by Greg Lincoln
The Kipnuk Falcons boys team and the Napaskiak Lady Hawks are the champions of the 1A Alaska Coastal Conference basketball tournament and will represent the Lower Kuskokwim School District at the State Basketball championships next week. The finals will take place March 13-16, 2024 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.
The Falcons last won a district championship in 2018. The Lady Hawks last won in 2009.
The gym was packed with fans as the girls started their warmups. The Hawks’ mascot danced on the court entertaining the crowd.
The Tuntutuliak Lady Bluejays roster included senior Johnelle Smith; juniors Nellie Frank, Emma Friendly, Amber Lupie, Chandra Stone; sophomores Cecelia Hunt, Shalisa McDalton, Rhiannon Nicholai; and freshmen Giselle Carl, and Nicole Hunt. The Lady Bluejays are coached by head coach Lisa Olick and Assistant Coach Sabrina Carl.
Napaskiak Lady Hawks (PKA) roster featured only senior Josephine Waska; juniors AnnieLynn Evan, Ana-Jo Larson, Hilary Larson; no sophomores; freshmen Nadilyn Evon, Ana Williams; and 8th graders Danielle Joekay, Stephana Larson, and Adalyn Samuelson. The Lady Hawks are coached by head coach Kimberly Nicholai and assistant coach Pam Samuelson.
Lady Bluejay senior Johnelle Smith got into some early foul trouble in the first quarter with four fouls with a little over a minute left on the clock. She subbed out after scoring four points. Napaskiak’s Hilary Larson blocked a shot in the first half, igniting the PKA crowd. Napaskiak girls dominated the scoreboard, 16-8.
The second quarter continued with both teams showing strong defense and good sportsmanship. The game did not slow down, the girls kept the fans on their feet and showed no signs of fatigue in the first half. Napaskiak started to expand their lead with fast breaks and put-backs and led 32 to 19 at halftime.
Sweepers kept the floor free of dust at halftime and the crowd was treated to a segment of the boys free throw contest. Announcers for the game were Matthew Hunter of Bethel and Alvin Jimmie of Kwigillingok/Bethel.
Second half continued with tough defense on both ends of the court. Ana-Jo Larson sunk two 3 pointers for PKA. Tunt’s Shalisa McDalton makes two free throws and then goes coast to coast for another 2. Emma Friendly makes 4 steals on defense for Tunt, Johnelle Smith scores points and Tunt slowly makes up for the deficit.
Third quarter ends with Napaskiak maintaining their lead 43-33.
Fourth quarter begins with both teams going coast to coast with every transition for almost a whole minute. Tunt calls time out. Hilary Larson has four Bluejays swarming her and she sinks a basket. Lady Bluejay Chandra Stone makes two freethrows. Hilary cleans up with the put-back for Napaskiak. Johnelle Smith sinks a three. Rhiannon Nicholai makes a steal for Tunt. PKA makes a double-dribble. Emma Friendly hustles for another steal and shoots two free throws. Tunt makes two steals in a row. The Lady Bluejays get within 8 points of Napaskiak with a minute to go.
The Napaskiak Lady Hawks kept the lead and won the game 55-48. The live feed for this game had 13.9K views. Congratulations to Team PKA.
Next up was the boys’ championship between two Mid-Coast League teams – the Kipnuk Falcons and the Tuntutuliak Bluejays. These teams had faced each other in season league games. Tunt won the league championship on their homecourt and Kipnuk took third place. Eek Cougars came in second.
Playing for the Bluejays were seniors Jordan Carl, Anthony Castel, Adolph Enoch, and Ashton White; lone junior William Charlie; no sophomores; and freshmen Zarat Andrew, Keith David, Nazarius Pavila, and Shane White.
The Bluejays are coached by head coach Carlotta Lupie and assistant coach Jimmy Andrew.
Playing for Kipnuk are seniors Terry Anaruk, Peter Anaver, Jairus Ayaprun, Brenton Dock, and Devon Mann; juniors Kholan Carl, Daniel Dock, Kendall Handley, and Daniel Nanalook; sophomore Frank Paul. The Falcons did not have any freshmen players.
Kipnuk is coached by head coach Adolph R. Paul and assistant coach Rico Jardiniano.
Both teams jockeyed for the lead in the first quarter, matching point for point and staying within a couple points of each other. Kipnuk defense had a man on the Bluejay’s #30 Ashton White sticking to him like glue. The quarter ended with Tunt with a slim lead 16-14.
Second quarter continued like the first with both teams neck in neck in terms of scoring. The points separating the teams was close and within 2-4 points until the last minute. Kipnuk kept up with their defensive plan of keeping a man on Tunt’s Ashton White. At the last second of the second quarter Devon Mann scored a buzzer beater 3 pointer to extend Kipnuk’s lead 33-26. Kipnuk’s Peter Anaver ended the first half with four three pointers.
