Hawks, Huskies hit Nikiski for region hoops tourney

HOUSTON — The Houston Hawks can’t look past host Nikiski, but the Hawks know a trip to the state tournament will have to go through one of the Southcentral Conference’s two powers.

Grace Christian or Anchorage Christian.

Assuming there are no upsets in the first round, ACS could be what stands between Houston and a state tournament berth.

“Going into regions, you’ve got to get one of the two big dogs to go to state,” Houston head coach Steve Hederson said of the Grizzlies and Lions recently.

Grace and ACS have been mainstays in the 3A tourney in recent years, and are a combined 4-0 against Houston this year. But Houston is also 8-0 against the rest of the conference. Henderson said he feels the Hawks are narrowing the gap between his program and the conference’s two powers. Houston was in reach of beating Grace in early February, but the Grizzlies slipped away with a 52-51 win.

“We know we can play with tem. It’s just a matter of getting over the hump,” Henderson said.

Houston, the No. 3 seed, starts its Southcentral Conference tourney Thursday against host Nikiski, the No. 6 seed, at 7:30 p.m. at Nikiski High School. Houston’s new rival, Redington, is making its first appearance in a region tournament in program history. The seventh-seeded Huskies are on the same side of the bracket as Houston, and play second-seeded ACS Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

Grace is the No. 1 seed and received a first-round bye in the tournament. The top seed of the bracket also includes fourth-seeded Homer, which plays fifth-seeded Seward Thursday at 1:30 p.m. in the first round.

Grace meets the Seward-Homer winner Friday at 4:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The Houston-Nikiski winner faces the Redington-ACS winner Friday at 7:30 p.m. in the other semi. The championship game is scheduled for Saturday at 6:30 p.m.

Houston is the No. 4 seed in the girls’ tournament, and opens with Seward Thursday at 1 p.m. The winner plays top-seeded ACS in the semifinals Friday at 6 p.m.

The Redington girls are also in the region tournament for the first time in school history, and are the seventh seed. The Huskies meet second-seeded Nikiski, the host program, Thursday at 6 p.m. in the semifinals. The Nikiski-Redington winner meets Grace-Homer winner Friday at 3 p.m. in the semifinals. Third-seeded Grace plays sixth-seeded Homer Thursday at 3 p.m. in the first round. The girls’ title game is Saturday at 5 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.