As 15-year-old goalie Kris Oldham (yes, you read that right, 15) was walking past Kenai River Brown Bears coach Oliver David in the Soldotna Sports Center hallway after the Bears 7-5 win over the Wenatchee (Wash.) Wild on Friday, David asked Oldham how he had liked picking up the win in his junior hockey debut.

"It was awesome," Oldham said, his cherubic face looking out of place propped on a 6-foot-4 frame outfitted with bulging goalie gear. "I had fun."

They ain't all like this one, kid. Not even close.

I sympathize with the Alaska School Activities Association. At the same time, I don’t.

I sympathize because, as sports editor, I know how hard it can be to round up basketball scores from around the state.

So I can understand how the following horrid scenario happened:

• Soldotna girls basketball team learns Sunday night that it has qualified for the Class 4A state tournament by virtue of its Winning Percentage Index, or WPI.

Let the mathematicians do the math. The Soldotna girls are ready to play some basketball — at the Class 4A state tournament.

After finishing fourth at the Northern Lights Conference Tournament on Saturday and failing to earn an automatic qualification, Soldotna qualified Sunday based on its Winning Percentage Index, or WPI.

Barely.

As in, SoHi’s WPI was .564986615, while Lathrop was excluded from the tournament due to a WPI of .564521294.

A bandbox gym. A community that loves supporting basketball. Sixteen teams, including two of the best in the state, fighting for six state berths. Game times ranging from 8 a.m. to 7:30 p.m.

It’s going to be quite the weekend in Seward, where the Southcentral Conference Tournament tips today with eight games.

On the boys and girls side, Anchorage Christian Schools goes into the tournament with the No. 1 seeds from the Northern Division and the favorite’s mantle.

“ACS is the best team in 3A, if not one of the best teams in the state,” Nikiski girls coach Scott Anderson.