Kenai needs late push to escape with win

HOUSTON — Dave Porter has spent a good chunk of the 2009-10 season watching his team come up just short. Anchorage Christian School needed a fall-away three-pointer to escape with a 60-58 double-overtime win over the Hawks on Thursday. The following night, Kenai Central used a 24-point fourth quarter to slip past the Hawks 59-54 at Houston High School.

“We’ve lost a lot of close games,” said Porter, who estimates Houston has suffered at least six losses of two points or less.

On Friday, Kenai posted more points in the fourth quarter than it did during the entire first half to grab the nonconference victory.

“We were very fortunate to come out with a win,” Kenai head coach Ken Felchle said.

Kenai needed the 24-point fourth-quarter effort and a 10-4 run during the final four minutes of the third to grab the win.

Houston opened the third quarter on a nine-point run. Senior Zack Qual nailed a three-pointer during the opening minute of the third quarter to give the Hawks a 24-23 lead and start that run. Later in the quarter, Qual hit another deep shot to push his team’s advantage to eight points.

Sophomore Beau Frank also hit another three-pointer in the third quarter. Even though the Hawks did hit some big shots from beyond the arc, Porter said his team needed to be a bit more selective with the three-point shooting.

“We tried to fight back by shooting threes instead of being patient,” Porter said. “That’s part of our youth, part of understanding the game. They love to shoot, but you can’t continue to shoot threes. You have to be patient. That’s the time when they have to work the offense, be patient, make them play defense, try to get a good look or maybe get fouled and go to the free throw line.”

Kenai was able to benefit from some of Houston’s missed shots — the Hawks fired 17 three-point attempts in the second half and 25 in the game — and the Kards capitalized on their opportunities on offense in the fourth quarter. But Felchle praised Houston’s work on the court throughout the game.

“Those kids just absolutely worked hard,” Felchle said. “You could see it in their faces. Most of them were absolutely drained. They did a lot of things right that gave us problem. Credit to Houston.”

Colton Hayes scored 16 points to lead the Kardinals, and netted nine of that team-high total in the fourth quarter. Bo Reilly scored six of his 11i n the fourth.

Billy Keifer added seven points.

Mitch Montreuil added eight points to Qual’s game-high 18.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Kenai 59, Houston 54

Friday, Houston High School

Kenai 10-13-12-24—59

Houston 12-9-16-17—54

Kenai (59) – Lowe 1 1-2 3, Hull 2 2-4 6, Keifer 4 0-0 9, Spalding 1 3-9 5, Risung 1 2-3 4, Reilly 4 0-2 9, Hayes 6 2-2 16, Rogers 1 0-0 2; Totals: 22 10-22 59

Houston (54) – Richardson 1 0-0 3, Frank 2 0-0 6, Kramer 2 0-0 6, Qual 7 2-3 18, Rothley 3 0-1 6, Montreuil 1 4-6 7, Barron 1 2-2 4, Stone 2 0-0 4; Totals: 19 8-12 54.

3-point field goals: Kenai 5 (Hayes 2), Houston 8 (Frank, Kramer, Qual 2);

Total fouls: Kenai 16, Houston 21.