The Soldotna girls won and the Stars boys lost Thursday at the first day of the Northern Lights Conference tournament at Colony High School.
The Soldotna girls, the No. 4 seed, defeated Kodiak, the No. 5 seed, 66-48 to move to a 6 p.m. semifinal today against top-seeded Colony. SoHi lost 39-26 to the Knights earlier this month. The winner of the game gets one of the girls tourney’s two automatic berths to state.
The Stars moved to 15-3 with the victory. Kodiak was playing for the first time all season.
“We just need to clean up some things defensively and rebounding wise,” Soldotna girls head coach Kyle McFall wrote in a text message. “But all in all, I’m very happy with the effort.”
The Stars jumped all over the Bears in the first quarter, grabbing a 22-8 lead. After that, with Leslie Spear scoring 23 points for the Bears, Kodiak was able to stick with the Stars.
“Kodiak girls are much improved,” McFall wrote. “Leslie Spear is a dominant force down low and they have quick guards who are strong at driving the ball and hitting the 3.”
McFall wrote Josie Sheridan had one of her best games. Sheridan was a force inside and outside as she scored 26, going 11 for 11 for the charity stripe.
Morgan Bouschor had 15 points for SoHi, while Drysta Crosby-Schneider had 10 and Ellie Burns added eight.
The Soldotna boys lost to the Bears 41-35 in overtime. The loss means SoHi can’t get one of the two automatic berths to state.
Kodiak, which was also playing for the first time all season, plays top seed Colony in the semifinal at 8 p.m. today. The Stars, now 3-15, play a to-be-determined opponent in the third-place bracket at 11 a.m. Saturday.
In regulation, Jakob Brown hit a 3-pointer with 2:09 to play to give the Stars a 34-31 lead. A free throw by Ethan Sewell then made it 35-31 with 1:29 left. That would be the last time SoHi would score all game.
Ian Rocheleau got the Bears to 35-32 with 47 seconds left, then Jackson Krug hit a massive 3-pointer with 23 seconds left to draw the Bears even.
In overtime, a Rocheleau 3-pointer was the only score until a couple of Kodiak foul shots in the final minute.
Krug paced the Bears with 15 points, while Brown and Sewell each had 11 for the Stars. Brock Wilson added 10 for SoHi, while Daniel McRorie had three.
Thursday girls
Stars 66, Bears 48
Soldotna 22 15 19 10 —66
Kodiak 8 13 12 15 —48
SOLDOTNA (66) — Widaman 0, Brantley 0, Cannava 0, McElroy 2, M. Fischer 0, Sheridan 26, Bouschor 15, Edwards 0, Burns 8, A. Fischer 3, Spies 2, Crosby-Schneider 10.
KODIAK (48) — Arevalo 4, A. Mangrobang 6, Quiambao 0, Blanco 0, Bushell 0, M. Mangrobang 4, Amodo 7, Spear 23, Solomon 4.
