Southcentral Tourney: Houston squads move forward

March 9, 2007

NIKISKI - Both the Houston boys and girls took a step toward the state tournament by posting first-round wins in the Southcentral Conference Basketball Tournament in Nikiski on Thursday.

The Houston boys out-scored Susitna Valley 21-2 in the fourth quarter, and claimed a 59-39 win over the Rams in the conference quarterfinals.

Senior Donovan Parker hit six shots from the floor and was a perfect 6-for-6 from the foul line, en route to an 18-point performance for the Hawks.

Fellow senior Ryan Thamm notched a pair of three-pointers, and senior captain Quintin Veit added nine points for the Hawks.

Senior Travis Clark led the Rams with 16 points, while Colin Olner added nine.

Houston improved to 3-0 this season against its Valley neighbor to the north. Now the Hawks move into the semifinals, and play Heritage Christian at 4 p.m. today. The winner of that game earns one of the Southcentral Conference's two bids to the 3A state tournament.

Houston and Heritage split a pair of regular season games. Heritage beat Houston early in the season at Houston High. But in February, Houston beat Heritage 36-29 in Anchorage.

Heritage moved into the semifinals with a 54-18 win over host Nikiski.

The Houston girls scored a 49-39 win over Seward.

Senior Caylee Redford scored a season-high 20 points in the win. She was 8-of-12 from the line, and scored eight of Houston's 10 points in the second quarter.

Houston took an early 14-5 lead, but Seward's Denali Foldegar scored all nine of her points in the second quarter to help the Seahawks get back into the game.

Redford's efforts allowed the Hawks to take a 24-20 lead into halftime.

Houston now has the task of facing Nikiski, the top-ranked 3A team according to the latest Alaska Sportswriters Prep Basketball Poll. The tip-off is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today at Nikiski High School.

Nikiksi (19-3) is 2-0 against the Hawks this season.

- Jeremiah Bartz