Valley Grown: Valley grads recognized by Division II basketball conference

** Editor’s note: Valley Grown is a regular feature highlighting the work of Valley athletes at the next level

WASILLA — A pair of Valley graduates playing Division II basketball for UAF earned all-conference honors recently.

Former Wasilla High standout Alex Baham and former Palmer High standout Michael Kluting were named All-Conference honorable mention by the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Baham, a junior guard in his first season in Fairbanks, started all 26 games for the Nanooks. He finished second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.5 points per game. Baham was also one of the top three-point shooters in the league, finishing the season third in the GNAC with a .458 three-point shooting percentage. He also played the most minutes for UAF, averaging 29.4 points per game. The 6-foot-4 Baham transferred to UAF prior to the season after two years with Peninsula College in Port Angeles, Washington.

Kluting, a sophomore, played in all 26 games and started 23. The former Palmer High and Monroe Catholic standout led his team in both scoring and rebounding, with 11.7 points and 8.1 rebounds per game. He was third in the GNAC in rebounding. The 6-6, 230-pound forward also recorded a team-best 10 double-doubles during the season.

Last season, Kluting was named most improved player as a freshman after averaging 11 points and 6 rebounds a game.

Valley players in NWAC postseason

Alex Baham earned an honor for his work at UAF. His younger sister Catherine helped her team advanced to the postseason.

Catherine Baham is a freshman on a Columbia Basin (Washington) squad that opened up the Northwest Athletic Conference women’s championships Thursday against Centralia. Baham, who helped Wasilla win back-to-back 4A state girls titles in 2016 and 2017, has appeared in 29 games for the Columbia Basin junior college program. She’s made 10 starts. Baham is averaging 9.2 points and 4.2 rebounds per game.

Donovan Eiman, a Palmer High School graduate, is part of a Centralia (Washington) squad that opens the NWAC men’s championships Saturday against top-seeded Walla Walla (Washington). Eiman hit the court in 29 games, and started 13. He is averaging 4.1 points and 2.7 rebounds per game.

The NWAC tournaments are at Everett Community College in Washington this year.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.