The Cook Inlet Academy boys basketball team defeated Aqqaluk Norvik School 64-43 on Wednesday in the first round of the Class 1A state tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
The Eagles, the No. 4 seed, move to the quarterfinals Thursday at 9:30 a.m. against No. 5 Minto. Minto defeated No. 12 Klawock 59-31.
CIA was not able to break away from the Bears, the No. 13 seed, until the fourth quarter.
The Eagles led 16-12 after a quarter, 28-24 at the half and 44-36 after three quarters.
“We played a very much more typical to us fourth quarter and pulled away,” CIA head coach Ben McGarry said after moving to 23-3 overall.
McGarry said a number of factors kept the Eagles from pulling away earlier. The Bears had 21 fouls to CIA’s six.
“It was a different style of game, for sure,” McGarry said. “Noorvik is a really physical team, and just kind of pounded us a lot and broke up the game.”
The coach also said an 8 a.m. start time does not usually make for a quick start to the game.
“We got up early this morning and they were excited to play,” McGarry said. “Of course, that’s not usually a time we play basketball.”
Both teams also had a tough time adjusting to shooting in the big arena. CIA was 21 of 44 on 2-pointers and 4 of 17 on 3-pointers, while Noorvik was 18 of 44 and 0 for 7.
“That’s a different arena to play in,” McGarry said. “It’s not like your home gym.
“It’s a big, open court and they gave us practice time yesterday, but there’s a lot to get used to.”
The coach said the key to his squad’s offense was transition, either beating Noorvik’s pressure or with nice outlet passes off of missed shots.
“One thing we were able to do to overcome their physicality was we got some good fast-break opportunities,” McGarry said.
Ian McGarry pumped in 30 points for the Eagles, going 11 of 16 on 2-pointers, 1 of 5 on 3-pointers and 5 of 5 from the line.
Alek McGarry added 19, going 7 of 14 on 2s, 1 of 4 on 3s and 2 of 3 from the line.
Coach McGarry said his squad missed some point-blank shots. He’s hoping that is out of the team’s system.
Defensively, McGarry said his team was giving up too many points underneath early. Jade Ballot, with 24, and Darrel Johnson, with 12, feasted on the inside.
Coach McGarry said his team was getting pushed around inside in the first half.
“We made some adjustments at halftime, and I think we got more pressure on them on those shots,” McGarry said. “They didn’t get nearly as many layups or open shots in the second half.”
Jeremiah Dillingham had 6 points for CIA, but McGarry said Dillingham had a huge impact on the game by holding Aqqaluk’s Andrew Sampson scoreless.
“It took a team effort,” McGarry said. “We have everyone playing hard and playing well.”
Lucas Oyoumick added 3 for CIA, while Owen Braband had 2 and Nehemiah Barnes had 1.
For Aqqaluk, Dustin Stone had 4, Zaden Johnson had 2 and Taqtqavin Field had 1.
McGarry said Minto plays a style more like CIA. He said Minto did not post up once Wednesday, relying on quick guards to generate offense. Both teams can get up and down the floor and put a lot of points on the board.
“I watched them today and thought, ‘Wow. There are more similarities than I realized,’” McGarry said. “It’ll be a really fun game.”
