Ninilchik girls retain PC title
Ninilchik never caved.
Losing four starters from last season's squad that placed third at state, the Wolverines fought through early season struggles this year, losing seven games in total, including their first setback to Cook Inlet Academy since the 1980s, and still earned the top seed at the Peninsula Conference tournament.
And now the Wolverines finished off their resilient regular-season run in fitting fashion, too.
Trailing CIA by as many as nine in the second quarter of Friday's conference championship game, Ninilchik rode the hot shooting of senior Heidi Skjold, who scored 14 of her team-high 16 points in the second half in propelling the Wolverines to their 14th conference crown in the last 17 seasons with a thrilling 41-40 victory over the Eagles at Skyview High School.
"I can't say enough about how hard they've worked in practice," said Wolverines coach Dan Leman, who's guided his team to eight Class 2A state titles since 1996. "I think they really took those early season losses to heart and they meant something. It wasn't just, 'We got beat. It doesn't matter.' It was, 'Yeah, we got beat, but we know what we can do to get better.' And they've done that all season.
"Our schedule was set in a way that we played tough teams. We got some tough losses, but I think it just made us a better team," he added. "This isn't an inexperienced team and they certainly know the history. It's very important to them that they are a part of that history."
In the boys title game, senior Mason King collected a game-high 26 points, 11 coming in the first quarter and 13 in the third, as the Angels claimed their second straight conference title with a 71-53 win over Seldovia on Friday.
"Mason knows what it takes. The kid has a large heart. He is a senior. He's a leader," said Bristol Bay coach Del Pacheco. "I think he's one of the best shooters in the state. Now he's learning how to use more of his teammates. You can see it in him. Like in the fourth period, there were times that he actually could have taken the shot himself, but he decided to pass it to his players, created easier shots for them."
There was nothing easy about the Wolverines' victory, though.
Trailing by four at halftime, Skjold and Tera Schnabl opened the third with consecutive baskets that knotted the game at 23 before Skjold gave the Wolverines their first lead since the first quarter when she sank 1-of-2 from the foul line for a 24-23 edge.
After briefly snatching the lead back when Brooke Forsi drove coast-to-coast for a layup, Skjold caught fire, running off six straight points, and Grace Ehlers added two with 14 seconds to play in the third for a 32-27 advantage entering the final eight minutes.
"Heidi was unbelievable. ... She's one of their senior leaders, just a great ballplayer," said CIA coach Ted Forsi. "We tried to defend her, but again, she's hard to defend. Part of our pregame strategy was to defend her, defend her hard. But just didn't do it."
CIA twice climbed within one point in the fourth, both on layups by Forsi, who added 13 rebounds, but Lindsey Rohr (nine points) canned two free throws to keep the lead at three with 1:29 remaining.
A pair of free throws by Cook Inlet's Chelsea Hardcastle made it 40-39 before Skjold hit 1-of-2 from the charity stripe with 23.2 seconds left. Following a missed trey by Hardcastle and a jump ball awarded to the Eagles, Hardcastle went to the line and hit the front end of a pair of fouls shots with 5.3 ticks left as the Wolverines held on for the exciting win.
"We had a couple of breaks go our way and you've got to have that in a big game," Leman said. "You've got catch a couple of breaks and I'm just so excited because it means so much to the kids and I know how hard they've worked the whole season and to see it pay off in this way, it's just really special."
Leading by one after the first, both teams combining for 17 turnovers in the frame alone, Ninilchik fell behind by seven after Cook Inlet's Amie Smithwick netted six of her game-high 17 points and assisted Forsi for two of her 14 points off an inbounds pass under the basket.
"They've got a lot of outside shooters and they're just real aggressive, they play good defense and they crash the boards real well. So, they're the real deal. They've got the full package," Leman explained. "We don't look at CIA as just being Brooke. They've got a lot more than that. But we definitely tend to focus on her."
Back-to-back jumpers by Ehlers and Rohr trimmed the deficit to four with 1:26 to play in the first half. But a pair of free throws by Forsi made it a six-point affair before Skjold sank her first bucket of the game, a floater in the lane with just 39 seconds remaining, in making it 23-19 at the half.
"Heidi plays the way she practices. She comes early and stays late," Leman said. "She's a leader for us and I expect that out of her. I'm very hard on her in practice and I'm hard on her in games, but like I said, we've been together since junior high. She knows me and I know her and I trust her. She really deserved the game that she got (Friday)."
Bristol Bay certainly deserved its win, too.
Despite surrendering baskets to Seldovia on five of its opening seven possessions, the Angels still owned an 18-13 lead after eight minutes thanks to King's seven points in the final 1:17 of the quarter, which was capped by a steal at midcourt and a buzzer-beating layup that brought the crowd to its feet.
Seldovia's Jordan Geagel scored four of his 12 points in the second and Griffin Swick (21 points) sank a free throw in slicing the deficit to one with 1:45 left, but five points by Richard Wilson down the stretch sent the Angels into the locker room with a 32-27 edge.
