Huskies, Hawks fall on first day of Southcentral tourney

PALMER — In two regular season losses to Homer, Redington’s struggles began in the second quarter. Thursday, Homer led by only three possessions when the teams started the second quarter. And then the Mariners found another gear.

Third-seeded Homer capped the game on a 24-4 run and stormed to a 54-25 win over the Huskies during the Southcentral Conference Championships quarterfinals Thursday afternoon at Colony High School in Palmer.

“We kept it close at half, kept it close for part of that third quarter, but it’s that pace of an experienced team coming at you,” Redington head coach Tony Brooke said of Homer’s late push after the loss.

Redington junior Brody Brooks used a rebound and putback with about three minutes left in the third to cut Homer’s lead to 30-21. But the Mariners immediately responded with a Jordan Beachy three-pointer. Homer knocked another three, and ended the third on a 7-0 run.

“We cut it to nine. Then it was back to 12, and 15, and then it went from there,” Brooke said.

Homer hit eight three-pointers in the win. Kolby Ertzweiler hit 5 of 8 three-point attempts, and scored a game-best 17 points. The Mariners shot 44 percent from the field, compared to Redington’s 27 percent.

“They were hot. We were cold as ice,” Brooke said.

Only three Redington players scored in the game. Bristin Conaway hit a pair of threes and scored a team-high 12. Brooks added 10 and Tolupo Faliniko added three points.

“When that happens, you can’t beat a good team like that,” Brooke said.

Brooke said he was happy with the way his team played on defense.

“If you told me before the game we would hold them to 54, I would have said we have a chance to win. If you would have told me we would only score 25, I wouldn’t have believed you,” Brooke said.

With the win, Homer moves forward to play second-seeded Grace Christian Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals. Redington will face rival Houston in an elimination game at 1:30 p.m.

The Redington girls also suffered a quarterfinal loss Thursday. Third-seeded Grace Christian overcame a slow start and beat the Huskies 42-25. Grace scored 37 of its 42 points in the final three quarters.

Tessa Binder led Grace with 23 points. Courtney Crockett had a team-high eight for Redington.

The Huskies will face rival Houston Friday at noon at Colony.

Hawks swept in quarterfinals

Second-seeded Grace Christian used a 18-6 second-quarter run to score a 61-26 win over Houston in the boys’ quarterfinals. Grace led just 15-11 before the run.

Houston scored 11 of its 26 points in the first. Robert Ritter hit a trio of threes and led Houston with 10 points.

Bethany Carstens scored 25 points to lead second-seeded Nikiski to a 69-26 win over the Houston girls. Riley Davis and Katie Richey scored eight each for Houston.

The Redington and Houston losses on Thursday set up a pair of games between the Valley rivals on Friday. The Huskies and Hawks girls play at noon, and the boys meet at 1:30 p.m. The winner of each game will also play on Saturday. The loser of each game will see their 2017-18 season come to an end.

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

Homer 54, Redington 25

Southcentral Conference boys quartefinals

Thursday, Colony High School

Redington 8-7-6-4—25

Homer 12-11-14-17—54

Redington (25) — Faliniko 1 01-2 3; Brooks 4 2-2- 10, Conaway 5 0-0 12; Totals: 10 3-4 25.

Homer (54) — Rohr 4 0-0 9, Etzweiler 6 0-0 17, Ruetov 3 0-0 6, Carroll 4, Anderson 2 0-0 4, Davis 1 0-0 2, J. Beachy 3 0-0 8, Swoboda 2 0-1 4; Totals: 23 8-18 54.

3-point field goals: Redington 2 (Conaway 2), Homer 8 (Etzweiler 5); Total fouls: Redington 3, Homer 11.

Grace Christian 42, Redington 25

Southcentral Conference girls quarterfinals

Thursday, Colony High School

Redington 2-7-7-9—25

Grace 5-12-13-12—42

Redington (25) — McGovern 2 3-5 7, Crockett 2 4-5 8, Fuller 2 2-2 6, Harris 1 2-2 4; Totals: 7 11-14 25.

Grace (42) — Binder 7 9-9 23, Markel 1 0-0 2, Osborne 0 1-2 1, Tanner 2 1-1 5, Salima 3 3-4 9, Annett 1 0-0 2; Totals: 14 14-16 42.

3-point field goals: Redington 0, Grace 0; Total fouls: Redington 13, Grace 12.

Grace Christian 61, Houston 26

Southcentral Conference boys quarterfinals

Thursday, Colony High

Houston 11-6-3-6—26

Grace 15-18-15-13—61

Houston (26) — Wyrick 4 0-0 11, G. Mulhaney 1 0-0 2, Mose 1 0-1 2, Graham 0 1-2 1, Ritter 3 1-2 10; Totals: 9 2-5 26.

Grace (61) — Isaacson 0 1-2 1, Ivanoff 2 1-2 6, Goforth 3 0-0 9, Ji. McGovern 4 1-1 10, Jo. McGovern 1 0-0 2, Karlberg 4 2-2 11, Harriman 5 3-6 13, Edi 1 0-0 2, Beck 3 1-2 7; Totals: 23 9-15 61.

3-point field goals: Houston 6 (Wyrick, Ritter 3), Grace 6 (Goforth 3); Total fouls: Houston 10, Grace 14.

Nikiski 69, Houston 25

Southcentral Conference girls quarterfinals

Thursday, Colony High

Houston 2-6-17-1—26

Nikiski 21-13-25-10—69

Houston (26) — Malidore 1 1-2 3, Davis 3 0-0 8, Whitted 2 2-3 6, Winzenberg 0 1-2 1, Richey 3 0-1 8; Totals: 9 4-8 26.

Nikiski (69) — Jeffereys 1 2-2 4, Wik 4 1-1 10, L. Carstens 1 2-2 5, Bostic 2 2-4 6, Johnson 3 1-2 8, B. Carstens 8 5-9 25, Clark 1 0-0 2, Druesdow 2 3-5 8, Jackson 0 1-2 1; Totals: 22 17-27 69.

3-point field goals: Houston 4 (Davis, Richey 2), Nikiski 8 (B. Carstens 4); Total fouls: Houston 22, Nikiski 15.