If the census takers were in Napaskiak this week, they might have marked it down as a ghost town.
For the past three days, residents of the community of 500, located down the Kuskokwim River from Bethel, could be found at Sullivan Arena. They packed the bleachers with faces painted blue and white, carrying blue and white balloons and fervently cheering on their beloved Hawks with thunderous chants of the cities airport code, P-K-A, P-K-A.
"I know the boss was a little ticked that so many people were missing from school," said Napaskiak coach and teacher Eric Jung. "There were 12 to 15 staff members gone on Friday."
Hopefully, everyone will be given excused absences. They had a good reason to be gone: To cheer their Hawks 1A boys team to the school's first state championship.
Napaskiak shut down the vaunted outside shooting attack of Nunamiut, winning the state title with a 43-31 victory Saturday afternoon.
"They were loud," said junior center Francis Nicholai who had nine points and 11 rebounds for the Hawks. "I'm glad they were here, it means a lot."
The Hawks got off to a shaky start this year, going 0-3 with a forfeit defeat and losses by scores of 96-34 and 74-34 to Kwethluk, but they came back to win nine of their last 10 regular-season game and beat Kwethluk on their way to the Alaska Coastal Conference title.
Behind the scoring and rebounding of senior guard Travis Andrew, the Hawks beat Akiak and Kivalina in their first two state tournament games before handing Nunamiut its first loss by a 1A school this season.
"It feels great. It's a dream come true," said Andrew, who had 18 points, 12 rebounds and six steals in the championship game.
The Napaskiak players were at their first state tournament, and they didn't know what to expect.
"I was nervous, I thought the other teams would all be a lot taller," Andrew said. "But coach helped us get ready."
The Hawks displayed a patient offense, getting everyone involved. Combined with strong rebounding and defense, it was too much for Nunamiut, which entered 21-3. The three losses came against the Barrow junior varsity.
"We had a great season, I'm proud of the boys," Nunamiut coach Homer Mekiana said.
Napaskiak trailed 10-7 at the end of the first quarter before holding Nunamiut scoreless for the first 6 1/2 minutes of the second quarter.
The Hawks then held the Amaguq to five field goals in the second half.
"We knew they would come out looking for the 3-pointer, they score half their points off the 3," said Jung, whose team held Nunamiut to 6 of 27 shooting from 3-point range. "We did a good job taking away the 3, and we've done a great job of rebounding all year long. They played hard, smart team basketball."
Nunamiut, which overcame a 14-point halftime deficit in its tournament-opening win against Elim, wasn't able to mount a second-half comeback. Star junior guard Jack Williams missed much of the third quarter after picking up his fourth foul.
"We were in trouble when he got into foul trouble. He's the backbone of our team," Mekiana said. "He's a junior, and now he knows what it is like to be on the big stage. Hopefully we'll be back, but we have a tough region."
Supporters of the Nunamiut Amaguq (Wolves) answered Napaskiak's P-K-A chant with an A-K-P chant of their own, yelling out the call letters of their airport at Anaktuvuk Pass.
Sophomore guard Jason Gordon hit three 3-pointers and led Nunamiut with nine points. Williams added seven points and Simeon Kunaknana grabbed 11 rebounds. The Amaguq had three seniors and four eighth-graders on their nine-person squad.
Joachim Maxie hit 7 of 14 field-goal attempts and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Napaskiak as the Hawks brought home the school's first state title in their first appearance in the championship game.
"It's the first championship for anyone from our region," said Jung, who added that his mother made the trip up from Wisconsin to watch the team play at state. "The boys did a great job. They made sure everyone was involved every time down the court."
The entire community was involved every trip down the court, and the players notice.
"I didn't expect this many people," Andrew said. "I'm glad they came."
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
State Basketball Championships
Napaskiak 7 14 12 10 -- 43
Nunamiut 10 7 10 4 -- 31
Napaskiak -- Maxie 14, Nicholai 9, Andrew 18, Steven 2.
Nunamiut -- Kunaknana 5, Rulland 3, Gordon 9, J. Williams 7, Morry 2, Smith 2, Tagarook 3.
Newhalen 70, Akiak 60
Five Newhalen players scored in double figures, and the Malamutes used a huge third quarter to pull away from Akiak 70-60 in the third-place game.
The Malamutes led by seven at the half then outscored the Thunderbirds 25-8 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach.
Robert Clay led the Malamutes with 17 points and was joined in double figures by Matthew Askoak (13), Eknaty Cobb (11), Joseph Kosbruk (10) and Tyler Anelon (10).
Nel Jasper scored a game-high 23 points to lead Akiak. Milton Jones added 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Walker Craft had 16 points and 18 rebounds.
Akiak 8 16 8 27 -- 60
Newhalen 13 19 25 13 -- 70
Akiak -- Jones 17, Egoak 4, Jasper 23, Craft 16.
Newhalen -- Kosbruk 10, Cobb 11, R. Clay 17, T. Anelon 10, J. Clay 4, Grindle 2, Trefon 3, Askoak 13.
Elim 89, Fort Yukon 49
In a battle of teams nicknamed the Eagles, Elim soared to an 89-49 victory over Fort Yukon in the fourth-place game.
Oscar Takak scored 24 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead Elim. Donald Saccheus added 17 points and all eight Elim players scored at least five points.
Roland James led Fort Yukon with 15 points while Cody Cadzow and Jared Peter each added 13.
Fort Yukon 18 7 15 9 -- 49
Elim 22 24 17 26 -- 89
Fort Yukon -- James 15, Jonas 3, Jones 2, Alexander 3, C. Cadzow 13, Peter 13.
Elim -- Jemewouk 7, B. Jackson 8, G. Jackson 5, Murray 6, B. Saccheus 11, Takak 25, D. Saccheus 17, S. Saccheus 10.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com