Weather ices schedules

MAT-SU — The district-wide school cancellations caused by slick roads and high winds blew any chance of local prep student-athletes competing in after-school activities Thursday.

A number of scheduled events in a handful of sports were canceled after schools across the Mat-Su Borough were closed for the second straight day.

“We’ve been doing a lot of juggling,” Houston High School activities director Norm Bouchard said Thursday afternoon.

Houston athletics were especially effected by the cancellations. Both of the Hawks’ varsity basketball teams were scheduled to compete in the Nikiski Tip-Off Tournament, which started Thursday at Nikiski High School, and the Houston hockey team was set to start at three-game road trip in Fairbanks on Thursday afternoon.

Houston skipped the first day of the round-robin style Tip-Off, and is slated to compete today and Saturday. The Houston hockey squad’s game against North Pole was postponed, and may be rescheduled for Saturday. But that would mean the Hawks would need to play a pair of games that afternoon. Houston is already scheduled against Lathrop that day.

But of course, those plans depend on school being in session today.

“It sounds like things are looking better for (Friday),” Bouchard said.

If local schools are closed again today, all extracurricular activities could again be canceled. Bouchard said school district personnel have the final say, and also will determine whether travel outside of the district is appropriate.

“The most important thing is the safety of the kids,” Bouchard said.

The Wasilla girls basketball team was also slated to participate in the Nikiski Tip-Off on Thursday. But like the Hawks, the Warriors won’t leave for the Kenai Peninsula until today, at the earliest.

Wasilla activities director Paul Cossette said the Warriors are planning as if they’re leaving this morning for Nikiski, but will change those plans if needed.

“We’re just monitoring things hour-by-hour,” Cossette said.

The Wasilla boys basketball squad is among eight teams slated to participate in the Alaska Airlines Classic at West Anchorage High School. The first day of the three-day event was canceled, and play is expected to start today. Teams will play twice today, Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said Thursday afternoon.

Each of the four first-round games will be packed into the morning and early afternoon, Engebretsen said, and the remainder of the bracket will go as originally scheduled. The Warriors tip off against Dimond at 12:10 today. With a win, Wasilla will face either East Anchorage or Life Academy (Texas) at 8 p.m. With a loss, the Warriors play one of those teams at 4:30 p.m.

While playing a pair of games in an afternoon won’t be easy, Engebretsen said his team is up for the challenge.

“We’ll be as well prepared as anybody,” Engebretsen joked.

The Warriors have already done the two games in one day thing, playing twice in one day at the Marv Lopes Holiday Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, during the holiday break.

At Palmer High School, only one sporting event was canceled, a girls basketball game at Service High School.

The remainder of the slated events on Friday and Saturday for teams at Colony, Houston, Palmer and Wasilla are still scheduled. That list includes the Skyview Invitational cross country skiing meet. The two-day event — which includes teams from Colony, Palmer, Wasilla and Susitna Valley — starts today in Soldotna.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.