High school basketball started on the Kenai Peninsula on Thursday with the Kenai River Challenge, a girls tournament at Kenai Central, and the Al Howard/Powerade Tournament, a boys tournament at Soldotna.
Both tournaments are round robins, but the six team at each don’t all play each other. At the girls event, the Kenai girls topped Houston 49-26, the South girls topped Nikiski 42-40 and the Juneau girls topped Soldotna 44-41. At the boys tournament, Kenai beat Seldovia 86-43, Houston topped Homer 60-54 and Dimond topped Soldotna 58-34.
Today at SoHi, it’s Homer vs. Seldovia at 4 p.m., Kenai vs. Dimond at 5:45 p.m. and Soldotna vs. Houston at 7:30 p.m. Today at Kenai, Soldotna plays Houston at 3 p.m., Nikiski plays Juneau-Douglas at 5 p.m. and Kenai plays South at 7 p.m.
Saturday at SoHi, it’s Kenai vs. Houston at noon, Homer vs. Dimond at 1:45 p.m., and Soldotna vs. Seldovia at 3:30 p.m. Saturday at Kenai, Soldotna plays South at noon, Nikiski plays Houston at 2 p.m. and Kenai plays Juneau at 4 p.m.
Dimond boys 58, Soldotna 34
The Lynx opened up a 15-6 lead after the first quarter en route to victory.
Kenai Central boys 86, Seldovia 43
The Class 4A Kardinals started their season by topping the defending Class 1A state-champion Sea Otters.
Garrett Fitt and Taylor Landry paced the Kards with 16 points, while Josh Jackman had 12 and Marshall Vest added 10.
For Seldovia, which trailed 25-16 after the first quarter and 54-30 at halftime, Aidan Philpot had 18 points, while Calem Collier pitched in 17.
Houston boys 60, Homer 54
The Hawks received 20 points from Ben Bitler and 18 from Kade Taylor in opening with a victory over the Mariners.
Houston led 14-10 after one quarter, 26-25 at halftime and 41-36 after three quarters. Koby Etzwiler had 30 points for the Mariners, while Johann Kauelid added 11.
Kenai girls 49, Houston 26
After leading 12-8 after the first quarter, the Kards broke away from the Hawks.
Abby Beck led the way for Kenai with 12 points. Kimberly Quincy paced the Hawks with 10 points.
South girls 42, Nikiski 40
The Bulldogs pushed the Wolverines down to the wire, but South’s 9-5 first quarter was too much to overcome.
Juneau girls 44, Soldotna 41
An 18-7 second-quarter spurt by the Crimson Bears proved to be decisive against the Stars.
Lindsey Wong paced Soldotna with 14 points.
Ninilchik boys 51, Klawock 28
The Wolverines opened up their season at the Klawock Tournament against the hosts, and had a huge second half to win.
Klawock led 18-15 at halftime before Ninilchik took control. Austin White had 25 points and 20 rebounds, while Dalton Geppert had 15, Matt Bartolowits had 5, Tyler Presley had 6 and Caleb Appelhanz had 3.
Ninilchik plays Hydaburg today at 5:30 p.m.
Bethel boys 57, Seward 43
The Seahawks dropped their first game of the Sitka Holland America Tournament, Thursday in Sitka.
Bethel girls 45, Seward 25
Like the boys, the Seward girls were handed a loss by Bethel on the first day of the Holland America Tournament in Sitka.
Homer girls 48, Service 33
The Mariners picked up a win over the Cougars on the first day of the Service Tip Off Tournament in Anchorage.
Friday boys
Kardinals 86, Sea Otters 43
Seldovia 16 14 8 5 —43
Kenai 25 29 20 12 —86
SELDOVIA (43) — Waterbury 1 0-0 2, Scribner 0 0-0 0, Collier 6 1-1 17, Haller 0 0-0 0, Philpot 5 6-9 18, Stanish 2 2-2 6. Totals — 14 9-12 43.
