The Kenai Central and Soldotna girls basketball teams lost their opening games Wednesday at the Lady Lynx Prep Shootout at Dimond High School in Anchorage.

The Stars dropped a 44-15 decision to Ketchikan. Courtney Kemble had 15 points for Ketchikan, while Eliah Anderson pitched in eight points.

For Soldotna, Lindsey Wong led the way with six points.

The Kardinals fell 57-26 to East. Jasmine Richards had 17 points for the Thunderbirds, while Alexis Baker paced the Kardinals with 10 points.

Both the Stars and Kardinals will play in the Maroon Tournament after the loss. Soldotna opens up play in that tournament today against Bartlett at 2:45 p.m., while Kenai faces Chugiak at 8 p.m. Bartlett lost 51-32 to Colony, while Chugiak lost 59-55 to Lathrop.

Ninilchik Invitational Championship

Both the Ninilchik girls and boys basketball teams opened up with victories at the Ninilchik Invitational Championship on Wednesday.

The Ninilchik boys recorded a 82-27 win over the Homer JV, advancing the Wolverines to Thursday’s 2:30 p.m. matchup with Klawock.

Austin White had 18 points to lead the Wolverines, while JD Mumey had 15, Tyler Presley had 14 and Dalton Geppert had 12.

The Ninilchik girls had a monster third quarter to topple Homer’s junior varsity 50-10.

The Wolverines will also face Klawock on Thursday.

Ninilchik led 18-2 at halftime, but then won the third quarter 28-4.

DeeAnn White had 12 of her game-high 16 points in the third for the Wolverines. Krista Sinclair added 11 points.

In other games, the Noorvik boys beat Kalskag and advance to play Seldovia today at 11:30 a.m., and the Akiak girls defeated Kalskag to move on to today’s 10 a.m. game against Seldovia.

Wednesday girls

Wolverines 50, Mariners JV 10

Homer JV 0 2 4 4 —10

Ninilchik 5 13 28 4 —50

HOMER JV (10) — Fabich 0 0-0 0, Sonnen 0 0-0 0, Martustev 0 0-0 0, Bales 0 0-0 0, Parish 2 0-0 4, Ross 0 0-0 0, Veldstra 2 0-0 4, Box 0 0-1 0, Dawson 1 0-0 2, Rios 0 0-0 0. Totals — 5 0-1 10.

NINILCHIK (50) — Delgado 2 1-6 5, Appelhanz 1 0-0 3, Sinclair 3 4-4 11, Goins 3 1-3 7, White 6 3-4 16, Finney 2 2-4 6, Clark 1 0-0 2. Totals — 18 11-21 50.

3-point goals — Ninilchik 3 (Appelhanz, Sinclair, White). Team fouls — Homer JV 16, Ninilchik 11. Fouled out — none.

Wednesday boys

Wolverines 82, Mariners JV 27

Homer JV 10 7 2 8 —27

Ninilchik 34 19 17 12 —82

HOMER JV (27) — Ravin 1 0-0 2, Beck 0 0-0 0, Adkins 1 0-0 2, Waclawski 0 0-0 0, Pittman 1 0-0 2, Felde 1 0-0 2, Davis 2 0-0 4, Nelson 0 0-0 0, Swaboda 2 0-0 4, Russel 1 1-2 3, Cortez 2 0-2 4, Mann 2 0-4 4. Totals — 13 1-8 27.

NINILCHIK (82) — Koch 0 0-0 0, Appelhanz 3 0-0 7, Presley 5 4-5 14, Koch 1 0-0 2, Geppert 4 2-2 12, Brandt 2 1-2 5, Bartolowits 4 0-0 9, Mumey 6 0-0 15, White 8 0-1 18, Riley 0 0-0 0, Adams 0 0-0 0.

3-point goals — Ninilchik 9 (Mumey 3, Geppert 2, White 2, Appelhanz, Bartolowits). Team fouls — Homer JV 10, Ninilchik 10. Fouled out — none.