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Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.
On the high school sports scene, both the Chugiak boys and Dimond/West girls hockey teams capped off undefeated seasons by claiming state titles over the weekend and both West cross-country skiing teams claimed conference titles. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team is on a three-game winning streak while the women’s team is on a two-game skid.
Headlines and highlights
The Chugiak boys hockey team didn’t just win a sixth state title program history and first since 2017 with their 5-2 victory over Cook Inlet Conference foe West on Saturday night. By doing so, the Mustangs finished the season 23-0-1, becoming the first team since Dimond in 2012 to go an entire season unbeaten. That year the Lynx went 26-0-0 and dispatched Service 6-1 in the state title game. Chugiak tied with 2022 state champion Dimond 2-2 in its second game of the season back on Nov. 4 and rattled off 22 straight victories to win it all including three wins over the Lynx, the third of which came in the opening round of the state tournament 5-2 Thursday.
[‘Committed’ Chugiak hockey team completes unbeaten season with Alaska Division I championship]
While the boys were battling it out in Wasilla at the Curtis D. Menard Memorial Sports Center, the 2022-23 girls hockey state championship took place in town at the Ben Boeke Ice Arena and wrapped Saturday as well. Just as the Chugiak boys tore through their bracket, the Dimond/West girls did the same to claim their second straight title and complete an undefeated season of their own at a perfect 12-0 with no ties or blemishes on their overall record. They outscored their opponents a combined 6-1 in two games after getting a first-round bye.
[Dimond/West claim second straight Alaska girls high school hockey title with shutout of Fairbanks]
The Cook Inlet Conference cross-country skiing championships took place this past weekend at Kincaid Park and featured some impressive performances from some of the usual and unusual suspects. While Service has been the cream of the crop in previous years, winning the last three team state titles, West appears to be the biggest threat to making it four in a row after both the Eagles boys and girls squads came away with CIC titles.
Aaron Power of the Cougars and Marley Ireland of Bettye Davis East received Skimeister titles for their impressive performances. Power came in first in Friday’s classic race and helped power Service to a second-place finish in Saturday’s freestyle relay race while Ireland came in second to Dimond’s Emily Erickson in the girls classic race and was on the Thunderbirds’ A team that took third in the relay.
[West sweeps Region IV skiing team titles; Service’s Power and East’s Ireland earn Skimeister titles]
The two best high school basketball games from the past week took place out in the Mat-Su Valley as both the Colony boys and girls varsity squads narrowly notched road victories over rival Wasilla last Tuesday night. The girls result was especially compelling and significant given it came in thrilling fashion for the Knights over the 2022 4A state runner-up Warriors 57-54 while the Knights boys team won 63-61.
On the same night, the bowling season came to a close and saw the Eagle River boys complete an undefeated season. The Wolves finished the year with a perfect 14-0 record and capped off their dominant run with a 31-4 win over Bettye Davis East. The Dimond girls finished the year with a 13-1 record with their lone loss coming against Eagle River last month, and in their final match, they handily beat Chugiak 31-4.
On the college hoops scene, the UAA men’s team recorded back-to-back wins for the first time since early January to establish its second-longest winning streak of the season at three games after beating Simon Fraser on Thursday and Western Washington on Saturday. The Seawolves’ leading scorer over the past week was junior forward Sawyer Storms with a combined 30 points in the two games, 21 of which came in a nearly perfect performance against the Vikings where the only shot he missed came on one of his 9 free-throw attempts.
The UAA women’s team dropped back-to-back games for the second time this season after falling to Northwest Nazarene in overtime on Thursday despite a career night from senior guard Vishe’ Rabb, who recorded a game-high 35 points. The Seawolves dropped their second straight to Central Washington on Saturday in lopsided fashion by a staggering 31 points, which was their second-largest margin of defeat of the season.
The Anchorage Wolverines ended their five-game road stand with a two-game series with the Wisconsin Windigo over the weekend that they wound up splitting. After getting blown out 9-3 on Friday night, they bounced back with a 2-1 victory via shootout on Saturday. They had three players score a goal over the course of the two games, with Soldotna’s Trent Powell being the leading scorer with a pair of goals in the first game.