KENAI CENTRAL (86) — Daniels 1 0-0 2, Ta. Landry 8 0-0 16, Ivy 1 0-0 3, Vest 4 0-0 10, Brazell 4 0-0 9, Tr. Landry 1 0-0 2, Tuttle 0 0-0 0, Jackman 6 0-1 12, Beiser 3 0-0 6, Fitt 8 0-2 16, Dye 0 0-0 0, Beeson 3 0-0 6, Johnson 2 0-0 4. Totals — 41 0-3 86.
3-point goals — Seldovia 6 (Collier 4, Philpot 2), Kenai 4 (Vest 2, Ivy, Brazell). Team fouls — Seldovia 5, Kenai 13. Fouled out — none.
Hawks 60, Mariners 54
Houston 14 12 15 19 —60
Homer 10 15 11 18 —54
HOUSTON (60) — Ka. Taylor 7 0-1 18, Ko. Taylor 3 0-2 6, Ruta 2 1-2 5, Ross 1 2-2 4, Pelesasa 1 0-0 2, Graham 2 0-2 5, Dika 0 0-0 0, Bitler 8 4-7 20. Totals — 23 7-16 60.
HOMER (54) — Ravin 1 0-0 2, Rohr 1 1-2 3, Etzwiler 9 5-6 30, Beachy 1 0-0 2, Edens 0 0-0 0, Beck 0 0-0 0, Ellison 3 0-4 6, Kauelid 5 1-3 11, Carroll 0 0-0 0. Totals — 20 7-11 54.
3-point goals — Houston 5 (Ka. Taylor 4, Graham 1); Homer 7 (Etzwiler 7). Team fouls — Houston 18, Homer 17. Fouled out — Etzwiler, Kauelid.
Friday girls
Kardinals 49, Hawks 26
Houston 8 3 8 6 —26
Kenai 12 9 12 16 —49
HOUSTON (26) — Holmes 0, May-Thomas 0, Bean 0, Bohl 2, Ruth 1, M. Moore 0, Leonard 0, Wilkerson 9, Quincy 10, Kapuneai 0, Davis 0, T. Moore 4.
KENAI (49) — Calvert 0, Holmes 6, Drury 3, Steinbeck 8, Creighton 7, Baker 4, Booth 3, Morse 2, Ross 0, Beck 12, Satathite 2, Every 2.
3-point goals — Houston 1 (Wilkerson 1); Kenai 1 (Booth 1). Team fouls — Houston 16, Kenai 19. Fouled out — Drury.
Wolverines 42, Bulldogs 40
South 9 10 10 13 —42
Nikiski 5 12 10 13 —40
SOUTH (42) — Fernette 0, Garner 16, Lada 10, Ayers 2, Lash 2, Sweetsir 7, Deike-Sims 1, Babiak 0, Olson 0, VanLandingham 2, Edwards 2.
NIKISKI (40) — Wik 1, Riddall 7, Vollertson 5, Pitt 7, Kornstad 5, Clark 7, Parrish 6, Jackson 2.
3-point goals — South 5 (Garner 3, Lada 2); Nikiski 1 (Ridall 1). Team fouls — South 19, Nikiski 14. Fouled out — Riddall.
Crimson Bears 44, Stars 41
Juneau 12 18 6 8 —44
Soldotna 14 7 9 11 —41
JUNEAU (44) — Hurtil 11, Hoover 2, Bohulano 5, Pusich 4, Dzinich 4, Robinson 2, Fogg 7, Archart 9.
SOLDOTNA (41) — Nelson 1, Miller 6, A. Schmidt 9, Wong 14, Blossom 3, Brush 4, McElroy 4, D. Schmidt 0.
3-point goals — Juneau none; Soldotna 2 (Miller 2). Team fouls — Juneau 19, Soldotna 22. Fouled out — Bohulano, Wong, McElroy.
