Hawks fly into Southcentral semifinals

WASILLA — The Houston Hawks have wanted another crack at one of the Southcentral Conference’s powers, Grace Christian School and Anchorage Christian School.

Friday night, standing just one win away from the state tournament, the Hawks will have their shot. The Hawks used a 54-35 quarterfinal win over Nikiski to set up a match against second-seeded ACS Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the Southcentral Conference Championships semifinals.

Houston — a No. 3 seed that finished the regular season a combined 0-4 against Grace and ACS and undefeated against the other four teams in the conference — used a 20-6 second-quarter run over the host Bulldogs during the first day of the three-day tourney. Kade Taylor scored a team-high 16 points for the Hawks. Kolby Taylor added 11 and Ben Bitler chipped in eight.

Reid Kornstad led all scorers with 20 points.

ACS advanced to the semifinals with a 92-10 win over Redington. Brody Brooks scored all 10 points for the Huskies, who will play host Nikiski Friday at 1:30 p.m in the consolation bracket.

The fifth-seeded Seward Seahawks held on to post a 39-35 victory over fourth-seeded Houston during the first day of the girls’ tournament.

Seward used a 13-3 second-quarter run to get the win, and move forward to play top-seeded ACS in the semifinals. Houston will get a day off with the loss, and will face the loser of the Grace Christian-Nikiski semifinal Saturday at 8 a.m. in the consolation bracket.

Makayla Moore led Houston with 11 points.

Nikiski beat Redington 59-24 Thursday. Courtney Crockett and Abbie Fuller scored nine points each for the Huskies. Redington will play Homer Friday at noon at Nikiski High.

Houston boys 54, Nikiski 35

Southcentral quarterfinals

Thursday, Nikiski

Houston 11-20-20-3—54

Nikiski 8-6-9-12—35

Houston (54) — Werts 1 1-2 4, Ka. Taylor 7 0-0 16, Ko. Taylor 4 3-3 11, Ruta 3 0-0 6, Ross 2 1-4 5, Pelesasa 2 0-0 4, Bitler 4 0-1 8. Totals — 23 5-10 54.

Nikiski (35) — Johnson 5 0-4 10, Kornstad 8 0-0 20, B. Ellis 1 0-0 2, Bridges 0 1-2 1, Eiter 1 0-0 2; Totals — 15 1-6 35.

3-point goals — Houston 3 (Ka. Taylor 2, Werts); Nikiski 4 (Kornstad 4); Team fouls — Houston 6, Nikiski 11. Fouled out — none.

Seward girls 39, Houston 35

Southcentral quarterfinals

Thursday, Nikiski High

Seward 8-13-9-9—39

Houston 13-3-12-7—35

Seward (39) — Moriarity 2 0-1 4, VonBorstel 3 1-1 8, Jackson 3 5-6 13, Lapinskas 1 0-3 2, Petrosius 5 2-4 12. Totals — 14 8-15 39.

Houston (35) — Holmes 2 0-0 4, Davis 3 1-2 8, Ruth 2 1-2 5, M. Moore 3 2-2 11, T. Moore 2 1-2 6, Whitted 0 1-2 1. Totals — 12 6-10 35.

3-point goals — Seward 3 (Jackson 2, BonBorstel); Houston 5 (M. Moore 3, Davis, T. Moore). Team fouls — Seward 11, Houston 19. Fouled out — Ruth, T. Moore.

ACS boys 92, Redington 10

Southcentral quarterfinals

Thursday, Nikiski

ACS 26-24-29-13—92

Redington 0-6-2-2—10

ACS (92) — Parks 1 0-0 2, Smallwood 10 3-3 26, Onochie 2 1-2 5, Bennett 1 0-0 2, Cho 3 0-0 6, Hayner 3 0-0 7, Guzmin 6 0-0 12, Dickerson 4 2-2 11, Smith 2 0-1 5, Lozano 2 0-0 6, Edi 3 1-1 7, Tualano 1 1-2 3; Totals: 38 8-11 92.

Redington (10) — B. Brooks 4 0-4 10; Totals: 4 0-4 10.

Nikiski girls 59, Redington 24

Southcentral quarterfinals

Thursday, Nikiski

Nikiski 17-20-13-9—59

Redington 2-8-6-3—24

Nikiski (59) — Jeffreys 0 0-3 0, Wik 2 2-2 7, Vallertson 1 0-0 2, Carstens 9 8-9 28, Kornstad 1 4-4 7, Clark 3 3-3 9, Jackson 1 0-0 2, Bostic 1 0-0 2, Druesedow 1 0-0 2; Totals: 19 17-21 59.

Redington (24) — Crockett 4 1-2 9, Aporazuk 2 0-0 4, Fuller 2 5-11 9, Kuzmin 1 0-0 2; Totals: 9 6-13 24.