From there, it was all Bristol Bay.
Playing on a sprained ankle, King opened the third with five straight points, later added a trey from the corner and then a one-handed driving layup in guiding the Angels to a nine-point lead on 9-for-13 shooting in the third.
"Mason's just tough, a good player. He played better (Friday) than he has the last couple times against us," said Seldovia coach Russ Radliff. "He scores 30 no matter what. It's about like a given. But he moved the ball well and got the other guys included and it makes them real tough."
A 3-pointer and a pair of free throws by Swick to begin the fourth cut it to 55-51, but a 14-0 spurt by Bristol Bay shut the door on any hope for a comeback.
"The boys were a little bit too anxious in the beginning. ... They were all excited, kind of nervous," Pacheco said. "The second half they came through. They knew what was up."
CIA boys 67, Nikolaevsk 50
The second-seeded Eagles canned eight 3-pointers, three by Garyn Munn and two by Scott Litchfield, in advancing to the second-place semifinals with a win at Cook Inlet Academy.
Cook Inlet erupted for 26 first-quarter points while limiting the fifth-seeded Warriors to just 10 and never looked back.
Litchfield paced the Eagles with a game-high 18 points and Aaron Rowley added 12.
Markell Melkomukov netted 17 points and Jonah Yakunin chipped in 14 for Nikolaevsk, which outscored CIA by three points in the second and four in the fourth.
Ninilchik boys 60, Lumen 27
Cody Presley scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter in easily leading the Wolverines into the second-place semifinals.
Austin Vanderford and Tylor Sutherland each added 11 points for fourth-seeded Ninilchik, which outscored the sixth-seeded Archangels 26-11 in the opening eight minutes and 17-8 in the second quarter.
Seth Bakic led Lumen Christi with nine points.
CIA boys 69, Ninilchik 58
Munn netted 22 points, Shane Moffis and Litchfield added 12 and the Eagles overcame a game-high 34 points from Vanderford in advancing to the second-place game with hard-fought win.
Ryan Doyle chipped in 11 points for the Eagles, who owned a 28-25 lead at halftime before outscoring the Wolverines 20-10 in the third quarter.
Nikolaevsk girls 44, Seldovia 37, OT
The third-seeded Sea Otters had three of their six players foul out and Cassie Fefelov netted eight of her team-high 15 points in overtime in propelling the fourth-seeded Warriors into the second-place game.
Knotted at 33 entering the extra session, Nikolaevsk outscored Seldovia 11-4 en route to victory.
Courtney Collier and Katrina Hecks each scored 10 points for the Sea Otters.
Seldovia girls 38, Bristol 24
Collier paced the Sea Otters with a game-high 18 points as they advanced to the second-place semifinals with a win over the Angels at Cook Inlet Academy.
Outscoring Bristol Bay 22-7 in the first half, Seldovia still hung on despite being shut out in the final frame.
Girls
WOLVERINES 41, EAGLES 40
Cook Inlet 8 15 4 13 40
Ninilchik 9 10 13 9 41
COOK INLET (40) Smith 2 0-1 4, Bauder 0 0-0 0, Hardcastle 0 3-4 3, Kopp 0 0-0 0, Smithwick 7 2-3 17, Rang 0 0-0 0, Brush 0 2-2 2, Forsi 6 2-2 14. Totals 15 9-12 40.
NINILCHIK (41) H. Skjold 7 2-4 16, Bartolowits 0 1-2 1, L. Schnabl 2 1-2 5, Rohr 3 3-6 9, T. Schnabl 1 0-0 2, Ehlers 4 0-0 8. Totals 17 7-14 41.
3-point goals Cook Inlet 1 (Smithwick). Team fouls Cook Inlet 17, Ninilchik 16. Fouled out Kopp.
WARRIORS 44, SEA OTTERS 37, OT
Nikolaevsk 6 7 11 9 11 44
Seldovia 6 10 6 11 4 37
NIKOLAEVSK (44) C. Fefelov 5 5-9 15, S. Fefelov 0 1-2 1, V. Yakunin 3 0-0 6, E. Yakunin 4 1-8 9, Bailey 3 1-4 7, Gordeev 3 0-2 6. Totals 18 8-25 44.
SELDOVIA (37) Gallien 3 2-4 8, Collier 4 0-1 10, Gruber 0 0-0 0, Hecks 5 0-0 10, Suydam 1 0-0 2, O'Leary 1 5-8 7. Totals 14 7-13 37.
3-point goals Seldovia 2 (Collier 2). Team fouls Nikolaevsk 15, Seldovia 18. Fouled out Gallien, Collier, O'Leary.
