Two teams from the Kenai peninsula–Cook Inlet Academy boys and Ninilchik boys–qualified for the 1A and 2A state basketball tournaments which wrapped up over the weekend. Cook Inlet finished 5th in the 1A, and the two-time defending 2A Champion Ninilchik boys were bumped from the 2A tournament after losses to eventual champion Petersburg and 6th place finisher, Wrangell.
The CIA Eagles, who entered the 1A tournament as the overall fourth seed, started with a strong win over Noorvik in the opening round–Final score: 64-43. Junior Ian McGarry led the team with 30 points and 7 rebounds.
In the quarterfinals, the Eagles went up against #5 seed, Minto Lakers, and saw their title hopes fade under some relentless offense and clutch shooting from the Lakers in the fourth quarter. McGarry led the team again, this time with 21 points and 2 rebounds.
With a shot at the title off the table, Cook Inlet dominated their next two consolation opponents, Shaktoolik and Lumen Christi, beating the latter in the 4th/6th place game by a final score of 47-13.
Ninilchick came into the tournament with a chance for the rare championship three-peat, having won the 2A title in 2022 and 2023. Being saddled with the 6th overall seed felt like a bit of a snub considering the Wolverines’ success throughout the 2023-24 season. Moreover, facing #3 Petersburg in the opening round was a tougher draw than initially expected, as the Vikings went on to win the tournament.
The Wolverines battled Petersburg to the last second, literally, in the opening round. Ninilchik engineered a comeback in the fourth quarter, erasing a 10-point Petersburg lead only to watch the Vikings sink the game-winning bucket from inside the paint with barely 1 second remaining in the game. Kade McCorison led the Wolverines with 27 points and 9 rebounds. McCorison, a sophomore, also eclipsed 1,000 career points during the game, an unprecedented achievement for an underclassman.
The loss to Petersburg must have stung, however, because Ninilchik suffered their second defeat in as many nights at the hands of #7 seed Wrangell Wolves by a final score of 46-39.
Both the CIA Eagle and the Ninilchik Wolverines featured strong sophomore and junior players this season and look to be key players, and strong title contenders, in the 1A/2A divisions next season.
