Halftime adjustments carried the visiting Homer girls to a 38-35 Southcentral Conference victory over Kenai Central on Friday.
Homer grabbed a 9-4 lead after the first quarter, but the Kardinals came back to lead 19-13 at halftime.
Kenai got its 15 points in the second quarter by actively penetrating against the Homer zone.
“We’re working on moving the ball more and challenging the defense,” Kenai head coach Jeff Swick said after his team fell to 3-4 overall and 0-1 in the league. “We want to push their defense to work more.”
While that worked for Kenai in the second quarter, Swick said his team seemed to take its foot off the gas when it got a lead.
That would be costly when Homer head coach Chad Felice made some halftime adjustments to get the Mariners’ offense going. After scoring 13 in the first half, the Mariners got 25 in the second half.
“We made some adjustments and the girls did a good job working with those adjustments,” Felice said after improving to 3-0 and 1-0.
Kenai still held the lead at 28-26 after three quarters, but Homer would go on an 8-0 run that ended with a Kelli Bishop layup that gave the Mariners a 36-32 lead with 3:17 left in the game. Felice said better intensity and rebounding allowed Homer to keep Kenai off the board for this stretch.
With 1:21 left in the game, Kenai’s Logan Satathite ended that run emphatically with a 3-pointer for a 35-36 game.
Kenai scrapped in the final minute and had the ball on an out-of-bounds play on Homer’s end with 5 seconds left, but the Kardinals turned the ball over.
“It was just lack of execution,” Swick said. “We had a play designed to get 3 and we didn’t run it.”
Marina Carroll paced Homer with 14 points, getting many of them on smart cuts to the bucket. Felice said Rylee Doughty also did a good job of serving as floor general.
For Kenai, Jaiden Streiff had 11 points, while Satathite had 10.
Kenai boys 66, Homer 59
The host Kardinals pulled away in the fourth quarter for a Southcentral Conference victory over the Mariners on Friday.
It was the Southcentral Conference opener for both teams.
Kenai put five players in double figures, with Braedon Pitsch netting 16, Lucas Tunseth getting 15, Evan Stockton getting 12 and Andrew Bezdecny nabbing 10.
For Homer, Ethan Anderson had 12 points.
Nikiski girls 57, Seahawks 32
The host Bulldogs used a dominant second quarter to top the Seahawks in Southcentral Conference play.
The game was tied at seven after one quarter, but Nikiski won the second quarter 28-5.
Kaitlyn Johnson had 17 for Nikiski, 11 in the second quarter. Lillian Carstens pitched in 13.
For Seward, Sequoia Sieverts had 12 points, while Shelby Siemanski had 11.
Seward boys 63, Nikiski 49
A dominant third quarter carried visiting Seward to a Southcentral Conference victory against Nikiski on Friday.
Seward led 27-23 at halftime, but then outscored the Bulldogs 28-13 in the third quarter.
For Seward, Trey Ingalls hit four 3-pointers en route to 23 points, while Connor Spanos added 17 and Bjorn Nilsson pitched in 11.
Noah Litke had 16 for Nikiski, while Austin Stafford added 12.
Nome Invitational
The Soldotna girls basketball team defeated Nome 59-23 on Saturday to win the Nome Subway Shootout, while the SoHi boys won the tourney with a 62-36 victory over Nome.
SoHi head coach Kyle McFall said the game was really physical. Ituau Tuisaula had 22 points on the way to being named the tournament MVP, while Morgan Bouschor had 10 points and was named to the all-tournament team.
Also for the Stars, Josie Sheridan had nine and Drysta Crosby-Schneider had eight.
For the boys, Jersey Truesdell was named tourney MVP, his third MVP of the season. Ray Chumley also made all-tournament.
Friday, the Soldotna boys defeated Unalakleet 72-30.
For the Stars, Tyler Morrison had 20 points, while Ray Chumley and Levi Rosin had 10 apiece. Six different Soldotna players hit 3-pointers.
Michael Haugen had 15 for Unalakleet.
Also Friday, the SoHi girls topped the Wolf Pack 69-34.
Ituau Tuisaula had 25 points, while Morgan Bouschor and Autumn Fischer had 11 apiece for Soldotna. It was a career high for Fischer.
“Unalakleet has some girls that can flat out shoot,” Soldotna head coach Kyle McFall texted.
Jewel Wilson had 19 points for Unalakleet.
Friday boys
Stars 72, Wolf Pack 30
Soldotna 19 18 20 15 —72
Unalakleet 8 11 0 11 —30
SOLDOTNA (72) — Rich 6, Sewell 8, Bouschor 6, Morrison 20, Hanson 2, Reutov 3, Chumley 10, Johnson 3, Rosin 10, Wilson 4.
