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 team and individual performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the prep, collegiate and professional levels. One of the top high school basketball teams in Division 4A rattled off five straight wins and continues to impress. The top-seeded Division I prep hockey team ended the regular season with a show of force. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage men’s basketball team notched its biggest win of the season thus far while the women responded after having their winning streak snapped. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances both domestically and internationally at the collegiate and professional levels.
Headlines and highlights
The 2023-24 high school hockey regular season came to a close last week and saw the West Anchorage boys secure the Cook Inlet Conference title and No. 1 seed in the regional tournament for the first time since 2020. Thanks to perennial power Dimond upsetting defending Division I state champion Chugiak in a midweek clash, the Eagles had the crown secured before they took on Bartlett/East and Service in a three-day span. Nevertheless, that didn’t stop the Eagles from ending the regular season on a dominant note by blowing out both teams by a combined 26-1 goal margin that included a 16-1 win over the northside co-op on Thursday and a 10-0 shutout of the Cougars on Saturday.
“It feels pretty good,” West coach Rob Larkey said. “At the beginning of the year we had some talks as a team about where we wanted to go and this was one of the goals we wanted to have and it’s nice to reach your goals.”
While the Service boys hockey team is heading into the postseason on a two-game skid, the school’s boys basketball team is picking up steam and currently riding a five-game winning streak after beating West last Tuesday and running the table at the 2024 Denali State Bank Ice Jam tournament up in Fairbanks. Their early week CIC bout with the Eagles set the tone for the week as the Cougars were able to fend off a furious late rally and find a way to hold on to the victory.
“We’re growing and are trying to learn how to close teams out, especially the No. 1 team in the state (East),” Service head coach Jocquis Sconiers said. “We did a good job of battling and figuring out how to end strong.”
[Service boys basketball team survives furious late rally attempt by West in statement victory]
Just days after falling at home on a last-second 3-pointer to Western Oregon University on Thursday, the UAA men’s basketball team rebounded in a big way by upsetting nationally top-ranked Saint Martin’s University 71-68 on Saturday day night. The Seawolves were led by senior guard Tyson Gilbert who had a career night with a game-high 28 points, a whopping 18 of which came in the span of just over six and a half minutes in the first half.
“Those are the kind of games that you dream about growing up,” Gilbert said in a statement. “The guys did a great job early of setting me up, and we just stuck with it. That was an incredible team win. Defensively we’re all connected, and I’m just really proud of our guys how we bounced back from a tough loss the other night.”
[UAA men’s basketball team knocks off top-ranked Saint Martin’s]
The UAA women’s team also bounced back from a loss to Western Oregon in which it had a nine-game winning streak snapped by routing Saint Martin’s 62-41 on Saturday. The Seawolves had a trio of players reach double figures in scoring led by junior forward/center Tori Hollingshead with a game-high 18 points followed by senior guard Vishe’ Rabb who nearly had a double-double with a dozen points and team-leading nine rebounds. Junior guard Senya Rabouin came in with 10 points.
“That was an effort win tonight,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement. “We couldn’t get consistent production offensively, but we controlled the boards and didn’t give them anything easy in the first half defensively. It’s nice to get back in the win column in any case, and we will have to bear down and find a renewed focus for the second half of the conference season coming up.”
Another weekend of NAHL action led to a third-straight sweep by the Anchorage Wolverines over an in-state opponent as they extended their winning streak to six straight by beating the Kenai River Brown Bears twice in a two-game series over the weekend. The Wolverines won both games by one goal and had five players record a goal. The first bout took place in Soldotna and resulted in a 2-1 victory while the second was back in town and ended in a 3-2 triumph.
[Pete Kaiser of Bethel wins Kuskokwim 300 Sled Dog Race for 8th time]
Bethel musher Pete Kaiser crossed the finish line 41 minutes ahead of Matthew Failor of Willow on Sunday to win his eighth Kuskokwim 300 in a time of 37 hours and 25 minutes. The victory not only earned him $28,500 of the $185,000 purse but it also brings him within one of matching Jeff King’s record of nine in the event’s 45th year of existence.
