The Ninilchik girls and boys basketball teams both separated themselves from the competition with tough, physical basketball Friday night at Ninilchik School.

Keith Presley would have loved it.

Playing at the first edition of the Keith Presley Memorial Tournament, the Ninilchik girls defeated Nikiski’s junior varsity 30-22 to improve to 4-13 overall by locking the Bulldogs down on defense in the fourth quarter.

The Wolverines boys then ramped up the defensive intensity to take a 22-3 lead over Nikiski after the first quarter on the way to a 73-38 win. Ninilchik is 14-7, while Nikiski is 0-16.

Brothers Keith Presley, 58, and Danny Presley, 70, both died in a plane crash in September 2024.

Keith was a star athlete and basketball player at Ninilchik, then would go on to coach the boys team.

Ninilchik boys head coach Nick Finley and boys assistant Rod Van Saun both spent time on Presley’s staff.

“Nick and I, not long after it happened, we’re like, ‘Man. This year’s tournament. We’ve never had it named after anybody, but we couldn’t think of a more deserving person,’” Van Saun said.

Van Saun said he had seen Presley around town, but didn’t get to know him until 1993, when word reached Presley that Van Saun was shooting buckets at a hoop in town.

“He’s like, ‘Well, I heard you’re over here, shooting around and dunking and stuff, and I figured we need to play a little one-on-one,” Van Saun said. “And we went at it for like two hours.”

Van Saun said that day he gained a lifelong friend and learned something he hopes carries on with Ninilchik players forever.

“He’s one of the most physical players you could have ever played against,” Van Saun said. “When you got done playing against Keith, you knew you had played against him.

“That’s what we try and carry on with our kids.”

Van Saun said the boys have KP54 — representing Presley’s number — on the back of their shirts to carry on that legacy.

Off the court, Van Saun said Presley was kind and generous, known for helping out everybody in town with car problems.

“We don’t forget his brother, Dan,” Van Saun said. “They both graduated here, born and raised.

“The loss of them both at once was huge.”

Van Saun said over 700 people showed up for the celebration of life.

Nikiski head coach Reid Kornstad also got a chance to know Keith Presley by playing against him in city league basketball.

Kornstad said Presley was competitive, loved basketball and loved Ninilchik. Kornstad said Presley is Ninilchik’s version of Rus Hitchcock, who has his name on the annual Nikiski tourney.

“I’m super, super honored to be a part of the first memorial tournament for Keith,” Kornstad said.

The Wolverines boys definitely dished out some of the fiery intensity of Presley early.

“Tonight, we really put an emphasis on starting the game that way, because we normally wait until the second half to pick it up,” Finley said. “Most of our wins, and most of our games, were all coming back in the second half or making a push in the second half.”

Kornstad said he warned his team the pace would be fast and furious. He said the good news is his team eventually adjusted to the pace of the game, although the game was out of reach at that point.

“Playing these guys on their home floor is a good experience for us, but it’s not fun to lose big,” Kornstad said.

With the defense clicking, Kade McCorison poured in 36 points for the game and the Wolverines were on their way to a blowout.

“He can score at all three levels — outside, inside or midrange,” Finley said of McCorison. “Then he can handle the ball and make good decisions, so he got a lot of guys open.”

The Wolverines starters are young — Maxx Russell is a senior, McCorison is a junior, Brandt Mill is a sophomore, Eric Radar is a freshman and Andon McCorison is in eighth grade.

Finley said Kade’s supporting cast is now confident hitting shots and that’s making the team dangerous.

Russell hit four 3-pointers on the way to 14 points, while Andon McCorison had 10, Mill had 4, Radar had 3, and Gabe Kerrone, Nate Jaworski and Joaquin Scott had 2.

“We started the season and knew we were young,” Finley said. “So it’d be awhile, but our trajectory is up right now and we’re working hard.”

Naturally, Ninilchik went deeper into its bench as the game went on, but Nikiski did keep the damage to 32-25 in the second half.

“They spaced the floor better once they weathered the storm of all that pressure,” Kornsaid said. “They started realizing, we’ll be OK.”

The coach said point guard Carter Eiter did a good job keeping his head in all the pressure in scoring 9 points.

Kornstad also said Ryder Maguire, who had 3, played hard all game on Kade McCorison, which is all you can ask.

Also, Lynn Deveer had 10, Kevin Love had 5, Kameron Bird had 4, Shane Hall had 3, and Dylan Hall and Brody Nelson each had 2.

In the girls game, the Wolverines had just one player on the bench, while the Bulldogs had two.

Ninilchik head coach Debra Blossom said she has lost three to season-ending injuries, a massive blow at such a small school.

Blossom said Lily Berger, who finished with 14 points, was the key to the game.

“When she got in foul trouble, then it gets tough,” the coach said.

When Berger was on the bench, Ninilchik had an eighth grader, plus two first-year players, on the floor.

