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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.
This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The 2023-24 prep basketball postseason got underway at the highest levels and saw impressive winning streaks extended and snapped. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team made it to the conference tournament title game and will get to compete at the NCAA Division II regionals while the women’s team was questionably denied, and several skiers received prestigious honors. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances at the collegiate and pro levels.
Headlines and highlights
The 2023-24 high school basketball postseason was in full swing across the state this past week with regional tournaments at the 2A, 3A, and 4A levels taking place. In town, the Cook Inlet Conference teams squared off and produced some exciting finishes and dominant shows of force by some of the top contenders in the Last Frontier. The defending 4A state champion Bettye Davis East Anchorage boys team extended the longest active winning streak against Alaska competition with a pair of dominating double-digit victories in the Region IV championship tournament that included a 19-point blowout of Service in the finals to claim its fifth title in the past six seasons.
“This region is very tough and Service is really good and we still may see them again,” East head coach Chuck Martin said. “We’re very fortunate and happy to win this regions because you have three of the top four ranked teams in the state and arguably the top three teams in the state.”
The girls’ Region IV championship game was much more exhilarating as it featured a fourth quarter comeback by top-seeded Dimond only to have Service star freshman guard and 2024 CIC Player of the Year, Aryanna Watson, hit the game-winning shot at the buzzer to win 39-38. The victory marked a rare milestone for the young Cougars as it avenged their three consecutive losses to the Lynx in the regular season and secured the first regional title for the program since 2006 before any of their starters were even born.
“Our girls came out super determined to win this game,” Service head coach Harvey Watson said. “Losing was not an option. We fought through it from the beginning and knew that even when we were up, they were going to make a comeback... We worked hard, stayed the course, drew up a play at the end and it came through.”
[Aryana Watson’s buzzer-beater lifts Service girls basketball past Dimond in Region IV championship]
Elsewhere in 4A action, the longest active winning streak on the girls side got snapped at 14 games by Wasilla as it proved the fourth time was the charm by avenging three regular-season losses to rival Colony in the Northern Lights Conference championship game on Saturday. The Warriors beat the Knights by 23 points in a 69-46 victory after losing by a combined margin of 19 points in their previous three matchups.
On the college hoops scene, both of the UAA programs made some noise at the Great Northwest Athletic Conference championship tournament this past week but only one will be advancing to the NCAA Division II tournament. The men’s team upset defending champion Saint Martin’s in the quarterfinals and rallied to beat No. 2 seed Northwest Nazarene in the semifinals. Despite coming up just short of pulling off another comeback in the finals to Central Washington, the Seawolves were able to punch their ticket to the Western Regional championship tournament later this week.
“Our guys showed their character right up to the end,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a release from the school. “Even after the game, standing there patiently, waiting for them to celebrate, which they well deserved. That’s the character of this bunch. They are great representatives of UAA, Anchorage and Alaska, and I’m going to miss coaching this group.”
[Despite loss in GNAC title game, UAA men’s basketball team earns NCAA DII tournament berth]
The UAA women’s team flexed its muscles in the quarterfinals with a 22-point win over Seattle Pacific in the quarterfinals but unfortunately came up short in the semifinals to Western Washington, a team it had swept in the regular season. Even though the Seawolves had a strong finish to the season and ranked No. 8 in the region ahead of conference-tournament weekend, they were denied a bid to this week’s regional championship tournament despite having a 19-8 record against NCAA Division II competition. The team they were passed over for was Cal State Los Angeles, which went 17-12 but was given the No. 8 seed.
“We came out a little flat, but what cost us was not getting the closeouts defensively on their shooters in the first half,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement after losing to the Vikings. “Once we recovered and got into our rhythm offensively, we just couldn’t get the stops we needed defensively.”
[UAA women’s basketball opens GNAC tournament with blowout win over Seattle Pacific]
The UAA men’s hockey squad closed out the regular season with a two-game home series with Arizona State University over the weekend, winning the first and dropping the second. On Friday night, senior forward Adam Tisdale found the back of the next with 32 seconds left in the third period to lift the Seawolves past the Sun Devils in a dramatic 4-3 victory.
“The team played for each other and got the result from working hard,” UAA head coach Matt Shasby said in a statement. “Happy for Tisdale to come through with the winner.”
The UAA ski team had a trio of skiers receive All-American honors this past week with sophomore Ainsley Proffit earning her first and senior Leon Nikic earning his third in the giant slalom races at the NCAA Skiing National Championships on Thursday. Proffit finished eighth in he women’s division with a time of 1:56.68 while Nikic still managed to come in ninth despite having to overcome an error in his second run.