The UAA indoor track team had a pair of program records fall on opposite ends of the state of Washington over the weekend as Drew Johnson ran a 4:09.96 in the mile at the Husky Classic and Max Kremser ran a 48.25 in his Seawolves debut at the Whitworth Invitational.
The UAA ski team produced a pair of top five finishes at the Denver University Invite over the weekend with Ainsley Proffit finishing fourth in the slalom on Saturday after posting the fifth-fastest second run to finish fourth overall in 1:31.47. On Sunday, Ella Bromee came in fifth place in the slalom in the final race of the event with a time of 1:33.75 that helped the Seawolves finish fifth out of 10 teams.
Alaska stars shining Outside
Shungnak’s Spencer Woods was the only U.S. wrestler to advance to the medal round of Sunday’s Zagreb Open Greco Roman tournament in Croatia. Woods just missed out on earning a medal after placing fifth in the 180-pound weight class following a 7-2 decision defeat in the bronze medal match against Peter Doemoek of Hungary.
In women’s wrestling news, a trio of Alaskans earned trips to the podium at the McKendree University Bearcat Open last Sunday in Lebanon, Illinois. They were highlighted by Sitka’s Sydnee Kimber of Mt. Edgecumbe fame who recorded four straight victories at the 191-pounds weight class, all of which came via pin as the three-time defending national champion dominated on her way to a first-place finish. Anchorage’s Shelby Ottum of North Central College and Jayleen Sekona of Colorado Mesa each produced fourth-place finishes.
Gambell’s Wallace Ungwiluk came up just shy of his season-high in points scored in a single game with 21 on Senior Night for Multnomah University in a 93-87 loss to Evergreen in Portland, Oregon this past Saturday. The 5-foot-11 grad student didn’t come off the court, playing every minute, knocking down four 3-pointers and recorded 16 points in the first half by going 6-of-8 from the field as the Lions built a 52-43 lead at halftime.
Last week’s results
Prep Basketball
Girls
Monday
Chugiak 40, Eagle River 27
Tuesday
Service 36, Eagle River 31
West 57, South 27
Dimond 43, Chugiak 32
Colony 57, Wasilla 54
Monroe Catholic 50, North Pole 20
Thursday
Grace Christian 69, South 48
Wasilla 53, Delta 9
Friday
West 59, Bartlett 29
Dimond 60, Lumen Christi 36
Grace Christian 46, Soldotna 37
Saturday
Grace Christian 48, Monroe Catholic 35
Boys
Monday
Eagle River 61, Chugiak 53
Sitka 48, Wrangell 42
Houston 70, Redington 28
Tuesday
East 75, Bartlett 37
Dimond 64, Chugiak 22
Service 46, Eagle River 24
West 65, South 39
Colony 63, Wasilla 61
Wrangell 34, Sitka 29
Soldotna 65, Nikiski 55
Monroe 67, North Pole 43
Wednesday
ACS 60, Palmer 39
Monroe Catholic 53, Thunder Mountain 45
Klawock 73, Angoon 43
King Cove 67, Lumen Christi 34
Sand Point 83, Birchwood Christian 27
Hutchison 57, Eielson 51
Thursday
North Pole 43, Seward 37
Lathrop 60, Thunder Mtn 55
Service 55, Kodiak 49
Mt Edgecumbe 71, Delta 68
Shismaref 80, Savoonga 75
Barrow 58, Cordova 32
Hooper Bay 78, Huslia 35
Kotzebue 67, Homer 61 ot
Valdez 68, Redington 36
Friday
Barrow 50, Valdez 47
Edge 65, North Pole 43
Seward 56, Delta 36
Cordova 56, Redington 34
West Valley 73, Thunder Mountain 56
Houston 75, Kotzebue 48
Kokrine 74, Minto 72
Kodiak 63, Palmer 55
West 74, Bartlett 54
Dimond 72, Service 56
Juneau-Douglass 71, Kayhi 64
Bettye Davis East 71, Eagle River 33
Metlakatla 71, Petersburg 50
South 61, Chugiak 48
Shishmaref 68, Gambell 50
Nelson Island 72, Newtok 43
Hooper Bay 60, Tri Valley 35
Bethel 53, Homer 37
Saturday
Juneau 75, Kayhi 72
