State tourneys underway

The Houston Hawks and Colony Knights have begun their bids for state hockey championships this weekend. Both teams played games last night in the opening rounds of the 3A and 4A state tournaments.

The defending 3A state champion Houston Hawks played Nikiski last night and will play again today and Saturday.

The 3A tournament is hosted by Houston High School with all games taking place at Brett Memorial Ice Arena in Wasilla. Seven teams from around Alaska are in the tournament. The 3A championship game will take place Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Colony Knights played East Anchorage High School last night in the opening round of the 4A tournament. The 4A tournament is taking place at the Soldotna Sports Center. Colony and Soldotna represent Region III, competing against four Anchorage and two Fairbanks teams for the championship. The 4A championship game will take place Saturday evening.

KMBQ plans to broadcast the Houston games Friday and Saturday with the possibility of broadcasting some of the Colony games.

4A games are available through webcast on the Internet. Go to www.ASAA.org for links to the games.