The Skyview boys hoops team found itself in a position all too familiar Tuesday night at Skyview High School.
Trailing by 12 points early in the fourth quarter, the Panthers rallied back and cut the deficit to two points with under three minutes to go, but this time a victory was not in the cards. The Bulldogs held on for a 61-53 win.
In the first time the two Southcentral Conference teams have met this season, Nikiski led most of the way but could never find a comfortable lead.
“I was thinking let’s not get too tight,” said Nikiski coach Reid Kornstad. “We’ve been here before, and when we tighten up it doesn’t go well, so let’s stay loose and focus on what we’ve worked on in practice.”
Senior Seth Carstens led the Bulldogs with 21 points, while teammates Luke Johnson and Cade Anderson contributed 14 each. Skyview was led by Micah Hilbish with 15 points and Tim Duke with 12.
“We made a few mistakes there (at the end),” said Skyview coach Jesse Settlemyer. “It was communication errors, I think the understanding is you have to make a play on the ball, and sometimes one guy may be a second behind what the other guy is doing.”
Nikiski improved to 6-13 with the win, while Skyview dropped to 7-10 overall (1-4 conference).
Both teams streaked out of the gate early with 35 combined points in the first quarter, and midway through the second quarter, Skyview trailed by three. Nikiski then proceeded to finish the final four minutes, 57 seconds, of the first half on a 9-3 run, leaving the Bulldogs with a 32-23 lead at halftime.
Skyview came out of the break with a quick Chad Harley layup to cut into the lead, but Nikiski answered with a 3-pointer from Anderson. The third quarter quickly fell into a pattern — for every Skyview basket, Nikiski seemingly had an answer to it.
“I wanted them to mix it up, but for the most part stay with what got us there,” Kornstad said. “Try to keep the offense on its toes a little bit by switching it up here and there.”
Skyview managed to find success getting to the rim, as Hilbish outpaced the Nikiski defense with his blazing fast drives to the basket. In all, Hilbish had eight points in the third quarter on four buckets.
With 7:01 to go in the game, Nikiski was sitting on a 53-41 lead, and with 5:36 to go, the ‘Dogs were up by 55-45.
Settlemyer said his team has faced a number of teams recently that utilitize zone defenses, but Nikiski often succeeds with a man-to-man defense.
“We knew they were a man team, and it took us a little while to find a rhythm on offense,” Settlemyer said. “The second half we settled down and began to execute a little better.
“We had some screening action that was working for us,” Settlemyer said. “We got some good looks out of it.”
Taking advantage of a couple steals and Nikiski turnovers, Skyview began closing the gap, getting shots from Duke and Bailey Jones that had the home crowd feeling a comeback. With 2:53 left, Harley found some space on a screen and hit a jumper that closed the gap to 55-53.
However, from there, Nikiski took advantage of Skyview fouls to clinch the victory. Skyview made numerous attempts to stay with the Bulldogs, but all failed.
Nikiski girls 34, Skyview 20
After a slow, defensive start to the game, the Nikiski girls took off in the second half to grab a Southcentral Conference victory over Skyview.
Senior Alyssa Darch topped all players with 13 points — nine in the second half — as the Bulldogs improved to 15-3 overall (5-1 conference). Skyview dropped to 11-7 (3-2 conference).
“We are winning games, but we definitely can make some improvements in a lot of areas,” said Nikiski coach Scott Anderson. “Taking better care of the ball, that’s the number one thing. Defensively, we’re playing really well.”
Following a 9-3 score after one quarter, the two squads only notched 10 points combined in the second quarter, leading to a 13-9 Nikiski lead.
Coming out of the halftime break, Nikiski began to distance itself, feeding the ball to post players Darch, Jodi Cook and Emily Lynch. After Rachel Thompson nailed a trey early in the third quarter to put Nikiski up by eight points, Darch put up three consecutive layups to further the lead to 23-9. Overall, Nikiski started the second half on a 12-2 run.
According to Skyview coach Kyle McFall, the Panthers defense suffered a breakdown that has been common throughout the year.
“That’s been the biggest problem for us, is our weakside guard rotation is undisciplined,” McFall said. “Offensively, we struggled all night.
“We’ve come out in the second half without the same energy level before, and part of that is our mental side of it. We get in a situation where we panic a little bit.”
The home team managed to keep the game within reach late in the third quarter with a few buckets from Meghan Powers, but ultimately, Nikiski proved to be too much with a full-court press, forcing Skyview into mistakes and turnovers that led to transition points for the Bulldogs.
“Skyview is a good basketball team, they have some real athletic ability,” Anderson said. “They rebound the ball well, and they get their hands in the passing lanes.”
Jacy Rouse ended up with eight points of her own to lead Skyview, while Powers added five.
Nikiski and Skyview will meet each other again in Nikiski in two weeks’ time for a rematch.
Nikolaevsk girls 39, Cook Inlet 37
The Nikolaevsk-CIA rivalry was alive and well on Tuesday night, as a rematch between the top two teams from last year’s state tournament faced off on the court in Nikolaevsk.
The Warriors scraped by with the win over the Eagles, taking the season series’ lead 2-1.
Nicole Moffis scored 22 points for CIA in the loss, including 10 in the second quarter. Moffis hit four treys.
Nianiella Dorvall led Nikolaevsk with 10 points, while teammate Sophia Kalugin added eight.
After starting slow, CIA poured on the heat in the second quarter, outscoring Nikolaevsk 15-7 to take a 21-18 lead into halftime.
Nikolaevsk answered back in the third quarter by outscoring the Eagles 14-7, and they held the lead the rest of the way.
