Grounded in Houston

HOUSTON — Houston head coach Dave Porter knew if his team could play solid on the defensive end of the floor, the Hawks would have a chance to knock off the top-seeded North Pole Patriots during the first round of the Mid-Alaska Conference Championships.

The Hawks lived up to their coach’s defensive exceptions, but unfortunately for Houston, the Hawks struggled on the other end of the court. North Pole held Houston to only three points in the first quarter, four in the third and 39 percent shooting en route to a 49-35 win over the Hawks during the semifinal round of the MAC Championships at Houston High School on Friday.

“I told the kids, you’ll have a chance if you hold them to 50,” Porter said after the loss that pushed the Hawks backward into the conference’s third-place game. “And the kids did, they held them to 49.”

But throughout the contest, Porter was forced to revisit an early-season worry.

“It was kind of the thing we felt coming into the season,” said Porter, who was named the MAC Coach of the Year after the tourney. “Can we score.”

North Pole junior Jesse Ward scored seven of his team-high 12 points during the first quarter to help the Pats get out to the early 10-3 first quarter lead. Even though the Hawks were already down seven, Porter felt his team was just a shot away from being right back in the game.

“We hit some shots and it’s a completely different game,” Porter said.

There was hope in the third quarter, even though the Hawks were down by double digits. The Hawks held North Pole scoreless for the first four minutes of the second half, and cut the Patriot advantage to 26-16 when Max Rothley went to the basket for the layup.

With the Hawks down 10, Porter called a timeout.

“(I told the team) this possession is huge. We need to score and drop this below 10,” Porter said. “And then we turned it over and they scored.”

Roland Barbaza capitalized on the Hawks turnover and converted the easy bucket to push North Pole’s lead to 12. After another Houston turnover, North Pole junior Josh Holliman hit a three-pointer from the left corner and drew a Houston foul. Holliman hit the free throw to complete the four-point play, and North Pole’s lead was back to 16.

“They ended up scoring six points in less than 30 seconds,” Porter said. “We had a chance to cut it under 10 and all the sudden it’s a 16-point game.”

Senior Zack Qual led the Hawks with a game-high 14 in the loss. Houston, which has been known to hit its fair share of three-pointers, was held to just two shots from behind the arc in the game.

“I wanted our kids to be patient on the offensive end. In the past, we’ve had the tendency to just cast up a ton of shots and shoot ourselves out of games,” Porter said. “The kids listened in that aspect, but it wasn’t enough.”

Scott Kramer added eight points in the loss, while Tyler Barron grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.

North Pole 49, Houston 35

MAC semifinals

Friday, Houston High School

North Pole 10-16-10-13—49

Houston 3-11-4-17—35

North Pole (49) — Holliman 2 1-1 6, Jones 1 2-4 4, Barbaza 2 0-0 4, Thomas 2 1-3 5, Demientieff 2 2-4 6, Ward 4 2-2 12, Sponseller 1 1-4 3, Hale 0 2-2 2, Broderick 3 1-2 7; Totals: 17 12-26 49.

Houston (35) — Frank 2 1-3 5, Kramer 3 1-2 8, Qual 5 2-3 14, Rothley 2 0-2 4, Barron 1 2-4 4; Totals: 13 7-15 35.

3-point field goals: North Pole 3 (Ward 2), Houston 2 (Kramer, Qual 1); Total fouls: North Pole 20, Houston 25.

Wolfpack top

Houston for third

HOUSTON — The West Valley Wolfpack scored a 54-36 win over the Hawks during the MAC third-place game Saturday morning.

Senior Zack Qual, playing in his final game in a Houston uniform, scored a game-high 23 points. Qual shot 7-of-12 from the floor, 7-of-9 from the free-throw line and hit a pair of three-pointers. Qual also dished out five assists.

Scott Kramer added 11 points and eight rebounds for Houston.

Willie Clark was one of four player to hit double digits in scoring for the Wolfpack, posting 11 points.

West Valley 54, Houston 46

MAC third-place game

Saturday, Houston High School

West Valley 11-11-12-20—54

Houston 8-20-5-13—46

West Valley (54) — Ariola 2 0-3 4, Carson 3 3-5 10, Clark 4 3-4 11, Renfro 5 0-0 10, McKenzie 5 1-2 11, Hornsby 3 0-0 8; Totals: 22 9-16 54.

Houston (46) — Kramer 3 4-5 11, Qual 7 7-9 23, Montreuil 1 0-3 2, Barron 2 2-2 6, Stone 1 0-0 2, Pease 1 0-0 2; Totals: 15 13-19 46

3-point field goals: West Valley 1 (Carson 1), Houston 3 (Qual 2), Total fouls: West Valley 21, Houston 18.

Malemutes stun top seed

HOUSTON — Lathrop upset top-seeded North Pole 60-48 in the MAC Championship game Saturday afternoon to win the conference title and score the region’s lone bid to the 4A state tourney.

Keith Mays delivered a game-high 22 points in the win and helped Lathrop put together a 25-point fourth-quarter. Ray Streeter added 18 points in the Lathrop victory.

Jesse Ward led North Pole with 19 points.

Lathrop was the only MAC team to beat North Pole during the regular season.

Lathrop boys 60,

North Pole 48

MAC Championship

Lathrop 12-13-10-25—60

North Pole 13-9-7-19—48

Lathrop (60) — Streeter 4 10-14 18, Green 1 0-0 2, Holland 2 0-0 4, Ballard 3 2-2 8, Mays 9 2-4 22, Esson 0 1-2 1, Hamilton 2 -4 5; Totals: 21 16-26 60

North Pole (48) — Hilliman 1 0-0 2, Thomas 1 0-0 2, Demientieff 5 1-3 12, Ward 8 0-2 19, Sponseller 2 0-0 5, Hale 2 0-0 4, Broderick 1 2-7 4; Totals: 20 3-13 48

3-point field goals: Lathrop 2 (Mays 2), North Pole 5 (Ward 3); Total fouls: Lathrop 13, North Pole 20.