Stars smother Bears

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  Soldotna's Shelly Barker defends against Kodiak's Roweena Yamat in the third quarter Saturday at Skyview. M. Scott Moon

Soldotna's Shelly Barker defends against Kodiak's Roweena Yamat in the third quarter Saturday at Skyview.

M. Scott Moon

Games got tougher, but so too did the Stars.

Soldotna High’s girls basketball team capped off a championship performance by taking the 16th annual Peninsula Challenge with a 44-35 victory over Kodiak on Saturday evening at Skyview High.

The Stars (8-1), in their second tournament in two weeks, prevailed with superior defense. They were triggered by an 8-2 opening to the second half and overcame a turnover-filled game for both teams.

“We have a lot of depth,” said tournament MVP Paige Blackburn of the Stars. “We were missing our starting point guard today. But we discovered we can pull it together. Or if someone falls, we can pull back together.”

The Stars got steady play at the point from freshman starter Karen Senette and sophomore Jessie Stenga. Blackburn finished with 13 points and seven rebounds, playing the final 3-plus minutes with four fouls.

But the Stars’ defense was overwhelmingly pivotal.

The Bears, who defeated Kenai Central and Skyview to reach the final, were held to 25 percent for the evening. In a miserable second half, Kodiak shot 3-for-20 from the floor (15 percent) and committed half of their 22 turnovers.

“Each game got a little harder, and I thought we rose to the occasion each time,” said Soldotna head coach Mark Tuter. “We did not shoot well today, and had quite a few turnovers, but we played hard.”

And many of the Stars’ 22 turnovers were of the aggressive nature. Soldotna, which bumped Seward and Homer the first two days, shot 37.5 percent from the floor.

Blackburn was joined on the all-tournament squad by senior teammate Christa Kennedy. Kodiak was represented by senior guard Chelsea Filburn and juniors Alysa Horn and Erika Horn.

Kodiak never led by more than a deuce and Soldotna charged into the lead for keeps with seven straight points midway through the second period, building a 23-17 edge.

Leading 27-23 at the intermission, the Stars got baskets twice from Blackburn and a three-point play by sophomore April Heffner to go in front 35-25 with less than two minutes to play in the third period.

The Bears managed just one field goal, missing nine of 10 shots, during an 11-minute, 40-second stretch from the second quarter to the first minute of the fourth quarter. A last gasp rally never evolved.

“We thought about playing zone,” Tuter said. “But we made up our minds to play man and work through it.”

Kennedy led the Stars’ 37-30 edge off the backboards with 10 rebounds. Junior Karen Duffy came off the bench to claim six more. Kodiak was led by Filburn with eight points and five rebounds, and Alysa Horn with six rebounds.

Rounding out the all-tournament squad were Homer’s Reba Temple, Nikiski’s Hannah Thompson, Skyview’s Melissa Fay and Nicole Van Ryzin and Kenai’s Samantha Navarre.

The 3-point shooting contest winner was Fay and the free throw contest winner was Kenai’s Damaris Craig.

Skyview 54, Homer 51

The Panthers completed an impressive run to third place by defeating Homer.

Skyview defeated Nikiski on Thursday before losing to Kodiak on Friday and winning Saturday. On Thursday, the Panthers outplayed perennial Class 3A state title contender Nikiski in the final quarter.

On Saturday, Skyview again hung tough in the final quarter against the Mariners, who have been to the last three Class 4A state tournaments. The Panthers were able to hang on to the 40-37 advantage they took into the final frame.

Skyview’s Nicole Van Ryzin came up big in the final quarter, scoring 10 of her game-high 23 points. The Panthers also received 15 points from Melissa Fay and 10 points from Melissa Massey.

Reba Temple dumped in 20 points to lead Homer, while Allison Horazdovsky added 13.

Nikiski 60, Grace Christian 34

The Bulldogs put three players in double figures in capturing the fourth-place game.

Hannah Thompson paced Nikiski with 13 points and six steals, while Becca Carlson had 11 points and Tasha Thompson added 10 points and 11 rebounds. Sherra Pritchard also had 11 rebounds for Nikiski. Grace’s Rosie Berg had 14 points to lead all scorers.

Kenai 51, Seward 23

Freshman Samantha Hull and sophomore Lacie Wortham each had 10 points as the Kardinals won the seventh-place game.