SEA OTTERS 38, ANGELS 24
Bristol Bay 4 3 8 9 24
Seldovia 14 8 16 0 38
BRISTOL BAY (24) Phelps 0 0-0 0, Monson 2 0-0 4, Klein 3 0-0 6, Chukwak 2 0-2 4, Wilson 1 1-6 3, Wassillie 0 1-2 1, Monk 0 0-0 0, Trefon 3 0-1 6. Totals 11 2-11 24.
SELDOVIA (38) Gallien 3 2-3 8, Collier 6 3-4 18, Gruber 0 0-0 0, Hecks 1 1-2 3, Suydam 2 0-0 4, O'Leary 2 1-2 5. Totals 14 7-11 38.
3-point goals Seldovia 3 (Collier 3). Team fouls Bristol Bay 14, Seldovia 12. Fouled out none.
Boys
ANGELS 71, SEA OTTERS 53
Seldovia 15 12 19 7 53
Bristol Bay 18 14 23 16 71
SELDOVIA (53) Kroll 0 0-0 0, Baines 0 0-0 0, Swick 6 5-7 20, Geagel 6 0-0 12, O'Leary 2 0-0 4, Gain 3 0-0 9, Harkness 4 0-0 8. Totals 21 5-7 53.
BRISTOL BAY (71) Niedermeyer 1 0-0 2, Wilson 3 0-0 7, Kiong 10 3-5 26, Morrison 2 0-0 6, Nashookpuk 0 0-0 0, Jedlicka 5 4-5 14, Pacheco 7 2-4 16. Totals 28 9-14 71.
3-point goals Seldovia 6 (Swick 3, Gain 3), Bristol Bay 6 (King 3, Morrison 2, Wilson 1). Team fouls Seldovia 13, Bristol Bay 13. Fouled out none.
EAGLES 67, WARRIORS 50
Nikolaevsk 10 13 9 18 50
Cook Inlet 26 10 17 14 67
NIKOLAEVSK (50) Trail 0 0-0 0, Melkomukov 8 0-0 17, M. Fefelov 3 0-0 6, Yakunin 5 4-6 14, Ivanov 3 0-0 6, Kalugin 2 0-0 4, Konovalov 0 0-0 0, V. Fefelov 1 0-0 3. Totals 22 4-6 50.
COOK INLET (67) Munn 3 0-0 6, Litchfield 6 4-4 18, Rowley 6 0-3 12, S. Moffis 1 0-2 3, Johnson 2 0-0 4, Smithwick 2 0-0 5, M. Moffis 2 2-2 6, Bell 1 0-0 3, Smith 1 2-2 4, Holly 3 0-0 6. Totals 27 8-13 67.
3-point goals Nikolaevsk 2 (Melkomukov, V. Fefelov), Cook Inlet 8 (Munn 3, Litchfield 2, S. Moffis 1, Smithwick 1, Bell 1). Team fouls Nikolaevsk 15, Cook Inlet 12. Fouled out none.
WOLVERINES 60, ARCHANGELS 27
Lumen Christi 11 8 0 8 27
Ninilchik 26 17 8 9 60
LUMEN CHRISTI (27) Wyric 1 0-0 2, Bakic 4 0-2 9, Teel 0 3-6 3, Neurberg 1 2-4 4, Rodvik 1 1-2 3, Portell 1 0-4 2, Sturgelewski 2 0-2 4. Totals 10 6-20 27.
NINILCHIK (60) Vanderford 4 3-5 11, Presley 7 0-2 14, Skjold 4 1-3 9, Sutherland 5 1-3 11, Cooper 1 1-1 3, Goings 0 0-0 0, Garrison 0 2-2 2, Smith 2 0-1 4, Covey 0 0-0 0, Pinnow 1 0-2 2, Q. Bennett 0 0-2 0, S. Bennett 2 0-0 4. Totals 26 8-21 60.
3-point goals Lumen Christi 1 (Bakic). Team fouls Lumen Christi 18, Ninilchik 18. Fouled out Portell.
EAGLES 69, WOLVERINES 58
Ninilchik 13 12 10 23 58
Cook Inlet 19 9 20 21 69
NINILCHIK (58) Vanderford 13 8-10 34, Presley 2 3-4 7, Skjold 2 0-0 4, Sutherland 3 0-0 8, Cooper 0 0-0 0, Klapak 1 0-0 2, Smith 1 0-0 3, Q. Bennett 0 0-0 0. Totals 22 11-14 58.
COOK INLET (69) Munn 10 2-2 22, Litchfield 1 10-11 12, Rowley 1 0-0 2, S. Moffis 4 3-4 12, Smithwick 2 0-0 6, Bell 1 1-2 4, Doyle 3 4-4 11. Totals 22 20-23 69.
3-point goals Ninilchik 3 (Sutherland 2, Smith 1), Cook Inlet 5 (Smithwick 2, S. Moffis 1, Bell 1, Doyle 1). Team fouls Ninilchik 22, Cook Inlet 17. Fouled out Sutherland.