That’s when Nikiski made its move, with Folesha Anderson hitting a 3-pointer early in the fourth quarter to give the Bulldogs a 22-21 lead.

Berger came back on and scored seven points as the Wolverines went on a 9-0 run to close the game.

Blossom said the team also closed with intense defense.

“We chewed on them a little bit,” Blossom said. “We said, ‘You can’t put your head down. You’ve got to stay in the game and fight, because other teams will make runs like that.’”

Blossom gave credit to Rylee Lemons, who had 8, for strong defense underneath. The coach also said Kate Hendryx, who had 8, provided ball handling and defense. Aliah Maher added 2 for Ninilchik.

For Nikiski JV, Anderson and Payton Ricks had 9, and Maya Deveer had 4.

In other Friday tournament action, the Tok girls topped Unalaska 63-48 and the Unalaska boys topped Tok 72-32.

Wasilla girls 69, Soldotna 10

The host Warriors kept their perfect record intact by dropping the Stars to 2-5 in the Northern Lights Conference and 10-10 overall.

Hope Hillyer led SoHi with 3, while Laurel Johnson, Cassidy Kruse and Isabelle Cruz had 2, and Ryan Queen had 1.

Layla Hays, committed to the University of Iowa, paced the Warriors with 25. Also, Mieler Merchant, Savannah Kroon and Mylee Anderson had 8, Katie Jackson had 7, Kyndra Bolling had 5 and Kinley Bruno and Claire Bredberg had 4.

Wasilla boys 73, Soldotna 41

The host Warriors dropped the Stars to 2-5 in the Northern Lights Conference and 7-12 overall.

Izaiah Gilbert popped in 13 for SoHi, while Easton Hawkins had 7, Bryan Berg and Jayden Stuyvesant had 5, Theo Huff had 4, and Owen Buckbee, Sam Strouse and Will Klein had 2.

For Wasilla, Noah Kroon had 17, Deegan Van Dussen had 14, Tristan Horton had 13, Barak Wagle had 10, Zorn Allen had 6, Richard Rogers had 4, Ryder Howard had 3 and Brayden Sparrs, John Devine and Isaac Barron had 2.

Kenai girls 57, Houston 31

The visiting Kardinals picked up a nonconference victory, snapping a three-game skid to improve to 12-8 overall.

Bryleigh Williams and McKenzie Spence led the Kardinals with 11 apiece, while Ellsi Miller had 9, Willow Graham had 7, Sierra Hershberger and Hallie Songer had 6, Allie Hutchins had 4, Jenica Andersen had 2 and Gracee Every had 1.

Kenai boys 56, Houston 39

The visiting Kardinals picked up a nonconference victory to improve to 13-7 overall.

Miles Metteer had 13 to pace the Kards, while Carter Felchle and Reid Titus added 11 apiece. Also, Caleb Litke had 7, Ben Harris had 6, and Eli Smith and Mason Tunseth each had 4.

Seward girls 53, Redington 12

The visiting Seahawks won a nonconference matchup for a 15th straight win that sent them to 15-2 overall.

Lia Shank had 16 for the Seahawks, while Mikinley Williams had 12, Ava Jagielski had 9, Grace Fleming had 6, Sevin Phillps and Regan Siebert had 4, and Natalie Sieminski had 2.

For Redington, Janessa Gobler had 6, Sonia Gericke had 4 and Arina Ivshina had 2.

Seward boys 56, Redington 53

The visiting Seahawks nipped the Huskies in nonconference play to improve to 9-8 overall.

For Seward, Talon Lemme had 18, Mason Elhard had 15, Emerson Cross had 10, Van Shank had 9, Noah Price had 3 and Lane Petersen had 1.

For Redington, Jake Murdock had 17, Kaedon Sexton and Natan Fields had 13, Aiden Dobbs had 6, and Christian Ingraham had 4.

Chugiak JV girls 39, CIA 12

The visiting Eagles took a nonconference loss to fall to 7-7 overall.

Ella Rollman paced CIA with 6, while Sophie Rozak had 4 and Kristi Stoll had 2.

Monroe Catholic girls 50, Nikiski 21

The Bulldogs went down in the semifinals of the Lady Grizzly Hardwood Classic at Grace Christian in Anchorage.

Blakeley Jorgensen had 8 for Nikiski, while Madison Iyatunguk had 7, and Abby White, Avery Ellis and Kailey Stynsberg had 2 apiece.

Nikiski’s Ethan Ellis is pressured by Ninilchik’s Maxx Russell and Brandt Mill at the Keith Presley Memorial Tournament on Friday, February 14, 2025, at Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Ninilchik’s Kate Hendryx looks for a shot against Folesha Anderson of Nikiski JV at the Keith Presley Memorial Tournament on Friday, February 14, 2025, at Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kylie Northington of Nikiski JV brings the ball up against Ninilchik’s Audry Herndon at the Keith Presley Memorial Tournament on Friday, February 14, 2025, at Ninilchik School in Ninilchik, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)