Nikiski girls, ACS boys notch wins

Friday night, the Nikiski Bulldogs faced Southcentral Conference opponent Anchorage Christian Schools at Nikiski.

The Nikiski girls focused on a defensive game against their opponents, which led to 48-18 thumping of ACS. Incredibly, the Bulldogs held the Lions without a field goal for the entire first half and scoreless in the second period. It wasn't until the Lions' Candice Dyson had a shot roll around the rim and in that made it 26-4 with several minutes gone in the third quarter.

"We played great defense," said Nikiski coach Ward Romans. "(ACS) has an all-guard offense basically and we put pressure on them throughout the game."

The Bulldogs' defense hounded ACS ball-handlers for a 22-2 lead at the half. The tough defense also caused 11 ACS turnovers in the first half and nearly 20 for the game.

Following Becka Carlson's three-pointer with 4:48 left in the third quarter, Nikiski had established their biggest lead with a 36-5 difference. Nikiski maintained a large margin the rest of the way as ACS finally got some looks at the basket.

"It was a complete team effort and all the girls got to play too," Romans said. "It's great as a coach to be able to interchange players who know the positions."

Sarah Herrin led Nikiski with 17 points, nearly matching the Lions' entire team output, while nearly all of her teammates managed to score as well.

On the boys side, Nikiski had to play a very physical game to compete with a very tall front line from ACS.

ACS has a team that starts two players standing 6-foot-8, while the Lions' bench is stocked with two other players over 6-5.

Nikiski's Travis McGahan and Ben Kellie were assigned the task of guarding the Lions' big men. McGahan was faced with probably the toughest challenge in guarding Richard McNutt. McNutt is a decent shooter from nearly anywhere on the court and his tall, lanky frame is surprisingly versatile.

"They were obviously big," Nikiski senior Chris Curren said, "but we just focused on playing defense."

Nikiski approached the game fired up and hit on all cylinders early. They pounced on ACS and took a 9-2 lead early in the first quarter behind 3-pointers from Steven Taylor and Curren.

ACS closed the first quarter outscoring Nikiski 20-7, though, and used its momentum through the second quarter, where Nikiski managed only nine points to fall behind 45-25 at the half.

Nikiski managed to trade shots with ACS in the third quarter, but it did nothing to the 20-point lead of ACS as Nikiski went into the final quarter down 60-40.

To start the fourth, Nikiski closed to within 60-46 on another Taylor 3-pointer, but that mark would prove the closest Nikiski would get as they went on to drop a conference game 77-51.

Steven Taylor led Nikiski with 23 points, including six 3-pointers.

Nikiski girls 43, Houston 29

The Bulldogs received 17 points from Sarah Herrin and 10 from Hannah Thompson in earning a Southcentral conference victory over the visiting Hawks Saturday.

Nikiski trailed 12-5 after the first quarter and 17-15 at halftime, but outscored the Hawks 28-12 in the second half. Rachael Stewart paced Houston with 15 points.

Nikiski boys 57, Houston 42

The Bulldogs jumped out to an 18-4 lead in the first quarter en route to the Southcentral Conference victory Saturday over the visiting Hawks.

Steven Taylor and Chad Holloway each had 16 points for the Bulldogs, while Ben Kellie added 10 points. Donavan Parker had 15 points for the Hawks, while David Montell added 10 points.

Girls

BULLDOGS 48, LIONS 18

Nikiski 11 11 18 8 —48

ACS 2 0 7 9 —18

NIKISKI (48) — Lee 1 0-0 2, Carlson 1 0-0 3, Gladden 3 1-2 7, Griffel 1 1-2 4, Auldridge 1 2-2 4, Thompson 3 0-0 6, Herrin 7 3-5 17, Hitchcock 0 0-0 0, Pritchard 1 1-2 3, Jorgensen 1 0-0 2. Totals — 19 8-13 48.

ACS (18) — White 0 0-0 0, S. Volstad 0 0-0 0, Jentzen 1 0-0 2, H. Volstad 0 0-0 0, Berlen 1 4-6 6, Hoch 0 0-0 0, LeBoeuf 0 0-0 0, Dyson 5 0-2 10, Madren 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Fischetti 0 0-0 0. Totals — 7 4-8 18.

3-point goals — Nikiski 2 (Carlson, Griffel). Total fouls — Nikiski 7, ACS 14. Fouled out — Hoch.

BULLDOGS 43, HAWKS 29

Houston 12 5 6 6 —29

Nikiski 5 10 13 15 —43

HOUSTON (29) — Tresham 1 2-3 4, H. Warner 0 0-0 0, Redford 0 0-2 0, A. Warner 0 0-0 0, Elder 4 1-2 9, Seiben 0 0-2 0, Thistle 0 1-2 1, Stewart 6 3-6 15, Katzenberger 0 0-0 0. Totals 11 7-15 29.

NIKISKI (43) — Carlson 0 2-2 2, Gladden 1 1-2 3, Griffel 2 0-2 4, Auldridge 2 0-3 5, Thompson 1 8-10 10, Herrin 6 5-8 17, Hitchcock 1 0-0 2. Totals — 13 16-27 43.

3-point goals — Nikiski 1 (Auldridge 1). Total fouls — Houston 18, Nikiski 15. Fouled out — none.

Boys

LIONS 77, BULLDOGS 61

ACS 22 23 15 17 —77

Nikiski 16 9 15 21 —61

ACS (77) — Seako 1 0-0 2, Peterson 0 0-0 0, McNutt 10 0-0 21, Slepecki 2 0-0 4, Chad Dyson 3 4-9 11, Chet Dyson 9 2-4 21, Webb 1 2-2 4, Klein 1 0-0 2, D. Dwyer 0 0-0 0, Fuller 4 0-1 8, C. Dwyer 2 0-0 4. Totals — 33 8-16 77.

NIKISKI (61) — Hemphill 3 1-2 8, Taylor 6 5-6 23, Kellie 3 0-0 7, Curren 2 1-2 7, Holloway 0 2-2 2, Vance 3 2-3 9, McGahan 1 3-4 5. Totals — 18 14-19 61.

3-point goals — ACS 3 (McNutt, Chad Dyson, Chet Dyson), Nikiski 11 (Taylor 6, Curren 2, Hemphill, Kellie, Vance). Total fouls — ACS 15, Nikiski 13. Fouled out — Curren.

BULLDOGS 57, HAWKS 42

Houston 4 13 6 19 —42

Nikiski 18 9 11 19 —57

HOUSTON (42) — Parker 5 4-7 15, Shumway 0 0-0 0, Faiks 1 0-0 2, Thistle 0 0-0 0, Fredricks 0 1-2 1, Veit 3 0-1 6, Strickland 0 0-0 0, Montell 2 6-7 10, Duelette 0 1-2 1, Conn 3 1-2 7. Totals — 14 13-21 42.

NIKISKI (57) — Hemphill 2 0-0 4, Taylor 6 1-2 16, Kellie 3 4-6 10, Curren 1 5-5 7, Holloway 6 2-4 16, Vance 0 0-0 0, McGahan 0 4-6 4. Totals — 18 16-23 57.

3-point goals — Houston 1 (Parker 1); Nikiski 5 (Taylor 3, Holloway 2). Total fouls — Houston 17, Nikiski 21. Fouled out — Holloway.