The Soldotna Stars left the Kenai Kardinals gym on Friday night with a pair of two-point victories; the SoHi girls downing Kenai 43-41 in overtime and the SoHi boys surviving a 55-53 contest with the Kenai boys.
SoHi Girls 43 – Kenai 41 Overtime
The Stars and Kardinals played as evenly as possible in Friday’s non-conference game at KCHS; the SoHi girls earning a 43-41 overtime victory.
Kenai led 16-15 at the half and the game was tied 27-27 after three quarters. The fourth quarter finished 38-38 and the game moved to overtime. Kenai had opportunities in the fourth quarter from the free throw line to control the game, the Kardinals shooting 7 of 16 from the line. In the overtime, SoHi missed their free throw opportunities shooting 1 of 6 in the four minute overtime. SoHi’s Ellie Burns lead the Stars with 15 points, even though she fouled out before the overtime period. Kenai’s Emma Beck scored 21 points and fouled out in the final seconds of the overtime.
SoHi Boys 55 – Kenai Boys 53
The Kenai boys scored 27, fourth-quarter points to draw to within a basket in a 55-53 loss to the Soldotna Stars in non-conference basketball on Friday at KCHS.
The teams played close through a low-scoring first half with SoHi leading 23-20 at the half. The Stars built as much as a 20-point lead closing the third quarter with a 45-26 advantage. Kenai rallied, after a benching of starters and a talk with head coach Nolan Rose, with a 27-point, fourth quarter to draw to within a basket at the final buzzer. Ethan Sewell lead the Stars with 19 points; Jakob Kvasnikoff topped the Kardinals with 23 points, including 13 in the final quarter.
Kenai hosts Grace Christian on Saturday in the Kardinals final Peninsula Conference contests. The Grace Christian girls and boys are both undefeated in conference play and have earned the #1 seeds into the upcoming Peninsula Conference tournament to be hosted at KCHS on March 10-12.
Saturday game times are scheduled for 2 & 3:30 p.m.
Follow the Kardinals on ESPN 1140AM, 96.9FM and streaming live at radiokenai.com.
