Hawks score tandem titles at Tip Off

NIKISKI — Houston had no problem at the 22nd annual Era Aviation Tip Off Tournament at Nikiski High School this past weekend.

The Hawks’ boys and girls basketball teams went a combined 6-0 Thursday, Friday and Saturday and won team trophies at the three-day, round-robin tournament.

The Houston girls defeated Nikiski, Skyview and Dillingham en route to the championship. The boys defeated the same squads and repeated as champions after winning the event last year, clinching the title with a 52-42 win over host Nikiski on Saturday.

“They made some defensive adjustments and we weren’t able to respond,” Nikiski boys coach Reid Kornstad said of Houston, which defeated Skyview 46-42 on Friday after opening the tournament with a win over Dillingham on Thursday.

It was a tough weekend for peninsula schools as both the Nikiski boys and girls finished 1-2. The Skyview boys also went 1-2 — the Panthers snapped a 40-game losing streak with an opening round win Thursday over Nikiski — while Skyview’s girls were winless.

The Nikiski girls nearly entered Saturday’s finale against Houston with a 2-0 record after they beat Skyview to open the round robin. On Friday, however, the Bulldogs lost to Dillingham 46-43 in game that came down to the final possession.

Trailing 44-43 with 4.3 seconds left, the Bulldogs needed to get the ball inbounds and advance it the length of the floor after calling a timeout.

Dylan Holloway threw a length-of-the-floor pass that sailed over the head of senior guard Britany Tuttle, rolling out of bounds. Teammate Makenzie Moore, who scored a team-high 19 points, had sprinted toward the basket to take a pass from Tuttle. The pass never came.

Dillingham then scored a basket as time expired on the ensuing possession.

“Dylan has the best arm on the team,” Nikiski coach Lee Moore said. “The one thing I told her was to not throw it out of bounds. It was close.”

The Bulldogs did well to just put themselves in the situation.

They entered the fourth quarter trailing 40-31 but used an 8-0 run over the first four minutes to pull within one.

There were numerous chances for the Bulldogs to take the lead, but turnovers and missed shots hampered that effort.

Moore credited Dillingham for playing scrappy defense.

“They just kept coming and kept coming,” he said. “They just wanted the basketball a little bit more than we did. It was not a great effort on our part to be able to get after the basketball, but a lot of credit goes to Dillingham for the way they played.”

Nikiski had to fight from behind much of the way after Dillingham used an 18-9 run in the second quarter to build a lead.

Had the Bulldogs played better in the first half, Moore said, the result may have been different.

“Hopefully we learn to be ready and play in the first half,” Moore said. “And at the close of the game, when it’s close, to play with discipline. We had our chances and didn’t capitalize on them, but that’s what tournaments are all about. We’ll keep learning as we go.”

Earlier Friday, the Skyview boys fell just short in a bid for their second win in as many nights. The Panthers went scoreless over the final three minutes in a 46-42 loss to Houston on Friday.

The Hawks used a half-court trap defensively late in the game, forcing the Panthers into tough decisions.

“We are still working on being able to rotate the ball and pass out of traps,” Skyview coach Jesse Settlemyer said. “They got us to speed up a little bit and commit some turnovers. They were playing hard, they were playing some tough defense.”

Saturday’s action saw the Houston teams sweep Nikiski.

Houston forced Nikiski into 26 turnovers in the girls game to overcome a 30 percent shooting night from the field, winning 42-24.

In the boys game, the Bulldogs outrebounded the Hawks 27-20 and shot 53 percent from the field to Houston’s 41, yet the Hawks earned a 52-42 victory.

Scott Kramer scored 25 points for the Hawks. Nikiski committed 35 turnovers.

“That was the story of the game,” Kornstad said.

Houston girls, 46, Skyview 28

Friday, Nikiski

Skyview 4-8-7-9 —28

Houston 14-6-7-19 —46

SKYVIEW (28) — Hauptman 1 0-0 2, Saunders 0 0-0 0, Marang 0 0-0 0, Self 0 0-0 0, Hill 2 5-8 10, Mercier 2 0-0 4, Malatesta 4 0-0 8, Bak 2 0-0 4. Totals — 11 5-8 28.

HOUSTON (46) — Dodds 0 0-0 0, Wagner 3 0-0 6, James 2 0-0 4, Acton 7 2-3 19, Ritter 2 0-0 4, Shannon 5 0-2 10, Shaffer 0 0-0 0, Nida 0 0-0 0, Attungana 0 0-0 0, Baybado 1 1-2 3. Totals — 20 3-7 46.

3-point field goals — Skyview 1 (Hill); Houston 3 (Acton 3). Team fouls — Skyview 10, Houston 10. Fouled out — Hill.

Houston boys 46, Skyview 42

Friday, Nikiski

Skyview 9-12-11-10 —42

Houston 12-10-14-10 —46

SKYVIEW (42) — Reynolds 0 0-0 0, McNamara 1 0-0 2, Symonds 2 0-0 4, White 4 2-4 11, Williams 0 0-0 0, Jones 1 0-0 3, Mardid 1 4-7 6, Corona 0 0-0 0, McDonald 0 0-0, Diaz 3 2-2 8. Totals — 15 10-15 42.

HOUSTON (46) — Baron 0 0-0 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0, Lapham 1 3-4 5, Frank 4 0-0 10, Kramer 3 2-7 9, Ruta 1 0-0 2, Rothley 3 5-6 14, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Holmgren 0 0-0 0, Barron 2 2-4 6, Stone 0 0-0 0. Totals — 14 12-21 46.

3-point field goals — Skyview 2 (White, Jones); Houston 4 (Frank 2, Kramer, Rothley). Team fouls — Skyview 16, Houston 16. Fouled out — none.