The host Soldotna boys basketball team opened up its season with a 47-35 victory Friday over a Bartlett team that finished fifth at the Class 4A state tournament last season, losing in overtime in the semifinals to eventual champion Dimond.

Well, not that Bartlett team exactly. The Golden Bears lost 11 of 12 players off of that squad. But SoHi coach Matt Johnson will still take a win over an Anchorage school with a respected basketball tradition any day.

"This was a great team win," Johnson said.

The Kenai River Brown Bears swept the Fairbanks Ice Dogs on Friday and Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center in North American Hockey League action.

The Bears won 4-3 on Friday and 2-0 on Saturday. Kenai River improves to 12-10-4, good for third place and 28 points in the West Division. Fairbanks (18-8-0) and Wenatchee (Wash.) are tied for the division lead with 36 points.

The Bears also lead the Era Alaska Cup, which will be given to the winner of the Bears-Dogs season series, 3-1.

Things haven’t been easy for the Kenai River Brown Bears lately. They’re not about to get any easier.

The Brown Bears kick off a portion of their schedule that is anything but holiday friendly today and Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center, when the Fairbanks Ice Dogs come to town for a pair of 7:30 p.m. games. The two games continue a season-long battle for the Era Alaska Cup, which is currently tied at one game apiece.

When it’s 20 degrees and snow covers the entire Turkey Trot course, and most entrants are saying, “At least it’s not as cold as last year,” you know you’re probably in Alaska.

Fifty-two runners got together at the Kenai Visitors and Cultural Center amidst gathering clouds for the T200 Turkey Trot on Friday.

Last year’s inaugural trot was held in 10-degree temps, but it felt colder because a lot of the course is shaded from the sun, and because memories of winter days in Alaska don’t tend to grow warmer over time.