The Cook Inlet Academy girls and boys basketball teams swept the Peninsula Conference titles from Nanwalek on Saturday at Cook Inlet Academy to earn berths to the Class 1A state tournament.

The Eagles also had the conference MVPs in Ella Rollman and Ian McGarry, and the conference Coaches of the Year in girls coach Josh Hawley and boys coach Ben McGarry.

The girls won 50-21 to move to 11-9 overall and drop Nanwalek to 1-9. In eight seasons, Hawley has now won the conference twice and will be making his third trip to state. He would have went two other times if not for the pandemic.

The boys won 86-69 to improve to 18-5 and drop Nanwalek to 6-9. In his third season at the helm, coach McGarry has now won three straight conference titles.

McGarry had not lost a game in the conference in his career until Feb. 15, when Nanwalek pulled a 67-61 shocker on CIA’s home floor.

If Nanwalek could have beaten CIA twice Saturday, one of the favorites for the Class 1A state title would be staying home. CIA came out with authority, leading 21-2 when Nanwalek called a timeout with 4:22 left in the first quarter.

“Our game plan right away was to press them at the start,” coach McGarry said. “We were going to be into it. They were hitting shots and everything else.”

Then Nanwalek proved once again the mid-February victory was no fluke, cutting the gap to 24-14 after a quarter then leading 36-32 at the half.

“The kids — they all played their tails off,” said Nanwalek head coach Kevin Seville. “We really just fought our way back in one basket at a time.”

With 15 seconds left in the first half, Nanwalek’s Marcarius Evans was called for his third foul on a charge. Evans is the major inside presence for Nanwalek.

“He got his third one at the end of the half, and so one of our halftime plans is, let’s get his fourth foul,” coach McGarry said.

The teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter and Evans escaped unscathed. Down 59-56 with 7:07 left in the game, coach McGarry moved Alek McGarry down in the post.

Alek had 7 of the points in a 9-0 run that put the Eagles up 65-59 with 6:12 left. Evans also picked up his fourth foul guarding Alek down low at the 6:55 mark.

“He wasn’t able to be aggressive on defense,” Seville said of Evans. “It really had an effect on our ability to hold down the middle of the floor.

“I put him in a tough position, but he held his own, and I’m really proud of him.”

Seville also said he was very proud of Sean Moonin, the guard who laced a 3 with 5:14 left to cut the gap to 67-64.

Ian McGarry responded with a 3 of his own, then a steal and dunk, for a 72-64 lead with 4:03 left.

“After the dunk, the guys were like, ‘We’re going to win,’” coach McGarry said.

Nanwalek cut it to 72-66 with 3:37 left, but after that CIA let the air out of the ball, Nanwalek chased the game, and the final score didn’t match the closeness of the game.

Coach McGarry said Alek, Ian and Brandt Rollman came up huge in the final quarter. Alek had 12 of his 32 in the final quarter, Ian had 16 of his 37 and Rollman had 5 of his 14.

Zach Armstrong added 3 in the game for CIA, while coach McGarry said Hyrum Henderson continued to add a spark since being added to the starting lineup.

Coach McGarry thanked his assistants — his father, Jerry, and Chad Cragg.

“We had awesome fans this whole weekend,” coach McGarry said.

For Nanwalek, Moonin and Kenji Simmons had 22, Evans had 13, Dmitri Kvasnikoff had 8 and Ashton Meganack had 4.

Moonin and Meganack are the seniors for Nanwalek. Seville thanked all the seniors at the tournament for the time they put in. The coach said the school has been very supportive of the basketball program.

“The whole team was just awesome,” the coach said. “I love these kids, I love our program and I love the support of the fans.”

CIA girls 50, Nanwalek 21

CIA took control early, leading 16-3 after the first quarter on the way to claiming a conference title after winning just three games last season.

“I think it was just mentality,” Hawley said of the shift in fortunes. “They’ve just worked hard to believe in each other. I’ve got a good group of assistant coaches that are really helping and putting in time with the girls.”

Beka Dillingham fueled the hot start by getting 8 of her 12 points in the first quarter. Dillingham also had a pair of treys in the first eight minutes.

“They pack the paint, so therefore our shooters were able to go and Beka started it off,” Hawley said.

The coach said the real key to the victory was defense.

“We just wanted and really emphasized deflections,” he said. “We get a hand on the ball and that disrupts their shooting and rebounding.”

Ella Rollman did get loose underneath for 16, while Sophie Rozak had 8, Brandi Harkleroad had 6, Kristi Stoll had 4, and Clara Warren and Maria Smith had 2.

The Nanwalek girls had been 0-3 this season against Birchwood Christian before beating the Warriors for the team’s first win and a spot in the championship.

“The girls were just hitting their shots that day,” Nanwalek head coach Alyssa Romanoff said. “They were spot on.”

Against CIA, Romanoff said her team came in a little bit tired, and that made it tough when the squad got down big early.

Romanoff said it will be tough to lose seniors Alyson Seville and Ludmilla Hetrick, but she added she’s optimistic about the future of the program because there’s more than enough players to keep the team going.

For Nanwalek, Emma Tanape had 6, Seville and Phontina Demas had 4, Hetrick and Hadassah Haskins had 3, Harleigh Romanoff-Moonin had 2 and Margareta Demas had 1.

Peninsula Conference tourney awards

Girls MVP — Ella Rollman, Cook Inlet Academy.

Boys MVP — Ian McGarry, Cook Inlet Academy.

Girls Coach of the Year — Josh Hawley, Cook Inlet Academy.

Boys Coach of the Year — Ben McGarry, Cook Inlet Academy.

Girls sportsmanship — Birchwood Christian.

Boys sportsmanship — Holy Rosary Academy.

Free-throw champs — Ludmilla Hetrick, Nanwalek; Silas Barnes, CIA.

3-point champs — Maria Smith, CIA; Sean Moonin, Nanwalek.

Girls Academic All-Conference — Selah Wiehrich, Birchwood; Elise Becker, Birchwood; Peyton Smith, Birchwood, Leah West, Birchwood; Isabella Porsi, CIA; Kristi Stoll, CIA; Beka Dillingham, CIA.

Boys Academic All-Conference — Mi’chale Bugh, Birchwood; Landon Whitmore, Birchwood; Karsten Wetzel, Birchwood; Jonah Brisson, Birchwood; Owen Braband, CIA; Lucas Oyoumick, CIA; Jonas Oyoumick, CIA; Ian McGarry, CIA; Alek McGarry, CIA; Francis Bird, Holy Rosary; Teddy Jackson, Holy Rosary; Luke Owens, Holy Rosary; Thomas Owens, Holy Rosary.

Girls All-Conference All-Tournament — Alyson Seville, Nanwalek; Phontina Demas, Nanwalek; Margareta Demas, Nanwalek; Kristi Stoll, CIA; Beka Dillingham, CIA; Ella Rollman, CIA; Selah Wiehrich, Birchwood; Peyton Smith, Birchwood; Elise Becker, Birchwood.

Boys All-Conference All-Tournament — Ian McGarry, CIA; Alek McGarry, CIA; Brandt Rollman, CIA; Andrew Severns, Birchwood; Jonah Brisson, Birchwood; Sean Moonin, Nanwalek; Marcarius Evans, Nanwalek; Kenji Simmons, Nanwalek; Andrew Hippler, Holy Rosary; Luke Owens, Holy Rosary.