tease

Brand-new Peninsula Conference tourney debuts

Staff report

The brand-new Peninsula Conference basketball tournament will make its debut Thursday through Saturday at Kenai Central High School.

Last season, Class 3A Kenai Peninsula schools Kenai Central, Seward, Nikiski and Homer were in the Southcentral Conference along with Grace Christian, Redington, Houston and Anchorage Christian Schools.

Houston and Redington moved to the Eastern Conference, while Anchorage Christian Schools moved up to the Class 4A Northern Lights Conference.

That leaves Kenai Central, Seward, Nikiski, Homer and Grace to compete for two girls state berths and two boys state berths this weekend at Kenai Central. The tournament gives all losers a chance to come back through the second-place bracket and earn a state berth, but a loss does eliminate a team from championship contention.

Based on the regular season, the Grizzlies are the favorite to take one of those two berths on both the girls and boys side. Both Grace teams finished undefeated against conference competition.

On the girls side, the No. 2 seed is Kenai Central. The Kards will seek a third state berth in four years, opening with a 2 p.m. game today against No. 3 Seward. The Seahawks, who last made state in 2014, finished 4-4 in conference and lost three times — once out of league — this season to the Kardinals. The winner of this game plays in Friday’s championship.

Also today in the girls tournament, No. 4 seed Homer and No. 5 seed Nikiski play for the right to face Grace Christian at 6 p.m. today. The winner of that 6 p.m. game goes to the championship.

The Homer girls are 3-5 in league play, while the Bulldogs are 0-8. The Mariners went to state last season for the first time since 2016, while Nikiski was scheduled to go to state in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic canceled the tournament.

The No. 2 seed on the boys side is Homer, which finished 5-3 in the league. The Mariners play No. 3 seed Kenai Central, which was 3-5 in the league, at 4 p.m. today.

Both teams are looking to break a long state tournament drought. Kenai has not been since 2012, while Homer hasn’t been since 2000. Both were playing at the Class 4A level then.

The Kardinals lost twice to Homer this season, including 52-51 on Feb. 19. The winner of the game advances to Friday’s championship.

No. 4 seed Seward and No. 5 seed Nikiski play at noon for the right to face Grace at 8 p.m. The winner of that game moves to the championship.

Seward finished 2-6 in the league, but did top the Bulldogs twice. Nikiski also finished 2-6 in the league, with victories against Homer and Kenai. Seward had an at-large berth to the canceled 2020 tourney, while Nikiski last made state in 2016.

Peninsula Conference tournament

at Kenai Central

GIRLS

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — Homer vs. Nikiski, 10 a.m.

Game 2 — Kenai Central vs. Seward, 2 p.m.

Game 3 — Grace vs. Game 1 winner, 6 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 2 p.m.

Game 6 (Championship) — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday’s game

Game 7 (Second place) — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, noon

BOYS

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — Seward vs. Nikiski, noon

Game 2 — Homer vs. Kenai, 4 p.m.

Game 3 — Game 1 winner vs. Grace, 8 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 4 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, noon

Game 5 — Game 4 winner vs. Game 3 loser, 4 p.m.

Game 6 (Championship) — Game 2 winner vs. Game 3 winner, 8 p.m.

Saturday’s game

Game 7 (Second place) — Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 8 p.m.

More in Sports

Soldotna's Jacob Strausbaugh wrestles to a technical fall against Student Wrestling Development Program's Brian Grabner in the final at 135 pounds at the Division I state wrestling tournament Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Soldotna girls defend state wrestling title

Peninsula brings home 11 state titles

tease
Saturday hoops: SoHi girls, CIA girls, Ninilchik boys wrap up tourney titles

The Soldotna girls and Palmer boys both finished 3-0 to win the… Continue reading

tease
Bears head to break after 1-0 loss to Steel

The visiting Kenai River Brown Bears dropped a 1-0 decision to the… Continue reading

tease
Friday: Soldotna girls, boys basketball moves to 2-0

The Soldotna girls and boys both moved to 2-0 on the young… Continue reading

Homer's Swift Blackstock takes a shot at the Candy Cane Scramble on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at Tsalteshi Trails just outside of Soldotna, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai’s Crouse, Homer’s Jaworski capture Candy Cane Scramble ski meet

Kenai Central sophomore Isla Crouse and Homer senior Leif Jaworski won the… Continue reading

tease
Friday: Brown Bears snap 2-game skid

The visiting Kenai River Brown Bears defeated the Chippewa (Wisconsin) Steel 5-3… Continue reading

Kenai Central's Bryleigh Williams drives against Palmer's Kaylyn Miller and Jasmine Hephner on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Prep basketball gets rolling on Kenai Peninsula

The prep basketball season opened Thursday with area teams playing at the… Continue reading

Kenai Central goalie Evyn Witt and William Howard celebrate a victory over Soldotna on Tuesday, Dec. 17, 2024, at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai hockey uses special teams to top Soldotna

The Kenai Central hockey team defeated Soldotna 4-1 on Tuesday in Northern… Continue reading

Homer's Saoirse Cook wrestles to a win over Nikiski's Braylynn Young in the championship match at 132 pounds at the Kachemak Conference wrestling tournament at Seward High School in Seward, Alaska, on Saturday, Dec. 14, 2024. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Redington sweeps Kachemak Conference wrestling titles

The Redington girls won a fifth straight title, while the Huskies boys… Continue reading

Most Read