The second half had both teams battling for control, Kipnuk defense added another 1-on-1 defense on Tunt’s #24 Jordan Carl. Ashton White scores on a fadeaway jumpshot after a loose ball scramble. Tunt regains the slimmest of leads by one point halfway through the third. Kipnuk commits three back to back turnovers, Tunt capitalizes and extends their lead by 5. Bluejay’s Anthony Castel was tireless with rebounds and scoring including on a long pass from Ashton White in the last seconds. Kipnuk’s Peter Anaver ends the drought with three three pointers and a buzzer beater for another three. Peter scored all 12 points for Kipnuk in the third.
Kipnuk has a slight lead at the end of the third quarter 45-43.
“This is a game, anything can happen!” said commentator Alvin Jimmie.
The nailbiter fourth quarter ended in with a tie score and into overtime, fans were overwhelmed with cheering for their team. Tunt controlled the ball in the last minute of the fourth eating up the clock, a shot was fired but it went out of bounds, the ball remained in Tunt’s possession. With one second left, Coach Carlotta Lupie calls a timeout. Anthony Castel shoots the ball but it does not go in and the game heads into overtime.
The clock was reset to 4 minutes. Peter Anaver sinks a turnaround jumper from the top of the key, he scored 32 total points for the Falcons and missing only one shot. Left hander Brenton Dock sinks a three for Kipnuk. Kipnuk’s Daniel Dock sustained a head injury in overtime and subbed out. Tuntutuliak’s Anthony Castel scores a point on a free throw with 21 seconds left in overtime. Kipnuk wins 61-53.
Hearts melted as the Tuntutuliak Bluejays and the Kipnuk Falcon boys co-league mates gathered in a huddle at the end of the game and prayed the Lord’s Prayer together, which they have been doing since last year. She also thanked assistant tournament director Jim Biela, KYUK Broadcasting for the radio feeds, TAI Staff, the National Guard, JROTC Program, LKSD Social Workers, VPSOs, Earl Samuelson Sr. and Cookie Sallafie, the cooking crew, the ladies from the Savannah State University, and all the players.
Lower Kuskokwim School District Student Activities Coordinator Sharon Wegner presented the awards and the thank yous. She especially thanked Palmer Bailey of KYKD Radio for tirelessly and diligently announcing for every single game during the tournament.
The Lady Hawks will be playing the Fort Yukon Lady Eagles at 7:45pm at the Alaska Airlines Center in the opening round. The Kipnuk Falcons will face the Shishmaref Northern Lights.
Also in the boys’ opening round, the Aniak Halfbreeds will play King Cove, Emmonak will play Kake, and Scammon Bay will play Koliganek.
On the girls 1A State bracket, the Akiak Lady Thunderboltswill play Shaktoolik, the St. Mary’s Lady Eagles will play Newhalen, the two-time State Champions Scammon Bay Lady Eagles (2016, 2017) will play Buckland, and the Napaskiak Lady Hawks will play the Fort Yukon Lady Eagles.
To view sports reels from the tournament, please check out the Delta Discovery facebook page. Quyana!
36th Annual LKSD Coastal Conference Results March 2-4, 2024
Girls Awards
1st Napaskiak Hawks
2nd Tuntutuliak Bluejays
3rd Kwethluk Carayiit
GPA Award: Akiuk Grizzlies 3.58
Sportsmanship: Akiuk Grizzlies
Free Throw
1st Gracelyn Miller, Kongiganak
2nd Angela Twitchell, Akiuk
Hot Shot
1st Nikki Eric, Chefornak
2nd Natalia Slim, Akiuk
All Tournament Team
Amirka McDalton, Kwethluk
Emma Friendly, Tuntutuliak
Maryann Carl, Newtok
Mackenzie Larson, Chefornak
Maegen Miller, Kongiganak
Bethany Lincoln, Toksook Bay
Shalisa McDalton, Tuntutuliak
Hilary Larson, Napaskiak
Layla Charlie, Kwethluk
Teana Pavilla, Akiuk
Carson Miller, Kongiganak
Nikki Erik, Chefornak
Boys
1st Kipnuk Falcons
2nd Tuntutuliak Bluejays
3rd Chefornak Shamans
GPA Award: Eek Cougars 3.33
Sportsmanship: Eek Cougars
Free Throw
1st Gordon Pitka, Toksook Bay
2nd Peter Anaver, Kipnuk
Hot Shot
1st Theodore Andrew, Akula
2nd Brennan Lincoln, Toksook Bay
All Tournament Team
Theodore Andrew, Akula
Wassillie Alexie, Kwethluk
Ashton White, Tuntutuliak
George Hoffman, Eek
Ashton Matthew, Chefornak
Brennan Lincoln, Toksook Bay
Terry Anaruk, Kipnuk
Abraham Fisher, Kwethluk
Alexander Wassillie, Akiuk
Trenton Brink, Akula
Felagai Laumea, Chefornak
Anthony Castel, Tuntutuliak
