The Soldotna Star boys avoided a possible four-way tie in the Northern Lights Conference and guaranteed a #2 seed into the Northern lights Conference Tournament with a victory over the Palmer Moose on Saturday. The Nikiski girls locked-in a #1 South seed to the Southcentral Conference Basketball Tournament with a victory Saturday against Grace Christian.
All regular season games are in the books and tournament seeding and brackets are being formulated. (see Southcentral Conference story on radiokenai.com sports page)
Saturday Game Results: Northern Lights Conference
SoHi Boys 48 -35
The Star boys saved their best all-around game for the final regular season game with their playoff fortunes on the line.
The SoHi boys, behind solid man-to-man defense and a balanced offensive attack, pulled-away from the Palmer Moose (and the rest of the NLC teams with three victories) for a 48-35 NLC victory on Saturday.
Jersey Truesdell and Rich Mekhi lead the Stars with 15 points each; it was the ball movement and passing of the Stars that led to the win.
With the victory, Soldotna finishes with a 4-4 NLC record and earns the #2 seed into the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Tournament scheduled for March 19-21 at Colony High School. Colony, undefeated at 8-0, receives the #1 seed for the boys bracket.
SoHi Girls 46 – Palmer 33
The Soldotna girls turned a one-point lead at the half into an eight-point lead after three quarters and a 46-33 NLC win over the Palmer Moose.
Itu Tuisaula, in early foul trouble and limited to two free throws the first half, sparked the Stars offense with 15 second-half points. Josie Sheridan hit three 3-pointers and added 12 points in SoHi’s winning effort.
The Soldotna girls are third in the NLC standings with a conference record of 4-4. Wasilla finishes unbeaten in the NLC at 8-0 and Colony earns the #2 seed with a 6-2 record.
The Northern Lights Conference tournament is scheduled for March 19-21 at Colony High School. Tournament brackets will be posted when available.
Saturday Game Results: Southcentral Conference
Nikiski Girls 43 – Grace 36
The Bulldog girls secured the #1 South seed to the Southcentral Conference Basketball Tournament with a 43-36 victory over Grace. Lillian Carstens lead the way with 21 points and McKinlee Jefferys added eight points. See Southcentral Conference story at www.radiokenai.com for tournament details.
Nikiski Boys 30 – Grace 71
The Grace boys overpowered Nikiski 71-30 as the Grizzlies finish an undefeated conference season. The Bulldogs were lead by Noah Litke with 14 points. Nikiski will be the 34 South seed for the SCC tournament. See Southcentral Conference story at www.radiokenai.com for tournament details.
Kenai Girls 57 – Houston 54 OT
The Kardinal girls recorded a second-straight conference road win on Saturday with a 57-54 overtime victory at Houston. Balanced scoring paced the Kardinals with Bethany Morris scoring 15; Jaiden Streiff, 14; Kailey Hamilton and Damaris Severson added 12 points each.
Kenai Boys 57 – Houston 70
Following a victory on Friday at Redington, the Kardinal boys fell behind early and never recovered against Houston in a 70-57 loss to the Hawks. Kayden Daniels topped the Kardinals offense with 18 points.
Southcentral Conference tournament seeding and brackets available on the Southcentral Conference Basketball story at www.radiokenai.com.