“Huge effort from Ainsley, who is skiing her best GS of the season, to clinch an elite eight spot and earning All-American status,” UAA head coach Sparky Anderson said in a statement. “Leon had a great day too. Sitting in third after the first run, he risked all he could to win the overall. He got sucked low coming off the pitch and a small mistake cost him the podium. Super happy with his effort and earning our second All-American award of the day.”
Senior Astrid Stav earned her fourth career All-American honor at the NCAA Skiing National Championships as well after finishing seventh in the women’s 7.5-kilometer freestyle race with a time of 22:55. Two days later, she earned her fifth career All-American honor after leading the team with a 10th-place finish in the 20-kilometer classic race with a time of 1:04:04. As a team, UAA finished seventh in the overall team standings with 274 points from eight races across four days of competition.
“Our kids had a fantastic year,” Anderson said in a statement. “So many great results. Winning at all levels all season. The culture this group has created is exciting. We’ll keep building. Proud of our efforts here at championships. Five athletes earning six All-American accolades. Fourth-best alpine program in the nation, and the number two women’s slalom team. All good things.”
A perfect score from freshman Elli Spencer helped propel the University of Alaska Fairbanks air rifle team to a top-three finish at the NCAA Rifle Championships for the third year in a row this past Saturday. Even though they came up short of a successful title defense, Spencer’s score of 600 in the preliminaries made her just the second shooter to ever reach that mark at the NCAA championships, joining Nanooks alum Rylan Kissell who accomplished the feat last year.
The Anchorage Wolverines continued to stay red-hot over the weekend with yet another series sweep for the fourth week in a row by notching a trio of wins over the Springfield Jr. Blues, clinching a playoff berth for the second time in three seasons in the process. The only game that was relatively close was Saturday night’s matchup that needed an extra period to be decided but was still won by the home team thanks to Anchorage’s own Bryce Monrean, who scored the game-winner in a 3-2 overtime victory. With the wins, Anchorage has won 11 straight games and remains in second place in the NAHL’s Midwest Division standings behind the Wisconsin Windigo who only have one more win but the same number of losses and nowhere near the same amount of momentum.
Alaska stars shining Outside
Anchorage’s Alissa Pili recorded a pair of double-digit scoring outings for the University of Utah women’s basketball team this past week in the Pac-12 tournament. The former Dimond multisport star led the Utes with 20 points and 11 rebounds in a 71-60 win over Arizona State on Wednesday, marking her fifth double-double of the season. The following day, she led the team in scoring 16 points and corralled five rebounds in a 67-57 loss to UCLA.
Anchorage’s Sayvia Sellers made her Pac-12 tournament debut with the University of Washington women’s basketball team and even though the Huskies were one-and-done, the freshman guard still managed to put up decent numbers in a 58-50 loss to Arizona in the opening round Wednesday. In her 10th start of the season and eighth in a row, the former Anchorage Christian School star recorded nine points, two assists and two rebounds.
Anchorage’s Angelline Nageak had a fantastic outing for the Adams State University women’s basketball team in the quarterfinals of the RMAC championship tournament. The former Dimond standout led the Grizzlies to a 20-point victory over Black Hills State University last Tuesday with her second-highest scoring total of the season after dropping a team-leading 23 points that included going 5-of-6 from behind the arc. She nearly had a her first double-double of the season with a team-leading eight assists and led them with four steals as well.
Shungnak’s Spencer Woods is one step closer to punching his ticket to the 2024 Summer Olympics in wrestling. The three-time national champion and member of the U.S. Army’s World Class Athlete Program recently secured an Olympic berth in the 87kg weight class for Team USA after going 2-0 at the Pan Am Olympic Games Qualifier. He was named USA Wrestling’s Athlete of the Week and was one of three Americans who earned Olympic quotas for Team USA with their standout performances in Mexico. While his spot on the U.S. Olympic team for the Summer Games isn’t secured, he ensured he’ll have a chance to earn it at next month’s U.S. Olympic Trials.
Palmer’s Sophie Wright earned second-team All-American honors at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships this past week after she ran the first leg on Western Washington University’s women’s distance medley relay team that finished ninth with a time of 11 minutes, 30.31 seconds.
Fast Forward
Prep
Basketball
1A/2A state championship tournament
The 2023-24 high school basketball postseason will come to a close here in town this week as the top boys and girls teams from the smaller schools and communities around the state will converge on the Alaska Airlines Center. Action starts Wednesday with 1A opening-round games and the championships for both divisions will take place Saturday.
NAHL
Anchorage Wolverines vs Minnesota Wilderness, Friday and Saturday at 7 p.m. at Ben Boeke Ice Arena
The hometown junior hockey team will be back at home for the fifth weekend in a row, where it will host another Midwest Division foe for a two-game series. This will mark the first time the two teams will have faced off since early January when they split a two-game road series for the Wolverines.