“We have to come back next year with a lot of good training and a good dog team and put it all together and see if we can do it again,” Kaiser told KYUK Radio in a finish line interview. “That’s not easy. Every one of these victories I’m very thankful for knowing it could be the last.”
Alaska stars shining Outside
Anchorage’s Rosie Brennan was one of three Americans on the Stifel U.S. Cross Country Ski Team that produced a top-10 finish in the final race of the World Cup series in Goms, Switzerland on Sunday. Her time of 45:42.2 in the 20K skate was good enough for seventh place while teammates Jessie Diggins and Sophia Laukli finished first and fifth. On the men’s side, her fellow Alaska Pacific University ski team members Gus Schumacher and Scott Patterson came in 14th and 18th.
“Today’s race was hectic and stressful -- this course is just so fast,” Brennan said in a statement to usskiandsnowboard.org. “But, it was awesome to have three of us in the top 10, it really shows that we’re coming back into form, and we just have a really strong skate squad, and it’s exciting to carry this momentum as we go into the North American World Cups!”
Anchorage’s Alissa Pili continued to stay hot offensively for the University of Utah women’s basketball team this past week, scoring in double figures in three straight games. The former Dimond High multisport star recorded 16 points Monday and Friday in Pac-12 victories over No. 2 UCLA and Oregon. Unfortunately, her most productive outing of the past week came in a lopsided loss to No. 25 Oregon State on Friday when she led the Utes with 28 points.
Anchorage’s Damarion Delaney nearly recorded his third double-double of the season in the Spokane Community College men’s basketball team’s 82-70 win over Blue Mountain on Wednesday. The former Bettye Davis East Anchorage two-sport star finished second on the team in scoring with 18 points and led the Bigfoot with nine rebounds.
Anchorage’s Nolan Walker recorded his fifth multi-goal game of the 2023-24 season for the Western Conference-leading Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL in a 5-4 shootout win over the Allen Americans on Friday. Both came in the third period after his team had fallen behind 4-1 early. His last came on a power play and tied the game to force extra time.
AND WALKERS GOALLLL🤩🤝🏼 pic.twitter.com/dHhkkr5fG8
— Kansas City Mavericks (@kc_mavericks) January 28, 2024
Girdwood’s Ava Earl shaved seven seconds off her previous personal best and finished ahead of the next closest runner in a dominant win at the Aurora Grand Prix on Jan. 19 with a mark of 4 minutes, 42.74 seconds in the mile race. The junior at Northwestern University clocked the second-fastest time in that race ever by an Alaska woman, behind only Allie Ostrander who ran it in a time of 4:35.79 in 2019 and is just the third Alaskan to complete it in under 4 minutes, 50 seconds.
Ketchikan’s Issac Updike is a steeplechaser by trade but Friday at the John Thomas Terrier Classic which took place on the indoor track at Boston University, the 31-year-old recorded a personal best and made state history in the mile. His finish of 3 minutes, 55.17 seconds was good enough for sixth in his heat but first in the Alaska record book with the previous record-holder being Trevor Dunbar of Kodiak, who recorded a mark of 3:55.54 in 2017.
Fast forward
Prep
Hockey
Region IV Championship tournament
The 2023-24 postseason will officially get underway this week around the state as teams will try to earn a chance to contend for a state title next week. In town and out in Eagle River, there will be games between CIC teams taking place at 6:30 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. at Ben Boeke and Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center indoor ice arenas everyday except Wednesday. Action starts on Monday and will wrap up Saturday night with the championship game at 7 p.m. at Boeke.
Basketball
Lady Lynx Tournament, Thursday-Saturday
Some of the top contenders from the 3A and 4A girls prep basketball divisions will square off in town for the annual three-day tournament hosted by Dimond. It will also feature Barrow, whose only two losses have come against the reigning state champions from the top two divisions, Colony whose only loss of the season came narrowly by a point to Mountain City Christian Academy, and Service which is a promising up-and-coming team.