UNALAKLEET (30) — Wilson 3, Haugen 0, K. Ivanoff 0, C. Ivanoff 7, M. Haugen 15, C. Commack 5, P. Commack 0, Pleasant 0.
3-point goals — Soldotna 8 (Sewell 2, Bouschor 2, Morrison, Reutov, Johnson, Rosin); Unalakleet 6 (M. Haugen 4, C. Ivanoff, C. Commack). Team fouls — Soldotna 10, Unalakleet 6. Fouled out — none.
Seahawks 63, Bulldogs 49
Seward 12 15 28 8 —63
Nikiski 8 15 13 13 —49
SEWARD (63) — Mullaly 0, Koster 2, Moriarity 3, Cronin 4, Ingalls 23, Spanos 17, Deboard 0, Hollingsworth 3, Nilsson 11.
NIKISKI (49) — Litke 16, Eiter 6, M. Payne 0, Malston 0, Stafford 12, C. Payne 0, Bostic 3, McCoughey 0, Freeman 4, Handley 8.
3-point goals — Seward 5 (Ingalls 4, Nilsson); Nikiski 5 (Eiter 2, Litke, Stafford, Bostic). Team f0uls — Seward 12, Nikiski 19. Fouled out — none.
Kardinals 66, Mariners 59
Homer 15 12 13 19 —59
Kenai 15 15 12 24 — 66
HOMER (59) — Munns 0, Beachy 6, Etzwiler 3, Lowney 8, Jon. Raymond 9, Anderson 12, Knapp 8, Mann 7, Jos. Raymond 6.
KENAI CENTRAL (66) — McKibben 0, Baisden 1, Jo. Kvasnikoff 12, Bezdecny 10, Stockton 12, Tunseth 15, Pitsch 16.
3-point goals — Homer 7 (Lowney 2, Knapp 2, Beachy, Etzwiler, Mann); Kenai 2 (Tunseth 2). Team fouls — Homer 22, Kenai 21. Fouled out — Anderson, Jo. Kvasnikoff, Pitsch.
Friday girls
Stars 69, Wolf Pack 34
Soldotna 16 19 14 20 —69
Unalakleet 9 12 13 0 —34
SOLDOTNA (69) — Sheridan 7, Burns 2, Leaf 0, Bouschor 11, Tuisaula 25, Leadens 6, Fischer 11, Holland 0, Crosby-Schneider 7.
UNALAKLEET (34) — Lex. Ivanoff 0, Len. Ivanoff 8, B. Ivanoff 6, Haugen 1, Wilson 19, S. Ivanoff 0, Fisher 0, Sarren 0.
3-point goals — Unalakleet 6 (Len. Ivanoff 2, B. Ivanoff 2, Wilson 2); Soldotna 6 (Sheridan, Bouschor 3, Fischer, Crosby-Schneider). Team fouls — Unalakleet 10, Soldotna 16. Fouled out — none.
Bulldogs 57, Seahawks 32
Seward 7 5 12 8 —32
Nikiski 7 28 8 8 —57
SEWARD (32) — Dow 0, Jagielski 3, Siemanski 11, Lemme 6, Sieverts 12, Dougherty 0, Jack 0, Ambrosiani 0.
NIKISKI (57) — A. Jeffreys 5, Reichert 2, Carstens 13, Bostic 0, Johnson 17, Zimmerman 3, B. Epperheimer 0, Nunley 0, S. Epperheimer 0, Freeman 5, Puente 2, Mullins 4, M. Jeffreys 0.
3-point goals — Nikiski 4 (A. Jeffreys, Carstens, Johnson, Freeman). Team fouls — Seward 17, Nikiski 16. Fouled out — Ambrosiani.
Mariners 38, Kardinals 35
Homer 9 4 13 12 —38
Kenai 4 15 9 7 —35
HOMER (38) — Rhodes 8, Bishop 0, Anderson 4, Doughty 4, Inama 4, Carroll 14, Hatfield 0, Johnson 6, Smude 2.
KENAI (35) — Pierce 2, Hamilton 2, Hanson 2, Streiff 11, Satathite 10, Severson 8, Lauritsen 0.
3-point goals — Kenai 3 (Satathite 2, Streiff); Team fouls — Homer 11, Kenai 16. Fouled out — none.
Kenai Central’s Lucas Tunseth drives on Homer’s Ethan Anderson on Friday, Jan. 10, 2019, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
Kenai Central’s Damaris Severson drives on Homer’s Kelli Bishop and Marina Carroll (20) on Friday, Jan. 10, 2020, at Kenai Central High School in Kenai, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)
