nyadeng Puoy had 12 points for the Archangels.
In the boys game, Nunamiut pulled out a 64-62 victory over Lumen Christi, overcoming a 41-point effort by Andrew Bennett of the Archangels. Jacob Ahgook and Justice Nukpiagak each had 19 to lead Nunamiut, while Josh Mekiana and Dyrell Lincoln each had 12 points. For Lumen, Lam Puoy added 17 points.
Soldotna girls 67, Eagle River 17
The visiting Stars cruised to a nonconference victory over the Wolves on Thursday.
Aliann Schmidt paced the Stars with 24 points, while Brittani Blossom added 17.
Soldotna head coach Kyle McFall texted after the game that it was a good team win, and that he was happy with the defensive effort and attention to detail.
“Offensively, we moved the ball well,” McFall texted. “We played really unselfishly and got some great looks.”
McFall also pointed out the work of Drysta Crosby-Schneider, playing in her second varsity game. She came off the bench and had eight points, as well as having a few passes that led to easy scores.
Eagle River boys 61, Soldotna 47
The Wolves outscored the Stars 21-4 in the third quarter to pull away for a nonconference victory Thursday night in Eagle River.
Although SoHi connected on 10 3-pointers, Eagle River held the Stars to just one made field goal in the third quarter, while getting nine points from Jacob Thompson. Thompson finished with 21 points, while teammate Ryan Adkins hit five 3’s to also score 21.
Jersey Truesdell hit four triples to finish with a team-high 15 for SoHi, which dropped to 7-7 overall.
Thursday boys
Wolves 61, Stars 47
Soldotna 17 11 4 15 —47
Eagle River 12 16 21 12 —61
SOLDOTNA (47) — Truesdell 4 3-4 15, Trammell 2 0-2 6, Spence 1 0-0 2, Sheridan 3 0-1 9, Crowder 0 0-0 0, Tuisaula 4 0-0 9, Michael 2 0-0 4, McElroy 0 2-4 2. Totals 16 5-11 47.
EAGLE RIVER (61) — Adkins 7 2-2 21, Capozzi 0 0-0 0, Thompson 7 5-6 21, Raymundo 3 0-0 7, Lewis 0 1-2 1, Davis 1 3-4 5, Piper 3 0-0 6. Totals 21 11-14 61.
3-point goals — Soldotna 10 (Truesdell 4, Sheridan 3, Trammell 2, Tuisuala 1); Eagle River 8 (Adkins 5, Thompson 2, Raymundo 1).
Team fouls — Soldotna 15; Eagle River 11. Fouled out — Lewis.
Bears 37, Eagles 32
Kodiak ESS 11 10 8 8 —37
Cook Inlet 8 7 5 12 —32
KODIAK ESS (37) — Inga 0 0-0 0, Amodo 0 1-2 1, Amodo 3 1-2 8, Bogardus 4 0-0 8, Mullan 5 0-0 10, Gundersen 0 0-0 0, Bircher 4 2-4 10, Kalmakoff 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-8 37.
CIA (32) — Moos 7 4-7 18, Leaf 1 0-2 2, Anderson 0 2-3 2, Johnson 3 0-2 6, Cragg 1 0-0 3, Peterson 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 6-14 32.
3-point goals — Kodiak ESS 1 (Amodo); CIA 1 (Cragg).
Team fouls — Kodiak ESS 14; CIA 9. Fouled out — Mullan.
Warriors 50, Lynx 48
Nikolaevsk 14 16 8 11 —50
Nenana 16 16 14 2 —48
NIKOLAEVSK (50) — Boquecosa 0 0-0 0, Molodih 7 2-4 17, Fefelov 0 0-0 0, Stanish 1 0-1 2, Yakunin 0 0-0 0, Kalugin 0 0-0 0, Nikitenko 1 0-0 3, Z. Trail 7 0-0 14, M. Trail 7 0-1 14. Totals 23 2-6 50.
NENANA (48) — Akaran 1 2-2 5, Stone 0 0-0 0, Workman 0 0-0 0, Oktollik 6 0-0 13, Standifer 2 1-2 6, Demientieff 1 0-0 3, Stephans 1 0-0 2, Lane 7 1-2 19, Hunter 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-6 48.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 2 (Molodih 1, Nikitenko 1); Nenana 8 (Lane 4, Demientieff 1, Standifer 1, Oktollik 1, Akaran 1).
Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 6; Nenana 11. Fouled out — Standifer.
Thursday girls
Stars 67, Wolves 17
Soldotna 14 24 23 6 — 67
Eagle River 2 8 4 3 — 17
SOLDOTNA (67) — McGillivray 1 0-0 2, Jaime 0 0-0 0, Miller 2 0-2 5, Blossom 5 5-6 17, A. Schmidt 10 2-3 24, Leaf 0 0-0 0, Buckbee 0 0-0 0, Holland 1 1-2 3, Wurst 1 0-0 2, Crosby-Schneider 4 0-3 8, D. Schmidt 3 0-0 6, McDonald 0 0-0 0. Totals — 28 8-16 67.
EAGLE RIVER (17) — Blount 0 0-0 0, Chapman 0 0-0 0, Sharp 1 1-2 3, Schmid 0 0-0 0, Camburn 1 0-0 2, Jensen 1 0-0 2, Perry 1 0-0 2, Hardee 4 0-0 8, Sharpe 0 0-0 0. Totals — 8 1-2 17.
3-point goals — Soldotna 5 (Blossom 2, A. Schmidt 2, Miller). Team fouls — Soldotna 8, Eagle River 14. Fouled out — none.
Lynx 57, Warriors 14
Nikolaevsk 5 0 4 5 —14
Nenana 16 20 10 11 —57
NIKOLAEVSK (14) — S. Klaich 0 0-0 0, K. Klaich 1 0-0 2, Z. Fefelov 0 0-0 0, Kain 1 0-0 3, Lasiter 0 0-0 0, Yakunin 1 0-2 2, Brown 0 0-0 0, Mametieff 1 0-0 2, J. Fefelov 1 0-0 3, Hickman 0 0-0 0, E. Fefelov 1 0-0 2. Totals 6 0-2 14.
NENANA (57) — Mark 1 0-0 2, A. Rosa 0 0-0 0, Standifer 1 0-0 2, K. Rosa 2 0-2 4, Tremblay 6 1-2 7, Stone 2 1-1 5, Frankson 6 0-0 18, Nickoli 4 0-0 11, Agwiak 2 1-2 5, Lake 1 0-0 2, Ulery 0 1-4 1, Swan 0 0-0 0. Totals 25 4-11 57.
3-point goals — Nikolaevsk 2 (J. Fefelov 1, Kain 1); Nenana 9 (Frankson 6, Nickoli 3).
Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 8; Nenana 12. Fouled out — none.
Cook Inlet’s Hunter Moos (left) evades the block from Kodiak ESS defender Travis Amodo Thursday night at Cook Inlet Academy in Soldotna. (Photo by Joey Klecka/Peninsula Clarion)
