The Rewind: UAA basketball tunes up before conference play and Alaskans receive GNAC volleyball honors; APU skiers shine in World Cup race

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. In high school hockey, the reigning Division I state champs stay undefeated and an underclassman leads his team to victory with a rare feat. On the college scene, three of the four University of Alaska Anchorage and University of Alaska Fairbanks basketball programs notched victories. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

In the only two high school hockey games that took place in town during the week of Thanksgiving, reigning Division I champion West cruised to a 4-1 win over Dimond in a rematch of last year’s state finals at Ben Boeke Ice Arena. On the same night at the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center, Eagle River got a hat trick from sophomore forward Patrick Forestal in a 4-2 win over Bartlett.

Following the end of the regular season for the 2024 college volleyball season for the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, several players with Alaska ties received recognition.

UAA had a pair of players honored with seniors Katie Birtcil and Tia Allen receiving 2024 All-Great Northwest Athletic Conference Team honors. Birtcil was a First Team selection and Allen was an honorable mention. UAF’s Karli Nielson and Rilee White were also named to the GNAC All-Conference First Team while Elena Guc and Ainsley Smith were honorable mentions. Joining the first-team selections and taking home the conference’s top individual honor was Anchorage’s Brooke Dexter of West High fame who became the first player to ever be named GNAC Player of the Year from Simon Fraser University.

It was another busy weekend on the college sports scene for UAA and UAF on the hardwood and in the ice rink. Both hockey teams were on the road with the Seawolves playing a two-game series against the University of Wisconsin and the Nanooks doing the same against the nationally ranked University of Minnesota on Friday and Saturday. UAA lost the first game 7-1 and responded by skating to a 1-1 tie in the second. UAF won a 2-1 shootout in the first game and fell 5-2 in the second.

The UAA women’s basketball team established a three-game win streak with back-to-back commanding victories over South Dakota Mines over the weekend. Senior post player Tori Hollingshead recorded double figures in scoring in both games and led the team over the course of the series with a combined 31 points to go along with 11 rebounds and five blocks.

“Our ladies did a terrific job of correcting the defensive errors that we made in the first quarter and getting back into our game plan,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement.

The UAA men’s basketball team split their weekend series with a 62-55 loss to visiting Newberry on Friday and rebounded with a 74-73 victory in a Saturday thriller that went down to the wire and was decided by a buzzer-beater from behind the arc from junior guard Tyler Burraston in the final seconds.

“There were three options on that play and that was one of them. We had a fumble on the handoff, but Dillon kept his composure and did his part and was able to get Tyler the shot,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a statement. “Even though Tyler had struggled, we knew he was the guy we wanted to take the shot.”

Up in the Interior, the UAF men’s basketball team notched a pair of dominant victories over visiting Northwest Indian College over the weekend. The Nanooks were led by Chris Lee of Ketchikan who still leads the GNAC with an average of 19.4 points per game after dropping 22 in the first game and 18 in the second. They also got a 33-point game from senior Jalai O’Keith in the second game.

Alaska stars shining Outside

The first stop on the 2024-25 World Cup skiing season took place in Ruka, Finland, over the weekend with a pair of races and the Alaska Pacific University program was well presented in the top 10 of men’s and women’s divisions. In Friday’s 10K interval start classic race, Rosie Brennan joined fellow American Jessie Diggins in the top 10 with a ninth-place finish. On Sunday, APU’s Zanden McMullen and Gus Schumacher each finished in the top 10 of the men’s 20K skate. McMullen’s seventh-place finish was the best of his career and Schumacher was right behind him in eighth place.

[Diggins wins World Cup 20K freestyle; Alaska Pacific University’s McMullen and Schumacher notch top 10 finishes]

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman bounced back from allowing a pair of goals for the Boston Bruins on Friday night in a 2-1 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins by making 25 saves on 28 shots Sunday in a 6-3 victory over the Montréal Canadiens. Not only did it mark his seventh win in front of the net this season but afterward he was awarded a portrait of himself by a young fan in a moment that was caught on camera.

Just two days after recording a career-high 24 points, Anchorage’s Sayvia Sellers reached double figures in scoring for the seventh time this season by finishing with 11 points in the University of Washington women’s basketball team’s 61-43 win over Southern University on Wednesday. The former Anchorage Christian School star and two-time Gatorade Player of the Year led the Huskies in 3-pointers by going 3-of-4 from behind the arc and also recorded a steal, a rebound and an assist.

