Hawk boys net big wins

HOUSTON — Last second heroics on consecutive days helped the Houston Hawks score a pair of big nonconference wins.

A day after senior Scott Kramer stunned the Kenai Kardinals with a buzzer-beater, senior Beau Frank hit the game winner with four seconds left in overtime to lift the Hawks to a 61-60 win over the Soldotna Stars at Houston High School on Saturday.

“It was a huge weekend. The kids played their hearts out,” Houston head coach Dave Porter said.

Houston, playing in its final season as a 4A program before dropping to the 3A Southcentral Conference, has aimed to make some noise in its 4A farewell. Last week, Houston knocked off Mid-Alaska Conference rival West Valley. And this weekend, Kenai and Soldotna — a pair of successful Northern Lights Conference schools — were the latest to fall to the Hawks.

“Right now they have the determination, they want to win,” Porter said of his players. “They want people in the state to talk about them. They want people to say this is a good team.”

Houston showed it’s a team to be taken seriously against Soldotna, building an early lead and using clutch play to score the victory. The Hawks used a 19-6 second-quarter run to take a 10-point lead into halftime.

The Stars, led by Tanner Fowler and his four three-pointers, charged back, but the Hawks did what they needed to do to win.

“They’re resilient kids,” Porter said of his players.

Soldotna led by a point with 17 seconds left in overtime. Porter called a timeout and scripted a play. Houston missed the initial shot, but Frank was there for the rebound and put-back with four seconds left.

Senior Phillip Pease led the Hawks with 17 points in the win. The forward shot 5 of 7 from the field and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line.

“He was posting up strong, finishing around the basket,” Porter said of Pease.

Kramer added 13 points in the win, and sophomore Matt Barron chipped in 12. Barron was 3 for 6 from behind the arc.

Evan Withrow led Soldotna with 17 points, with nine coming in the fourth quarter and overtime. Fowler hit four three-pointers in the fourth.

On Friday, Kramer hit a buzzer-beater to give Houston a 58-56 win over Kenai.

Kenai senior AJ Hull tied the game at 56 late, and with one final opportunity and little time left, Kramer and the Hawks prevailed.

“We looked up at the clock and there was 4.5 seconds left and Scott was heading down the floor,” Porter said. “We decided not to call a timeout, let them play it out.”

Kramer went the length of the floor, and after a pump-fake, went to the basket for the score.”

Kramer scored a game-high 25 in the win. He hit a trio of three-pointers in the third, while scoring 13 of Houston’s 16 in the quarter. Pease added 13 points and nine rebounds.

Hull led Kenai with 23 points, scoring 11 in the fourth quarter. Joe Sandahl and Colton Hayes chipped in a dozen each.

Houston boys 61, Soldotna 60

Saturday, Houston High

Soldotna 16-6-12-19-7—60

Houston 12-19-9-13-8—61

Soldotna (60) — T. Fowler 4 2-2 14, Young 3 1-1 7, Darrow 2 0-0 4, Carver 3 3-4 10, Winthrow 5 6-8 17, Bosick 2 1-4 5; Totals: 19 16-25 60.

Houston (61) — Barron 4 1-4 12, Frank 2 0-1 4, Kramer 4 4-8 13, Ruta 2 1-2 5, Richey 3 0-2 6, Stone 1 2-2 4, Pease 5 6-9 17; Totals: 21 14-28 61.

Three-point field goals: Soldotna 6 (T. Fowler 4), Houston 5 (Barron 3); Total fouls: Soldotna 21, Houston 16.

Houston boys 58, Kenai 56

Friday, Houston High

Kenai 6-13-18-19—56

Houston 21-10-16-11—58

Kenai (56) — Hull 8 6-15 23, Sandahl 2 0-2 5, Reilly 4 1-2 12, Spalding 2 0-0 4, Hayes 4 4-4 12; Totals: 20 11-23 56.

Houston (58) — Barron 0 2-2 2, Frank 0 2-2 2, Kramer 9 3-4 25, Taylor 1 0-0 3, Ruta 3 0-1 7, Holmgren 0 2-2 3, Stone 2 0-0 4, Pease 4 5-6 13; Totals: 19 14-17 58.

Three-point field goals: Kenai 5 (Reilly 3), Houston 6 (Kramer 4); Total fouls: Kenai 16, Houston 18.

Houston girls swept

HOUSTON — The Houston Hawks suffered a pair of nonconference losses over the weekend.

Soldotna raced past Houston 73-32 on Saturday. Senior Savanna James scored 24 points for the Hawks. Kenai beat Houston 41-27. James collected 19 points and 15 rebounds for Houston.

Soldotna 73, Houston 32

Saturday, Houston High

Soldotna 13-18-20-22—73

Houston 5-13-12-2—32

Soldotna (73) — Prior 1 2-2 4, Benson 3 3-3 11, Litchfield 6 2-4 14, Wong 3 1-2 5, Kerkvliet 4 2-2 10, Westerman 2 0-0 4, Skjold 8 1-3 21, Miller 0 1-2 1, Smith 0 1-2 1; Totals: 37 13-21 73.

Houston (32) — Lee 1 0-0 2, James 9 4-5 24, Baybado 1 0-2 2, Irvin 1 2-2 4; Totals: 12 6-11 32.

Three-point field goals: Soldotna 6 (Skjold 4), Houston 2 (James 2); Total fouls: Soldotna 18, Houston 21.

Kenai girls 41, Houston 27

Friday, Houston High

Kenai 4-10-12-15—41

Houston 11-6-3-7—27

Kenai (41) — English 0 1-2 1, Beeson 3 0-2 6, Kiefer 2 2-2 6, Taylor 3 0-0 6, Ross 0 1-2 1, Treske 2 5-6 9, Wensley 5 0-3 12; Totals: 15 9-17 41.

Houston (27) — James 6 6-8 19, Woods 0 1-1 1, Baybado 0 2-5 2, Shannon 1 1-3 3, Irvin 1 0-0 2; Totals: 8 10-17 41

Three-point field goals: Kenai 2 (Treske 2), Houston 1 (James 1); Total fouls: Kenai 20, Houston 16.