The Craig Jung Kenai River Challenge Basketball Tournament closed play on Saturday with the host Kenai girls and the Ninichik boys completing tournament play with 3-0 records and unbeaten runs through the three-day tournament.
Kenai River Challenge: Girls Finals
In the tournament’s final round, the Kenai girls defeated Houston 37-30 to claim the girls title. Emma Beck lead the Kardinals with 19 points as Kenai finished tournament play with a 3-0 record.
In the early girls game, the Soldotna girls downed Houston 55-40 and the Stars finished 2-1 in the tournament with a 28-27 loss to Kenai on Friday.
Kenai River Challenge: Boys Finals
The Ninilchik boys, on the strength of a 23-point, second quarter, pulled-away from the Soldotna boys for a 68-45 victory to complete a 3-0 run through tournament play. Colvin Moore lead the Wolverines with 25 points and Jaylin Scott added 22 points. For the Stars, Jakob Brown scored 15 and Aziah Gilbert added 12 points.
The game of the tournament matched the Kenai boys against the Houston Hawks. Tied at 35-35 after three quarters, the Hawks owned a four-point lead into the final seconds.
Trailing by four points, Kenai’s Daniel McRorie hit a three-pointer with four seconds remaining the draw the Kardinals to within a point at 69-68. The Hawks threw a full-court pass– out-of-bounds– and Kenai earned one last chance with the ball under the Kardinal basket with .5 seconds remaining. McRorie lobbed the ball to the front of the rim and Jakob Kvasnikoff drop in the winning basket, erupting the home crowd with a Kardinal victory. Final Score: Kenai 70 – Houston 69. Kenai finished tournament play at 2-1.
Girls All-Tournament Team
# 21 from Soldotna Morgan Lemm
# 10 from Soldotna Katelyn Morrison
# 10 from Houston Dallas Winter
# 11 from Kenai Malerie Nunn
# 3 from Houston Anna Whitted
# 40 from Kenai Emma Beck
MVP is # 40 from Kenai Emma Beck
Boys All-Tournament Team
# 4 from Houston Cole Taylor
# 12 from Soldotna Jacob Brown
# 2 from Houston Hayden Howard
# 23 from Ninilchik Colvin Moore
# 15 from Kenai Jacob Kavasnikof
# 3 from Ninichik Jaylen Scott
MVP is # 3 From Ninilchik Jaylen Scott
This year’s winners in the 3-Point Competition were:
Boys from Kenai Central High School: Jacob Kavasnikoff
Girls from Soldotna: Katelyn Morrison
This year’s winner in the Free Throw competition were:
Girls from Soldotna: Josie Sheridan
Boys from Soldotna: Isaiah Gilbert