The Cook Inlet Academy boys won, while the CIA girls lost, Wednesday in the opening round of the Class 1A state basketball tournament at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
The Eagles boys, the No. 2 seed, notched a 63-39 victory over No. 15 Scammon Bay. CIA moves to a 7:45 p.m. Thursday quarterfinal against No. 10 Davis-Ramoth of Selawik, which defeated No. 7 Skagway 78-71.
The Eagles girls, the No. 16 seed, fell 55-20 to No. 1 Fork Yukon, the defending Class 1A state champion. CIA faces No. 8 Davis-Ramoth in the consolation bracket at 8 a.m. Thursday. Davis-Ramoth fell to No. 9 Bristol Bay 51-38 in the first round.
The Cook Inlet Academy boys led 22-6 after the first quarter and 38-12 at halftime.
“I was proud of the team and the energy they came out with this morning, especially in the first half,” CIA head coach Ben McGarry wrote in a text message. “We took control of the game and never looked back.
“We were battling some injuries and illness; hopefully those get better the next couple days.”
Alek McGarry led CIA with 30 points. He was 9 of 13 on 2-pointers, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers and had five rebound and four steals.
“Alek was amazing!” coach McGarry wrote. “Played like a champion.”
CIA finished 25 of 50 on field goals, while Scammon Bay was 16 of 44.
Ian McGarry and Owen Braband each had 8 points, while Brandt Rollman had 7, Zach Armstrong had 6 and Lucas Oyoumick had 4.
For Scammon Bay, Dallas Kaganak had 15, William Rivers had 7, Aiden George and Albert Yunak had 5, Christian Chandler had 3, and Toby Sundown and Charlie Kaganak each had 2.
Fort Yukon girls 55, CIA 20
CIA head coach Josh Hawley said there were two main things that hurt his squad — rebounding and turnovers.
“We allowed them too many second-chance points,” Hawley said.
Fort Yukon won the rebound battle 42-27 and the offensive rebound battle 10-4.
“We really did a great job of keeping them from 3-point shooting,” Hawley said. “They went 3 for 22 and that was one of our main goals, to make sure they’re not getting shots in any rhythm.”
Hawley said the final step in that process is grabbing the rebound, and that’s where things went wrong.
CIA also committed 42 turnovers to the 19 of Fort Yukon. Fort Yukon had 27 points off turnovers to the 2 for CIA.
Cook Inlet shot better from 3-point land, hitting 3 of 11. But the easy buckets off rebounds and turnovers let Fort Yukon shoot 23 of 58 from 2-point land, while CIA was 4 of 27.
“It was just turnovers that a lot of times we wouldn’t make,” Hawley said. “I think it was just the first time at state for a lot of these girls.”
Hawley said four of his girls played at state before, but the other seven had never played varsity basketball before this season.
“I’m proud of my girls,” Hawley said. “They handled it. They took it on the chin. They’re in good spirits, and now they have a little more state experience.”
Hawley said it was the type of game where things never went right. He said Maria Smith nailed a 3-pointer at the start of the half, then rolled her ankle on the next defensive possession and was done for the game.
The coach said Brandi Harkleroad had a great defensive game in holding Nellie Ward to 9 points.
Hawley said Ella Rollman battled down low to lead the team with 8. The coach said Sophie Rozak rebounded and shot well for 6 points, while Beka Dillingham did her best to calm nervous teammates from the point guard position.
The CIA coach said his squad will get a quick opportunity to see how much was learned against Davis-Ramoth.
“They’re a 3-point shooting team, so we’ve got to step it up on the outside, and they will attack the rebounds,” Hawley said. “It’s back to the same old same old — turnovers and rebounds.”
Dillingham and Smith had 3 points each for CIA.
For Fort Yukon, Kylee Carroll had 18, Jane Ward had 12, Shandace Carroll had 8, Jewel Mahler had 4, and Josslyn Griffin and Karli Thomas had 2 apiece.
