Local prep hoops squads start conference tourney play Thursday

PALMER — Late last month, as the top tier of teams in the Northern Lights Conference were scrambling for seeds, Wasilla head boys basketball coach Ryan Engebretsen said the Warriors certainly had their eyes on the No. 1 spot in the NLC tournament.

The focus on that goal was intensified by the fact that Wasilla was part of a lead pack of squads that also included its chief rivals, Valley foes Colony and Palmer.

“The No. 1 seed would be nice,” Engebretsen said. “It’d be nice to be that team that gets to avoid the Valley rivals in the semis.”

Wish granted.

Wasilla won its final seven conference games of the season and is the No. 1 seed in the tournament, which starts Thursday at Palmer High School. The Warriors will play either fourth-seeded Kenai or fifth-seeded Soldotna Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the conference semifinals.

Wasilla officially clinched its No. 1 seed with a 76-66 overtime victory over Colony March 1.

The Wasilla boys aren’t the only Warriors who boast top-seed status. The Wasilla girls used an undefeated season in conference play to grab the top seed in the NLC tourney. Wasilla (10-0) rolled through the regular season, outscoring its opponents by an average of 35 points per game.

The Wasilla defense allowed less than 26 points in six NLC games, and 32 points or less in nine of 10 conference games. The Warriors also 60 or more points seven times, and more than 70 points twice.

Wasilla is the defending girls in search of its fourth NLC title in the last five years.

Like Wasilla, the Colony boys and girls, and the Palmer boys and girls have identical seeds. Both Colony programs are seeded second, and both Palmer programs are seeded third.

That sets up the potential for Colony-Palmer semifinal matchups on both brackets. To make that happen, both Palmer teams need to get past Kodiak Thursday during first-round play.

The Palmer girls host Kodiak Thursday at 6:30 p.m. The Moose played the Bears twice at home in February, winning 65-33 and 64-32. The Palmer boys see Kodiak Thursday at 8:15 p.m. Palmer is also 2-0 against Kodiak this season, winning 39-24 and 47-34 in Kodiak

With wins, the Palmer teams would move into the semifinals. With losses, the Moose would be pushed back into the consolation game, slated for Friday morning.

Both Palmer teams are a combined 12-0 against Kenai, Soldotna and Kodiak in conference play this season. The Moose are a combined 0-8 against Wasilla and Colony.

The Colony girls used an 8-2 record to earn the No. 2 seed. Colony only conference losses came to Wasilla. Colony played Wasilla to five points early in the year, a 35-30 loss to the Warriors at CHS.

The Colony boys enter the tournament as a No. 2 seed with a 7-3 mark. The Knights started the season 6-0 in conference play, but suffered three straight road losses. Colony snapped the streak with a 52-47 win over Palmer March 4 at Colony High. That victory clinched the Knights the No. 2 seed.

The Colony girls will play either Palmer or Kodiak Friday at 1:30 p.m. in the semifinals. The Colony boys face either Palmer or Kodiak Friday at 6:45 p.m. in the semis.

The girls are boys championship games are slated for Saturday at 3:30 pm. And 5:15 p.m., respectively. There are also third-place matches for the girls and the boys, set for noon and 1:45 p.m.

In other first-round action Thursday, the Peninsula rivals Kenai and Soldotna will meet in both the girls and boys brackets. The girls game is at 3 p.m. and the boys match is at 4:45 p.m.

The teams that advance to the NLC championship games earn the conference’s automatic berths to the state tournament.

Hawks head to Anchorage

A week after enjoying their longest homestand of the season, the Houston Hawks boys and girls teams are headed to the Southcentral Conference Championships, which start Thursday in Anchorage.

Both the Houston girls and boys teams are the No. 5 seeds in their respective brackets. The Houston girls open the tournament against fourth-seeded Nikiski Thursday at 2 p.m. The Hawks boys follow against fourth-seeded Nikiski Thursday at 3:45 p.m.

With a win, the Houston girls would move on to face top-seeded Homer Friday at 2 p.m. With a loss, Houston would fall into the loser’s bracket and play Saturday at 9 a.m. With a victory, the Houston boys would face No. 1 seed Anchorage Christian Friday at 3:45 p.m. With a loss, the Hawks move into the loser’s bracket and would play Saturday at 10:45 a.m.

The girls and boys conference championship games are scheduled for Saturday at 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. The girls and boys third-place games are Saturday at 1 and 2:45 p.m.

The Southcentral gets three automatic berths for 3A state tournament for both the girls and boys.