Anchorage’s Mikayla Johnson recorded career-highs in minutes and points for the University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball team in a 59-53 loss to Kansas University on Wednesday. The former Bartlett standout started the game and finished with 14 points, seven rebounds and a steal in 36 minutes.

Anchorage’s Kaeleb Johnson increased his streak of consecutive games reaching double figures in points to nine in a row for the undefeated Vancouver Island University men’s basketball team in a pair of wins over Langara. The former Bettye Davis East Anchorage standout led the Mariners with 20 points in Friday’s 101-81 victory and tied for second with 13 in Saturday’s 97-64 triumph.

Anchorage’s Isaiah Moses continued his strong start to the 2024-25 season for the University of California Riverside men’s basketball team by recording double figures in scoring for the sixth time in November on Saturday. In an 80-68 loss to the University of Idaho, the former Dimond High star and Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year led the Highlanders with 13 points and recorded three assists and a rebound.

Fast Forward

Prep

Skiing

Snowball Skate Sprint 3K / Open-1K at Service at 11 a.m.

The 2024-25 high school cross-country skiing season starts Saturday with a sprint and open race on the hillside at Service.

College

Men’s college basketball

Saint Martin’s v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Thursday at 7:30 p.m.; Western Oregon v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Saturday, 5:15 p.m.

The Seawolves get their first taste of GNAC action on their homecourt this week when they look to establish a winning streak against the Saints on Thursday night and the Wolves on Saturday night.

Women’s basketball

Saint Martin’s v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Thursday at 5:15 p.m.; Western Oregon v. UAA at Alaska Airlines Center, Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The Seawolves will get their first taste of GNAC action on their homecourt as well this week when they look to extend their winning streak against Saint Martin’s on Thursday night with a tipoff 5:15 p.m. and the Wolves on Saturday night.

Last week’s results

High school

Wrestling

Tuesday

Eagle River 69, Grace Christian 12 (boys)

Palmer 74, Chugiak 39 (boys/girls)

Eagle River 12, Redington 4 (girls)

Eagle River 36, Redington 29 (boys)

Redington 48, Grace Christian 25 (boys)

Homer 60, Kenai 55 (boys/girls)

Homer 73, Nikiski 33 (boys/girls)

Wednesday

Lathrop 106, Hutchison 12 (boys/girls)

• • •

Hockey

Tuesday

West 4, Dimond 1

Eagle River 4, Bartlett 2

• • •

Bowling

Wednesday

Boys

West 24, Dimond 11

West - Declan Gee 216

Dimond - Logan Jokela 192

Service 35, Eagle River 0

Service - Cyrus Varela 238

Eagle River - Nathan Smith 171

South 35, Chugiak 0

South - Wyatt Mashburn 205

Chugiak - Barrick Stewart 129

Girls

Dimond 35, West 0

Dimond - Sierra Walkins 212

West - Emery Mitchell 96

Service 17.5, Eagle River 17.5

Service - Lillian Blumenberg 123

Eagle River - Morgan Van Slyke 190

Chugiak 31, South 4

Chugiak - Kaitlyn Heaston 187

South - Sharon Cho 105

• • •

College

Women’s basketball

Friday

UAA 81, South Dakota Mines 40

Saturday

UAA 83, South Dakota Mines 44

• • •

Men’s basketball

Friday

Newberry 62, UAA 55

UAF 104, Northwest Indian College 68

Saturday

UAA 74, Newberry 73

UAF 96, Northwest Indian College 79

• • •

Hockey

Friday

Wisconsin 7, UAA 1

UAF 2, Minnesota 1 (SO)

Saturday

Minnesota 5, UAF 2

UAA 1, Wisconsin 1 (tie)

• • •

2024 Skinny Raven Turkey Trot Results

5K Women

1. Teresa Pohl, Eagle River, AK 21:31; 2. Emily Schmieg, Anchorage, AK 22:13; 3. Regina Fiacco, Anchorage, AK 22:39; 4. Dakota Gaines, Eagle River, AK 22:40; 5. Emily Urlacher-Kirkham, Anchorage, AK 22:43; 6. Allison Melocik, Anchorage, AK 22:50; 7. Madilyn Gifford, Anchorage, AK 22:57; 8. Alana Lim, Anchorage, AK 23:39; 9. Mikayla Taylor, Anchorage, AK 23:48; 10. Skylee Watson, Rockwall, TX 23:53; 11. Sophie Kimball, Anchorage, AK 23:55; 12. Anne Krone, Anchorage, AK 23:58; 13. Amy Western, Anchorage, AK 24:02; 14. Ellie Cvancara, Anchorage, AK 24:05; 15. Ashley Mann, Eagle River, AK 24:10; 16. Zoe Rodgers, Anchorage, AK 24:24; 17. Payton Nelson, Eagle River, AK 24:25; 18. Gabriella Alexander, Wasilla, AK 24:44; 19. Dawn Anderson, Anchorage, AK 24:49; 20. Heather Poe, Anchorage, AK 24:53