1A state Tournament
At Alaska Airlines Center
Girls
Wednesday
Opening Round
No. 1 Klawock v. No. 16 Brevig Mission at 11 a.m. (Court 1)
No. 8 Buckland v. No. 9 Scammon Bay at 6:15 p.m. (Court 1)
No. 4 Newhalen v. No. 13 St. Mary’s at 3:15 p.m. (Court 2)
No. 5 Nunamiut v. No. 12 Birchwood Christian at 4:45 p.m. (Court 2)
No. 3 Fort Yukon v. 14 Napaskiak at 7:45 p.m. (Court 1)
No. 6 Lumen Christi v. No. 11 Napaaqtugmiut at 12:30 p.m. (Court 1)
No. 7 Bristol Bay v. No. 10 Skagway at 8 a.m. (Court 2)
No. 2 Shaktoolik v. No. 15 Akiak at 9:30 a.m. (Court 2)
Boys
Wednesday
Opening Round
No. 1 Kake v. No. 16 Emmonak at 3:15 p.m. (Court 1)
No. 8 Napaaqtugmiut v. No. 9 Shaktoolik at 11 a.m. (Court 2)
No. 4 Cook Inlet Academy v. No. 13 Aqqaluk at 8 a.m. (Court 1)
No. 5 Minto v. No. 12 Klawock at 9:30 a.m. (Court 1)
No. 3 King Cove v. 14 Aniak at 12:30 p.m. (Court 2)
No. 6 Nunamiut v. No. 11 Lumen Christi at 6:15 p.m. (Court 2)
No. 7 Shishmaref v. No. 10 Kipnuk at 4:45 p.m. (Court 1)
No. 2 Scammon Bay v. No. 15 Koliganek at 7:45 a.m. (Court 2)
2A state Tournament
At Alaska Airlines Center
Girls
Thursday
Game 1: No. 1 Tikigaq v. No. 8 Haines at 4:45 p.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Glennallen v. No. 5 Unalakleet at 9:30 a.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Nenana v. No. 6 Hooper Bay at 8 a.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Metlakatla v. No. 7 Susitna Valley at 3:15 p.m.
Friday
Consolation
Loser of Game 1 v. Loser of Game 2 at 8 a.m.
Loser of Game 3 v. Loser of Game 4 at 9:30 a.m.
Semifinals
Tikigaq/Haines v. Glennallen/Unalakleet at 4:45 p.m.
Nenana/Hooper Bay v. Metlakatla/Susitna Valley at 3:15 p.m.
Saturday
Fourth/Sixth place
Winner of Consolation 1 v. Winner of Consolation 2 at 8 a.m.
Third/Fifth place
Loser of Game 5 v. Loser of Game 6 at 3 p.m. at 11 a.m.
Championship
Winner of Game 5 v. Winner of Game 6 at 6:30 p.m.
Boys
Thursday
Game 1: No. 1 Hooper Bay v. No. 8 Unalaska at 11 a.m.
Game 2: No. 4 Metlakatla v. No. 5 Unalakleet at 12:30 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Petersburg v. No. 6 Ninilchik at 6:15 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Cordova v. No. 7 Wrangell at 3:15 p.m.
Friday
Consolation
Loser of Game 1 v. Loser of Game 2 at 11 a.m.
Loser of Game 3 v. Loser of Game 4 at 12:30 p.m.
Semifinals
Hooper Bay/Unalaska v. Metlakatla/Unalakleet at 6:15 p.m.
Petersburg/Ninilchik v. Cordova/Wrangell at 7:45 p.m.
Saturday
Fourth/Sixth place
Winner of Consolation 1 v. Winner of Consolation 2 at 9:30 a.m.
Third/Fifth place
Loser of Game 5 v. Loser of Game 6 at 3 p.m. at 12:30 p.m.
Championship
Winner of Game 5 v. Winner of Game 6 at 8:30 p.m.