College
Men’s Basketball
UAA vs UAF, Saturday at 7 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Center
The Seawolves will be staying in town and looking to build off the momentum of their huge win last weekend when they host their in-state rival Nanooks who will be coming into Anchorage for the second matchup of the season. UAA won the first meeting between them in the first week of January up in Fairbanks in a tightly-contested game that went into overtime.
Hockey
UAA vs UAF, Saturday at 5:07 p.m. at Avis Alaska Sports Complex
The Seawolves will have gone 62 days since their last home game by the time the puck drops Saturday night in the sixth and final game of the annual Alaska Airlines Governor’s Cup series. Even though they still lead the all-time series 51-32-7, UAA has either lost or tied 10 straight to UAF prior to playing to a 2-2 stalemate the last time they played.
Last week’s results
Boys Hockey
Monday
Colony 4, West 3
Tuesday
Dimond 11, Bartlett/East 2
Palmer 4, Wasilla 1
North Pole 8, Monroe Catholic 2
Service 5, Eagle River 2
Wednesday
Dimond 4, Chugiak 3
Tri-Valley 3, Monroe Catholic 3
Thursday
West 16, Bartlett 1
South 13, Eagle River 0
Friday
Dimond 7, Service 0
Palmer 6, Kodiak 1
Houston 5, Juneau-Douglas 3
Kenai Central 6, Soldotna 3
Saturday
Colony 3, North Pole 2
Wasilla 7, West Valley 3
Houston 8, Juneau-Douglas 0
Palmer 7, Kodiak 1
West 10, Service 0
Bowling
Tuesday
Boys
West 28, Bartlett 7
West - Marcos Vian 242
Bartlett - Nick Jones 180
Dimond 33, Service 2
Dimond - Logan Jokela 277
Service - Cyrus Varela 200
Eagle River 35, Chugiak 0
Eagle River - Riley Lanehart 203
Chugiak - forfeit
South 23, East 12
South - Jet Kmet 201
East - Damien Cruz 213
Girls
Bartlett 20, West 15
Bartlett - Kara Lyman 164
West - Anika Stanley 188
Dimond 33, Service 2
Dimond - Abigail Jokela and Jarriah Silverio 171
Service - Alyssa Porcelli -173
Chugiak 30, Eagle River 5
Chugiak - Abigail Lanehart 186
Eagle River - Payton Stokes 161
East 27, South 8
East - Chacity Kuamoo 221
South - Sharon Cho 150
Thursday
Boys
Service 25, Bartlett 10
Service - Cyrus Varela 206
Bartlett - Nick Jones 197
West 31, Eagle River 4
West - Jahdyn Odom 255
Eagle River - Mike Jennings 237
East 26, Dimond 9
East - Colton Penetac 267
Dimond - Logan Jokela 267
South 35, Chugiak 0
South - Jonathan Wood 222
Chugiak - Michael Nelson 120
Girls
Bartlett 29, Service 6
Bartlett - Kara Lyman 188
Service - Alyssa Porcelli 165
West 20, Eagle River 15
West - Anika Stanley 167
Eagle River - Morgan Van Slyke 160
Dimond 31, East 4
Dimond - Khloee Waldren 255
East - Chacity Kuamoo 200
Chugiak 31, South 4
Chugiak - Abigail Lanehart 181
South - Sharon Cho 116
Boys Basketball
Tuesday
East 74, South 34
Dimond 64, Eagle River 48
Wasilla 78, Palmer 67
Service 64, West 54
Bartlett 73, Chugiak 45
Monroe 62, Delta 43
Nenana 55, Kokrine 50
Klawock 53, Angoon 41
Tok 52, Glenallen 45
Wednesday