5K Men

1. Hyrum Nelson, Eagle River, AK 17:01; 2. Ryan Fox, Anchorage, AK 17:20; 3. Jake Moe, Anchorage, AK 17:20; 4. Katahdin Staples, Anchorage, AK 17:24; 5. Benjamin Turner, Burlington, KY 17:39; 6. Conor Deal, Anchorage, AK 17:40; 7. Ayden Nichol, Anchorage, AK 17:43; 8. Jared Gardiner, Anchorage, AK 18:44; 9. Miles Grimes, Kodiak, AK 19:16; 10. Ruben Rhodes, Anchorage, AK 19:21; 11. Andrew Pounds, Anchorage, AK 19:21; 12. Evan Reck, South Elgin, IL 19:24; 13. Matthew Ward, Provo, UT 19:26; 14. Gunner Bahn, Anchorage, AK 19:28; 15. Nate Shockley, Eagle River, AK 19:29; 16. Sawyer Roark, Silverdale, WA 19:36; 17. Tian Sandvik, Anchorage, AK 19:37; 18. Max Erickson, Anchorage, AK 19:40; 19. James Miller, Anchorage, AK 19:42; 20. Jarrett Jackson, Anchorage, AK 19:49

Mini Turkey Women

1. Elizabeth Augustin, Anchorage, AK 11:07; 2. Grace Van Patten, Anchorage, AK 11:59; 3. Elizabeth Vanpatten, Anchorage, AK 12:10; 4. Lisa Fiegel, Anchorage, AK 12:30; 5. Alysyn Thibault, Anchorage, AK 13:27; 6. Katherine Cone, Anchorageage, AK 13:30; 7. Michelle Graeber, Anchorage, AK 13:41; 8. Elizabeth Bouton, Anchorage, AK 13:42; 9. Erin Hamilton, Anchorage, AK 14:25; 10. Angela Kuest, Anchorage, AK 14:53; 11. Katriina Timm, Anchorage, AK 14:54; 12. Riley Mann, Eagle River, AK 14:56; 13. Sadie Vancil, Anchorage, AK 15:08; 14. Riven Larson, Anchorage, AK 15:20; 15. Melissa Free, Anchorage, AK 15:45; 16. Marta Corra, Anchorage, AK 15:48; 17. Wendy Lim, Anchorage, AK 16:37; 18. Clara Andrews, Anchorage, AK 16:53; 19. Laurie Racicot, Eastsound, WA 16:57; 20. Koral Moe, Anchorage, AK 17:15

Mini Turkey Men

1. Declan Tegge, Anchorage, AK 11:01; 2. Galen Stallings, Deerfield, MA 11:15; 3. Ashur Thibault, Anchorage, AK 11:23; 4. Ian Lim, Anchorage, AK 12:01; 5. Jude Gibson, Eagle River, AK 12:03; 6. Elias Fiegel, Anchorage, AK 12:16; 7. Axel Moe, Anchorage, AK 12:51; 8. John Mallory, Anchorage, AK 13:44; 9. Elijah Mallory, Anchorage, AK 13:48; 10. Louis Kuest, Anchorage, AK 14:15; 11. Teddy Neroda, Anchorage, AK 14:18; 12. Finn Hamilton-Iverson, Anchorage, AK 14:19; 13. Mark Mallory, Anchorage, AK 14:24; 14. John Mallory, Anchorage, AK 14:26; 15. Luke Shaw, USA, AK 14:28; 16. Archimedes Turner, Anchorage, AK 14:52; 17. Christopher Turner, Anchorage, AK 14:53; 18. Nathan Vancil, Anchorage, AK 15:08; 19. Enoch Kern, Anchorage, AK 15:15; 20. Orion Watkins, Anchorage, AK 15:41