by Tommy Wells
Birchwood Christian buried a shot late in overtime on Saturday and eked out a close 57-55 victory over the Kalskag Grizzlies in the final day of action of the Warrior Rumble/Conoco Phillips Invitational in Nikolaevsk.
Birchwood Christian, which finished the tournament in a three-way tie for first in the standings, rallied from a 27-22 deficit at the half to force the game into overtime. BCS outscored Kalskag by a 26-21 margin in the second half and tied the game at 48-48 at the end of regulation.
Kalskag, which finished the round-robin tournament at 0-3, took the upper hand in the first half. After fighting to a 9-9 tie in the first quarter, Robert Wise and Hervey Levi help the Grizzlies reel off an 18-point run in the second.
Wise finished the game with 16 points. Levi added 12.
Shane Morgan, who knocked down a pair of key three-pointers in the fourth quarter, finished as Kalskag’s top scorer with 20 points. He sank four treys in the contest.
Kalskag suffered a 63-32 loss to Tanalian in Friday’s second round.
Despite the loss, Morgan played well for the Grizzlies, scoring a team-high 12 points. Wise chipped in nine.
On Thursday, Kalskag dropped a 65-38 decision to Nikolaevsk. In that game, Levi led all scorers with 11. Wise and Ryan Nook both chipped in eight.
Nikolaevsk was declared the tournament champion via a tie-breaker based on allowing the fewest points in it three games.
In girls’ action, Kalskag went 0-3 in the girls’ division, including a 37-27 loss to Birchwood Christian on Thursday.
In the loss to BCS, Kalskag was led by Lori Evans. She poured in four three-pointers and finished with 12 points. Julie Heckman added six points, while Mika Levi chipped in five.
In Friday’s action, Kalskag dropped a 47-31 loss to Tanalian.
Despite the loss, Heckman starred for the Lady Grizzlies. She scored a team-high 20 points, including 12 points in the final two quarters of play. Levi and Eliza Wise tallied five and four, respectively. Sharlisa Michaelson added two.
Birchwood Christian closed out the tournament with a 63-22 win over Kalskag on Saturday.
Heckman and Michaelson both scored eight points in the game. Evan and Wise added four and two, respectively.
