Hawks score road sweep of Bulldogs

NIKISKI — The Houston Hawks grabbed two wins against Nikiski on Friday night at Nikiski high school. The Houston boys outlasted the Bulldogs 58-48, and the Houston girls took a 43-37 win earlier in the evening.

Junior Matt Barron was deadly with 27 points for Houston on 9-for-13 shooting, including 5-for-6 from beyond the arc.

Nikiski junior Seth Carstens had 16 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Bulldogs, while teammates Luke Johnson and Stephen Hartley each chipped in 10.

"I thought both teams had a lot of turnovers due to the amount of intensity on both ends of the floor," Nikiski head coach Reid Kornstad said. "It was a hard-fought game."

A high pace kept the pressure on both teams throughout the game, which resulted in multiple turnovers and furious scrambles for the ball. Both teams allowed 22 turnovers in a game that featured 10 total lead changes.

Houston benefitted the most from the high pace, getting 25 points off turnovers, while Nikiski had only three.

"They came here and beat us here on our own floor and so we were ready for war," Kornstad said. "They hit shots when they needed to."

After a whisker-close three quarters, Houston hit a 16-8 run in the fourth that was capped by three straight treys from Barron and Mitchell Ruta, the last coming with 1 minute, 14 seconds left that put the Hawks up 55-43.

"(Barron) was the difference in the game. He torched us," Kornstad said. "This week, we focused on our defensive concepts and we didn't do anything special for him. Like I said, he just torched us."

Kornstad said that despite the loss, he was pleased with the effort level from the Bulldogs.

Houston girls 43, Nikiski 37

The Bulldogs fell victim to a second-half surge from the visiting Hawks on Friday night in Nikiski.

Like the boys game, Houston was led by a high scorer in Ne Ne Hale, who recorded 26 points on 8-for-18 shooting.

Junior Emily Lynch paced Nikiski with 10 points and 10 rebounds. Rachel Thompson and Alyssa Darch added eight points each.

"We just suffered from unforced turnovers and some inconsistent play," said Nikiski head coach Scott Anderson. "We had a few good moments where we scored points, but then they would come back when we lost the ball."

Nikiski turned the ball over 26 times, compared to only 12 for Houston.

After a 17-15 halftime lead for Nikiski, the Bulldogs continued to expand on it in the third quarter with a trey and layup from Thompson to gap the Hawks 24-19 halfway through the quarter. However, the Hawks began to rally back.

"That was a big turnaround," said Houston head coach Pat Egelus. "I was going to call timeout, but the girls made a couple big shots and they crawled right back into it. The girls are starting to have leadership on the floor. We have a few seniors and a bunch of juniors, and when they communicate, they can coach each other on the floor."

Hale sunk a three-pointer with 6:16 left in the game that gave Houston the lead for good. Egelus commended the efforts of Hale, who put up 23 of her 26 points in the second half, and had all of Houston's points (14) in the fourth quarter.

"We've been a fourth-quarter team all season," Egelus said. "The thing is, usually in the first three quarters we've been playing down, so it was nice to stay close the whole way through, and in the fourth the girls stepped up the intensity, which is what they're used to. This time, we didn't put ourselves in a 15-point deficit."

Hawks split with Seward

SEWARD — Ne Ne Hale scored a game-high 24 points to lead Houston to a 38-29 win over Seward Saturday in Seward.

Hale hit eight shots from the floor, including four three-pointers.

In boys’ action, Seward took advantage of 12 trips to the free-throw line during the fourth quarter, and scored a 60-48 win over Houston in Seward.

The Seahawks were 12 for 19 from the line in the fourth quarter, and 28 of 42 in the game. Seward scored 26 points in the fourth.

Matt Barron hit four three-pointers and scored a team-high 17. Jace Taylor added 11.

Houston girls 38, Seward 29

Saturday, Seward

Houston 13-7-8-10—38

Seward 6-6-9-8—29

Houston (38) — Wells 0 1-7 1, Baybado 3 2-4 9, Quincy 2 0-0 4, Hale 8 4-4 24; Totals: 13 7-10 38.

Seward (29) — Van Boistal 3 2-2 9, Brockman 0 1-2 1, Robinson 1 0-0 2, Whiteshield 1 0-0 2, Clemens 1 0-0 2, Perea 4 0-1 9, Adelman 2 0-0 4; Totals: 12 4-5 29.

Seward boys 60, Houston 48

Saturday, Seward

Houston 14-8-10-16—48

Seward 8-14-12-26—60

Houston (48) — Baird 1 0-0 2, L. Taylor 1 0-0 3, Brandt 2 0-0 4, Barron 4 5-8 17, Saechao 1 0-0 2, Ruta 3 3-3 9, J. Taylor 2 7-9 11; Totals: 12 15-21 48.

Seward (60) — Buchanan 1 3-6 5, Marshall 0 3-4 3, Thomassen 2 5-8 9, Wolfe 5 5-6 16, Ivy 0 2-4 2, Moore 4 8-12 16, Jackson 3 2-2 9; Totals: 15 28-42 60.

Houston boys 58, Nikiski 48

Friday, Nikiski

Houston 11-11-17-19—58

Nikiski 10-13-12-13—48

Nikiski (48) — Carstens 6 2-3 16, Lu. Johnson 3 3-5 10, Hartley 3 1-2 10, Stangel 0 2-2 2, Li. Johnson 2 2-3 6, Ross 2 0-1 4, Griffith 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 10-16 48.

Houston (58) — Barron 9 4-5 27, Buzby 5 0-0 10, Taylor 2 0-1 5, Brandt 1 0-0 2, Saechao 2 0-0 6, Ruta 2 0-0 6, Taylor 2 0-1 2. Totals 22 4-7 58.

Houston girls 43, Nikiski 37

Friday, Nikiski

Houston 9-6-14-14—43

Nikiski 8-9-11-9—37

Nikiski (37) — Lynch 2 6-10 10, Thompson 3 0-0 8, Darch 3 2-4 8, Epperheimer 0 0-0 0, Holloway 2 0-0 5, Cook 0 1-2 1, Wallis 2 1-2 5. Totals 12 10-18 37.

Houston (43) — Hale 8 7-9 26, Wells 3 2-2 8, Lee 1 0-1 2, Nida 3 0-0 6, Baybado 0 1-3 1, Barber 0 0-2 0, Quincy 0 0-0 0, Irvin 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 10-17 43.