Northern Lights Conference to debut its 6-team tourney

MAT-SU — The Northern Lights Conference is in a new era. Gone is the old eight-team NLC, with its double-elimination conference championships.

With the loss of former region foes Skyview and Homer following the 2011-12 season, the NLC settled in as a six-team league, sporting sort of a hybrid tourney. Yes, teams are still guaranteed at least two games during the three-day weekend. But now two teams in each bracket have first-round byes, and the tourney’s first day, which used to overflow with eight basketball games, has been cut to just four contests.

The losing teams of the first round will meet on Day 2. The losing teams of the semifinal round will meet during the final day. But the only prizes handed out are for first and second.

Coaches and players from the six girls teams and six boys squads that make up the region are working to adjust to the new format, especially those that have earned first-round byes, something new to the NLC tourney format.

All will be put to the test when the tourney begins Thursday afternoon at Soldotna High School in Soldotna.

“You’ve got to do what you got to do,” longtime Wasilla girls head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said.

Hebert-Truax’ undefeated Warriors (10-0) are the No. 1 seed in the girls’ NLC bracket. Wasilla, the two-time defending state champions, will wait to face either fourth-seeded Soldotna (5-5) or fifth-seeded Palmer (4-6) during Friday’s semifinal round.

“Usually the first-place team has a lower team (in the first round) and uses (the game) to get going,” Hebert-Truax said. “Now the kids have to get ready for that second-round game.”

Soldotna is the defending runner-up in the NLC, and Palmer is a squad that has beaten third-seeded Colony and fourth-seeded SoHi this season.

“It’s going to be a good game,” Hebert-Truax said of her second-round matchup. “I think that’s one thing about our region. We have five teams in the top 10 in the state. You’ve got to be ready to play. On any given day, somebody could step in and beat you.”

Palmer and SoHi split their regular-season series, and after playing in the regular-season finale last Friday, the first-round contest will mark the second straight meeting for these two teams.

“It’s hard to beat a team that’s well matched two times in a row,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said.

Reid said he expects a competitive first-round game.

“I feel the matchup favors us in a lot of ways, them in some ways,” Reid said.

The Warriors will play either Palmer or SoHi Friday at 7:45 p.m. at Soldotna

Third-seed Colony (5-5) opens its tournament against sixth-seeded Kenai (0-10). With a win over Kenai, Colony would play second-seeded Kodiak (6-4) Friday at 4:15 p.m. in the semis.

Kodiak swept Colony early in the season, but CHS senior Mary Klapperich said the Knights are now a different, more-improved team.

“Ever since the Dimond tournament, we’ve been getting significantly better,” Klapperich said following a victory over Palmer in February. “We’re peaking at the right point.”

On the boys’ side, a pair of Valley teams own the top two seeds, and the first-round byes, on the bracket. Colony (10-0) enters the tourney as the No. 1 seed. Palmer (7-3) is seeded second. Moose head coach Jason Marvel said he’s still not quite sure what to think of the new format.

“I do miss the old (tournament). The eight-team format is ideal,” Marvel said. “But times are changing.”

Marvel and the Moose are among the four teams that will make the adjustment with the first-round bye.

“I have mixed feelings about it. It could be good, but it also could be bad sitting for a day,” Marvel said.

Like Hebert-Truax, Marvel is expecting to face a tough matchup as his team hits the court Friday. The Moose will play either third-seeded Kodiak (5-5) or sixth-seed Kenai (1-9) Friday at 2:30 p.m. Kodiak and Kenai split its two-game regular season series. The Moose swept both the Bears and Kards.

“I think both teams are upset-minded,” Marvel said. “I don’t know if we match up as well with Kodiak as we do with Kenai, but it’s going to be tough against either team.”

Fourth-seeded Soldotna (4-6) hosts third-seed Wasilla (3-7) Thursday at 6:30 p.m. Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said he feels his team has played better than what a 3-7 record might represent.

“We’ve given ourselves a chance to be in every game,” Engebretsen said. “Our record does not show how many games we’ve had the chance to win.”

The Warriors split their regular-season series with SoHi, earning the win over the Stars on Soldonta’s home floor.

“It’s always a battle. Soldotna is a well-coached team,” said Engebretsen, who has led Wasilla to four straight NLC titles.

As the fifth seed, Engrebretsen said he expects his team to head in to the tourney ready to leave everything on the court.

“I feel good, just in the sense we have nothing to lose,” Engebretsen said.

With the new format, the losing teams of Thursday’s first-round games of both the boys and girls brackets will meet in a consolation contest Friday. The losing teams of Friday’s semifinal games will play in a third-place game Saturday. Teams that advance to the region title game earn the conference’s automatic bids for the state tournament. The NLC is no longer guaranteed a third state bid, but the results of the consolation and third-place games could impact a team’s Winning Percentage Index rating, the formula used to rank 4A basketball teams in Alaska. The state tournament includes two at-large bids decided by WPI.

NLC boys’ schedule

Thursday

(3) Kodiak vs. (6) Kenai, 3 p.m.

(4) Soldotna vs. (5) Palmer 6:30 p.m.

Friday

Kodiak/Kenai loser vs. Soldotna/Wasilla loser, 11 a.m.

(2) Palmer vs. Kodiak/Kenai winner, 2:30 p.m.

(1) Colony vs. Wasilla/Soldotna winner, 6 p.m.

Saturday

Third-place game, 11 a.m.

Championship game, 2:30 p.m.

NLC girls’ schedule

Thursday

(3) Colony vs. (6) Kenai, 4:45 p.m.

(4) Soldotna vs. (5) Palmer, 8:15 p.m.

Friday

Palmer/Soldotna loser vs. Colony/Kenai loser, 12:45 p.m.

(2) Kodiak vs. Colony/Kenai 4:45 p.m.

(1) Wasilla vs. Palmer/Soldotna, 7:45 p.m.

Saturday

Third-place game, 12:45 p.m.

Championship game, 4:15 p.m.