Last week’s results
Boys Basketball
Monday
Chief Paul Memorial 61, Lewis Angapak 53
Tuesday
Eagle River 51, South Anchorage 44
Bartlett 54, Chugiak 52
Thunder Mountain 62
Juneau-Douglas 54
Wednesday
Thunder Mountain 66, Ketchikan 63
Petersburg 54, Wrangell 43
Thursday
Galena 57, Ben Eielson 56
Tok 65, Nenana 50
Minto 67, Andrew K. Demoski 24
Kenai Central 59, Nikski 30
Metlakatla 49, Haines 43
Mt. Edgecumbe 69, Redington 29
Delta 50, Hutchison 38
Seward 69, Homer 39
Palmer 53, Kodiak 30
West 72, Eagle River 39
Cordova 52, Tok 48
Tikigaq 67, Unalaska 64
Wrangell 75, Craig 47
Barrow 74, Kotzebue 57
Sitka 56, Houston 42
Valdez 74, Galena 32
West Valley 51, North Pole 28
Unalakleet 77, Dillingham 30
Soldotna 43, Mountain City Christian Academy 27
Susitna Valley 68, Ninilchik 61
Dimond 62, Bartlett 44
Nome-Beltz 61, Bethel 55
Grace Christian 60, Kenai Central 40
Monroe Catholic 49, Lathrop 36
Juneau-Douglas 67, Ketchikan 48
Susitna Valley 73, Effie Kokrine Charter 21
Friday
Tok 78, Effie Kokrine Charter 43
Wrangell 60, Haines 49
Ninilchik 72, Nenana 31
Hutchison 52, Ben Eielson 42
Homer 60, Kenai Central 52
Service 55, West 53 (OT)
Thunder Mountain 63, Juneau-Douglas 58
Minto 97, Walter Northway 60
Valdez 50, Delta 39
Unalakleet 82, Tikigaq 68
Wasilla 64, Soldotna 43
Mt. Edgecumbe 61, Sitka 55
East 66, Dimond 30
Cordova 43, Susitna Valley 27
Monroe Catholic 42, West Valley 36
Grace Christian 50, Seward 40
Nome-Beltz 62, Barrow 57
Petersburg 49, Metlakatla 42
Saturday
Ninilchik 68, Tok 66
Colony 74, Soldotna 60
Barrow 58, Bethel 50
Ninilchik 48, Susitna Valley 31
Seward 79, Homer 40
Houston 42, Sitka 40
Soldotna 69, Kodiak 61
West 62, Dimond 44
Minto 92, Tri-Valley 56
Wrangell 64, Metlakatla 60
Palmer 61, Wasilla 58
East 58, Service 41
Girls Basketball
Tuesday
Chugiak 45, East 26
South 39, Eagle River 29
Juneau-Douglas 50, Ketchikan 47
Wednesday
Petersburg 31, Craig 27
Thunder Mountain 54, Juneau-Douglas 35
Haines 43, Wrangell 42
Cordova 40, Ninilchik 32
Thursday
Susitna Valley 43, Tok 40
Minto 47, Jimmy Huntington 41
Nikiski 41, Seward 39
Metlakatla 63, Petersburg 14
Delta 44, Ben Eielson 16
Glennallen 48, Effie Kokrine Charter 0
Kenai Central 53, Homer 45
Nenana 51, Cordova 16
Craig 37, Wrangell 31
Mt. Edgecumbe 69, Redington 17
Glennallen 33, Susitna Valley 25
North Pole 25, Lathrop 16
Grace Christian 51, Nikiski 7
Juneau-Douglas 49, Ketchikan 37
Barrow 74, Kotzebue 25
Fort Yukon 73, Minto 46
Monroe Catholic 55, Delta 9
Houston 55, Sitka 50
Friday
Homer 50, Seward 44
Minto 38, Andrew K. Demoski 30
Craig 38, Petersburg 21
Thunder Mountain 56, Juneau-Douglas 49
Galena 34, Ben Eielson 29
Homer 47, Nikiski 42
Fort Yukon 49, Tri-Valley 37
Mt. Edgecumbe 76, Houston 20
Grace Christian 57, Kenai Central 16
Dimond 56, West 48
Glennallen 29, Nenana 25
Metlakatla 71, Haines 48
Barrow 84, Bethel 47
Monroe Catholic 53, Valdez 30
Walter Northway 54, Minto 36
Saturday
Mountain City Christian Academy 78, Palmer 38
Nenana 50, Susitna Valley 22
Bethel 52, Nome-Beltz 22
Homer 48, Kenai Central 43
Sitka 66, Houston 51
Valdez 50, Delta 44
Fort Yukon 60, Tri-Valley 51
Wasilla 69, Colony 46
Service 39Dimond 38
North Pole 27, West Valley 42
College
Women’s Basketball
Thursday
UAA 79, Seattle Pacific 57
Friday
Western Washington 75, UAA 60
Men’s Basketball
Thursday
UAA 81, Saint Martin’s 76
Friday
UAA 64, Northwest Nazarene 63
Saturday
Central Washington 78, UAA 69
Hockey
Friday
UAA 4, Arizona State 3
Saturday
Arizona State 5, UAA 2
Gymnastic
Friday
1. UC Davis 197.025, 2. Illinois State 195.4750, 3. UAA 190.225
Sunday
Sacramento State 195.100, UAA 191.500
NAHL
Friday
Anchorage Wolverines 5, Springfield Jr. Blues 1
Saturday
Anchorage Wolverines 3, Springfield Jr. Blues 2
Sunday
Anchorage Wolverines 4, Springfield Jr. Blues 0