Seward 44, Cordova 33
Thunder 67, Lathrop 52
Kotzebue 62, Bethel 52
Bettye Davis East 66, Wasilla 54
Hopper Bay 92, Shaktoolik 69
Scammon Bay 70, Unalakleet 54
Nelson Island 69, Newtok 54
Koyukuk 77, Elim 31
Tanalian 47, Bristol Bay 37
Teller 84, Savoonga 78
Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches Power Rankings
4A Girls
- Anchorage Christian
- Colony
- Wasilla
- Juneau Douglas
- Dimond/West
4A Boys
- Dimond
- East
- West Valley
- Monroe Catholic
- Colony
3A Girls
- Grace Christian
- Monroe Catholic
- Mt Edgecumbe
- Barrow
- Seward
3A Boys
- Grace Christian
- Nome-Beltz
- Mt Edgecumeb
- Houston
- Valdez/ Barrow
2A Girls
- Tikigaq
- Glennallen
- Haines
- Susitna Valley
- Craig
2A Boys
- Ninilchik
- Tikigaq
- Metlakatla
- Hooper Bay
- Petersburg
1A Girls
- Lumen Christi
- Cook Inlet Academy
- Shaktoolik
- Newhalen
- Shishmaref
1A Boys
- Scammon Bay
- Nelson Island Toksook Bay
- Cook Inlet Academy
- Shaktoolik
- Minto/ Shishmaref
Bowling
Tuesday
Boys
Dimond 35, Chugiak 0
Eagle River 31, East 4
Service 23, Bartlett 12
West 25, South 10
Girls
Dimond 31, Chugiak 4
Eagle River 31, East 4
Service 29, Bartlett 6
West 29, South 6
Hockey
Boys
Thursday
West 5, Soldotna 4
Colony 5, South 0
Chugiak 5, Dimond 2
West Valley 4, over Wasilla 3 (OT)
Friday
Chugiak 3, Colony 1
West 4, West Valley 1
South 4, Dimond 2
Wasilla 5, Soldotna 3
Saturday
Chugiak 5, West 2
Girls
Thursday
South/Bartlett 1, Kenai Peninsula 0
Valley 4, Service/East 0
Fairbanks 8, Chugiak/Eagle River 0
Friday
Dimond/West 3, Valley 1
Fairbanks Arctic Bears 3, South/Bartlett 2
Chugiak/Eagle River 4, Kenai Peninsula 1
Saturday
Dimond/West 3, Fairbanks Arctic Bears 0
College
Women’s Basketball
Thursday
Northwest Nazarene 78, UAA 75 (OT)
Saturday
Central Washington 87, UAA 56
Men’s Basketball
Thursday
UAA 58, Simon Fraser 51
Saturday
UAA 89, Western Washington 79
NAHL
Thursday
Wisconsin Windigo 9, Anchorage Wolverines 3
Friday
Anchorage Wolverines 2, Wisconsin Windigo 1 (SO)
Fast Forward
Prep
Basketball
Bettye Davis East @ Dimond, Thursday 7:30 p.m.
The top two teams in the AABC’s 4A Classification Power Rankings will face off for the first time this season with the No. 1 spot in next week’s rankings likely on the line. This promises to be the best high school hoops action in town all week with both the Thunderbirds and Lynx currently with 15 wins and undefeated in conference play with perfect 7-0 records against Cook Inlet Conference opponents.
College
Basketball
UAA v Western Oregon at Alaska Airlines Center, Saturday 5:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.
Both the men’s and women’s programs will be playing their last two home games of the 2022-2023 season this week. The Seawolves will start the week’s action on Thursday with a doubleheader against Simon Fraser with the men playing first and the women second. They will do the same Saturday but in reverse order for Senior Night where several players will play on their home court for the last time in their respective collegiate careers.
NAHL
Anchorage Wolverines v Janesville Jets at Ben Boeke Ice Arena, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m.
The team will be back in town and on their home ice for the first time since splitting a two-game series with the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in January. After a five-game road stand, they will host the Jets for a two-game series. On the season, Anchorage is 2-3 against Janesville with one victory at home and the other on the road, so they’ll have a chance to take a one-game lead in the season series with a sweep.