Kenai grabbed an 18-9 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Diana Hill paced Seward with eight points.

Saturday girls

STARS 44, BEARS 35

Kodiak 13 10 4 8 —35

Soldotna 16 11 9 8 —44

KODIAK (35) — Filburn 3 2-4 8, Yamat 1 0-0 2, Poulos 2 3-4 7, Keplinger 0 2-2 2, Nault 2 0-1 4, A. Horn 2 0-2 4, E. Horn 1 2-5 4, Timpke 1 2-4 4, McCarty 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-22 35.

SOLDOTNA (44) — Senette 1 1-2 3, Heffner 2 3-3 7, Jes. Stenga 0 0-0 0, Kennedy 2 3-5 7, Donaldson 0 1-2 1, Jen. Stenga 1 0-0 2, Hintermister 0 0-0 0, Barker 2 4-5 8, Duffy 1 1-2 3, Blackburn 6 1-2 13. Totals 15 14-21 44.

3-point goals — None. Total fouls — Kodiak 14, Soldotna 18. Technicals — A. Horn. Fouled out — none.

PANTHERS 54, MARINERS 51

Homer 13 17 7 14 —51

Skyview 18 14 8 14 —54

HOMER (51) — Bornheimer 2 0-2 4, Weaver 0 0-0 0, McCarron 0 0-0 0, J. Temple 0 0-0 0, Daugharty 2 2-4 6, Devaney 0 0-0 0, Gavenus 0 0-0 0, Horazdovsky 6 0-0 13, Siekaniec 3 2-2 8, R. Temple 9 2-8 20. Totals — 22 6-16 51.

SKYVIEW (54) — Graves 0 0-0 0, Martin 2 0-2 4, Massey 4 1-2 10, Fay 6 1-2 15, Van Ryzin 8 6-13 23, Mercier 0 0-0 0, West 0 0-0 0, Meyer 1 0-0 2. Totals — 21 8-19 54.

3-point goals — Homer 1 (Horazdovsky 1); Skyview 4 (Fay 2, Massey 1, Van Ryzin 1). Team fouls — Homer 17, Skyview 12. Fouled out — none.

BULLDOGS 60, GRIZZLIES 34

Nikiski 15 12 19 14 —60

Grace 7 8 9 10 —34

NIKISKI (60) — Romans 1 1-2 3, B. Carlson 3 3-3 11, Pritchard 3 1-2 7, L. Carlson 0 0-0 0, Chadwick 4 0-0 8, H. Thompson 4 3-4 13, T. Thompson 2 6-8 10, Jorgensen 0 0-0 0, Rorrison 1 0-0 2, Peek 3 0-0 6. Totals — 20 14-19 60.

GRACE (34) — Marchuk 2 0-0 4, Dupea 2 1-2 5, Metcalf 0 0-0 0, Peck 0 1-2 1, Johnson 0 0-0 0, Savage 1 2-4 4, Mestas 3 0-0 6, Coulombe 0 0-0 0, Berg 4 6-10 14, Maillelle 0 0-0 0. Totals — 11 10-18 34.

3-point goals — Nikiski 4 (B. Carlson 2, H. Thompson 2). Team fouls — Nikiski 16, Grace 15. Fouled out — Chadwick.

KARDINALS 51, SEAHAWKS 23

Kenai 18 11 10 12 —51

Seward 9 5 5 4 —23

KENAI (51) — Navarre 2 2-3 6, Delaney 1 0-0 2, Foley 0 0-0 0, Moore 1 0-0 2, Hull 4 1-2 10, Mills 0 0-0 0, Salisbury 0 0-0 0, Wortham 4 2-5 10, Craig 3 2-2 8, Gabriel 0 0-0 0, Steward 2 5-7 9, Sassi 2 0-0 4, Garcia 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 12-19 51.

SEWARD (23) — D. Foldager 0 4-7 4, Beals 0 0-0 0, Banic 1 1-4 3, R. Foldager 1 3-6 5, Hill 2 4-5 8, Ennis 0 1-2 1, Buchanan 0 0-0 0, Clemens 0 0-2 0, Kain 0 1-2 1, Clarke 0 0-0 0, Van Borstel 0 1-2 1. Totals — 4 15-30 23.

3-point goals — Kenai 1 (Hull 1). Team fouls — Kenai 25, Seward 18. Fouled out — Buchanan.