Staff report

The Soldotna girls and boys basketball teams will chase state berths at the six-team Northern Lights Conference basketball tournament at Palmer High School from Thursday through Saturday.

The tournament has two automatic berths to the Class 4A state tournament on both the girls and boys sides. There are also two at-large berths available to the girls and boys tournament. The third- and fourth-place finishers at the NLC tourney are eligible for those at-large berths.

The Class 4A state tournament is March 23 to 26 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

The Soldotna girls have the fifth seed and open up today at 2 p.m. with a game against No. 4 Palmer.

The Stars, who last made the state tournament in 2019, finished 2-8 in the league, with both victories coming against No.6 seed Kodiak. Soldotna lost to Palmer 48-29 on Jan. 29 and 56-42 on March 5.

Also at the girls tourney, Anchorage Christian Schools has the top seed, Wasilla is No. 2 and Colony is No. 3.

The Soldotna boys, who also last played at the state tournament in 2019, have the sixth seed after going 0-10 in the league. Soldotna opens up with a 7:15 p.m. game today against No. 3 seed Palmer.

The Stars lost to Palmer 64-58 on Feb. 19 and 67-38 on March 5. The other seeds are Colony at No. 1, Kodiak at No. 2, ACS at No. 4 and Wasilla at No. 5.

Although SoHi has no league wins, the Stars have lost by six points or less at least once against every team in the tournament, including a 59-58 loss to the top-seeded Knights on Feb. 12.

Northern Lights Conference tournament

at Palmer High School

GIRLS

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — Soldotna vs. Palmer, 2 p.m.

Game 2 — Colony vs. Kodiak, 5:30 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.

Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. ACS, 1:30 p.m.

Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Wasilla, 5 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 6 (third place) — Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 10 a.m.

Fourth place — Game 6 loser vs. Game 3 winner, 1:30 p.m.

Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 5 p.m.

BOYS

Thursday’s games

Game 1 — Wasilla vs. ACS, 3:45 p.m.

Game 2 — Palmer vs. Soldotna, 7:15 p.m.

Friday’s games

Game 3 — Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11:45 a.m.

Game 4 — Game 1 winner vs. Colony, 3:15 p.m.

Game 5 — Game 2 winner vs. Kodiak, 6:45 p.m.

Saturday’s games

Game 6 (third place) — Game 4 loser vs. Game 5 loser, 11:45 a.m.

Fourth place — Game 6 loser vs. Game 3 winner, 3:15 p.m.

Championship — Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 6:45 p.m.