“Dorvall made a huge go ahead basket to put us up 2 points,” wrote Nikolaevsk coach Bea Klaich in an email.
Klaich added that CIA ran a patient offense, looking for prime opportunities to score, but came up empty.
The Eagles had possession with 5.6 seconds left, but were denied by the Warriors.
Ninilchik 50 boys, Homer JV 22
The Ninilchik boys led 26-7 at halftime en route to a big win over the Homer JV team Tuesday night in Ninilchik.
Austin White led the winning team with 12 points, and teammate Sam Mireles added 10. Hunter Edens paced the Mariners with 12 points.
Kenai JV girls 39, Ninilchik 30
The Kardinals JV squad took a win over the Wolverines in Ninilchik Tuesday night.
Jessica Rogers led Ninilchik in the loss with 19 points, while Keani’s Hannah Drury went 7-for-12 from the free throw line to score 11 points.
Tuesday boys
Bulldogs 61, Panthers 53
Nikiski 20 12 16 13 —61
Skyview 15 8 16 14 —53
NIKISKI (61) — Stangel 1 0-0 3, Anderson 5 2-4 14, Johnson 6 2-2 14, Holloway 2 3-6 7, Tauriainen 0 0-0 0, S. Carstens 7 3-8 21, N. Carstens 0 1-2 1, Riddall 0 0-0 0, Jackson 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 11-22 61.
SKYVIEW (53) — Rice 0 0-0 0, Jones 4 0-1 10, Duke 5 2-4 12, Carlson 4 1-2 10, Cook 0 0-0 0, Kruse 0 0-0 0, Harley 3 0-0 6, Hilbish 6 2-2 15. Totals 22 5-9 53.
3-point field goals — Nikiski 7 (S. Carstens 4, Anderson 3); Skyview 4 (Jones 2, Carlson 1, Hilbish 1).
Team fouls — Nikiski 13; Skyview 15.
Wolverines 50, Mariners JV 22
Ninilchik 10 16 16 8 —50
Homer 3 4 6 9 —22
NINILCHIK (50) — C. Appelhanz 0 0-0 0, Presley 4 0-2 8, Mireles 4 2-4 10, Delgado 3 0-2 6, Koch 1 1-2 3, Bartolowitz 3 0-0 7, Thorn 0 0-0 0, S. Appelhanz 2 0-0 4, White 5 2-4 12. Totals 22 5-14 50.
HOMER JV (22) — Cortez 0 0-0 0, Williamson 0 0-0 0, Ellison 0 0-0 0, Crane 0 0-0 0, Harris 2 0-2 4, Raham 1 0-0 2, Edens 4 4-6 12, Cabaua 0 0-0 0, Trowbridge 1 0-0 2, Carroll 1 0-0 2, Sallee 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 4-8 22.
3-point field goals — Ninilchik 1 (Bartolowitz 1); Homer JV 0.
Team fouls — Ninilchik 8; Homer JV 10.
Tuesday girls
Bulldogs 34, Panthers 20
Nikiski 9 4 12 9 —34
Skyview 3 6 7 4 —20
NIKISKI (34) — Riddall 0 0-0 0, Cook 1 0-0 2, Costello 1 0-4 2, Litke 1 0-0 2, Lynch 3 1-4 7, Thompson 2 2-6 6, Parrish 0 0-0 0, Litzer 0 0-0 0, Darch 6 1-2 13. Totals 13 4-16 34.
SKYVIEW (20) — Powers 2 1-3 5, Ramsell 1 0-0 2, Mahan 0 0-0 0, Reynolds 0 1-5 1, Rouse 4 0-0 8, Glaves 1 0-0 2. Totals 8 3-9 20.
3-point field goals — none.
Team fouls — Skyview 8; Nikiski 7.
Warriors 39, Eagles 37
Nikolaevsk 11 7 14 7 —39
Cook Inlet 6 15 7 9 —37
NIKOLAEVSK (39) — Klaich 2 0-0 5, Fefelov 0 0-0 0, So. Kalugin 3 2-4 8, Stafford 3 0-0 7, Se. Kalugin 3 0-2 7, Dorvall 5 0-2 10, Hickman 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 2-8 39.
CIA (37) — Moffis 8 2-2 22, Taplin 0 0-0 0, Brush 3 0-2 7, Hammond 2 0-3 4, McGahan 2 0-0 4, Orth 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 2-7 37.
3-point field goals — Nikolaevsk 3 (Klaich 1, Stafford 1, Se. Kalugin 1); CIA 5 (Moffis 4, Brush 1).
Team fouls — Nikolaevsk 11; CIA 9.
Kardinals JV 39, Wolverines 30
Kenai 9 12 11 7 —39
Ninilchik 6 9 8 7 —30
KENAI JV (39) — Holmes 4 0-1 8, Bisset 1 0-0 2, Drury 2 7-12 11, Baker 2 0-0 4, Tuttle 0 0-0 0, Morse 0 0-0 0, Booth 2 0-0 4, Steinbeck 1 0-0 2, Ross 2 0-0 4, Every 2 0-0 4, Maden-Gray 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-13 39.
NINILCHIK (30) — Cooper 0 0-0 0, Sinclair 0 0-1 0, Guins 0 1-4 1, Ehlers 0 0-1 0, Finney 3 0-0 6, Me. Clark 2 0-0 4, Mi. Clark 0 0-0 0, Rogers 8 3-4 19. Totals 13 4-10 30.
3-point field goals — none.
Team fouls — Kenai JV 15; Ninilchik 14.