Service 72, Lathrop 34
Klawock 83, Angoon 69
Skagway 83, Gustavus 39
Thursday
West Valley 55, Wasilla 44
Service 63, Thunder Mountain 60
Kenai Central 58, Birchwood Christian 30
Scammon Bay 56, NVTO 53
Shishmaref 78, Anthony Andrews 63
Nome-Beltz 60, Delta 21
Kotzebue 62, Hutchison 48
Mt. Edgecumbe 63, Redington 41
Soldotna 72, Palmer 42
Hooper Bay 76, Unalaska 52
Cook Inlet Academy 76, Kalskag 26
Ket’acik and Aapalluk Memorial 56, Akula Elitnaurvik 52
Tikigaq 82, Nunamiut 61
Friday
Service 49, West Valley 40
Dimond 68, South 62
East 59, Eagle River 43
West 86, Chugiak 62
Thunder Mountain 79, Wasilla 56
Ketchikan 71 Juneau 55
Cook Inlet Academy 79, Lumen Christi 51
Scammon Bay 65, Tikigaq 58
Seward 61, Homer 36
Palmer 60, Kenai Central 25
Valdez 61, Galena 31
Soldotna 56, Birchwood Christian 47
Barrow 62, Bethel 50
Delta 57, Kotzebue 49
Unalakleet 81, Chevak 59
Cordova 70, Su Valley 42
Colony 56, Kodiak 34
Nome-Beltz 78, Hutchison 23
Ninilchik 76, Kalskag 24
Grace Christian 70, Mountain City 50
Saturday
Russian Mission 71, Alakanuk 58
Unalakleet 85, Chevak 51
Barrow 63, Bethel 51
Tok 78, Nenana 40
Service 58, Wasilla 48
Grace Christian 79, Seward 42
Mt. Edgecumbe 71, Houston 29
West Valley 62, Thunder Mountain 51
Soldotna 61, Kenai Central 38
Cook Inlet Academy 80, Birchwood Christian 40
Shishmaref 80, Brevig Mission 67
Scammon Bay 69, Nunamiut 60
Craig 76, Hydaburg 41
Juneau-Douglas 78, Ketchikan 75
Wrangell 50, Petersburg 39
Cordova 51, Su Valley 48
Metlakatla 51, Haines 35
Girls Basketball
Tuesday
Glennallen 56, Tok 13
Service 64, West 48
Dimond 68, Eagle River 40
Wasilla 75, Palmer 28
South 45, East 35
Monroe Catholic 51, Delta 6
Nenana 60, Effie Kokrine Charter 14
Wednesday
Tanalian 37, Koliganek 28
Juneau-Douglas 52, Lathrop 39
Lumen Christi 43, Kalskag 21
Newhalen 71, Togiak 6
Thursday
Newhalen 70, King Cove 50
Tanalian 44, Chief Ivan Blunka 29
Martin L Olson 47, White Mountain 36
Wasilla 55, Juneau-Douglas 20
Kalskag 30, Cook Inlet Academy 29
Soldotna 50, Kenai Central 20
Ninilchik 58, Birchwood Christian 38
Hooper Bay 65 Unalaska 33
Mt. Edgecumbe 59, Redington 20
Shaktoolik 95, White Mountain 20
Friday
White Mountain 60, Aniguiin 28
Juneau-Douglas 52, Nikiski 23
Fort Yukon 51, Tri-Valley 36
King Cove 46, Tanalian 37
Lumen Christi 54, Cook Inlet Academy 23
Susitna Valley 54, Cordova 30
Palmer 53, Kenai Central 18
Mt. Edgecumbe 74, Houston 34
Unalakleet 46, Chevak 24
Eagle River 48, East 32
Grace Christian 59, Service 27
Homer 53, Seward 49
Wasilla 54, West Valley 22
Nunamiut 64, Nuiqsut Trapper 28
Barrow 65, Bethel 47
Hooper Bay 54, Unalaska 28
Metlakatla 56, Haines 30
Saturday
St. Mary’s 71, Russian Mission 59
Unalakleet 63, Chevak 41
Wasilla 71, Nikisski 29
Grace Christian 69, Seward 37
Angapak 66, Eek 36
Mt. Edgecumbe 66, Houston 31
Aniak 57, Tuluksak 35
Nunamiut 41, Kali 28
Colony 72, Kodiak 8
Barrow 66, Bethel 20
Aniak 62, Akiak 58
Tanalian 44, Koliganek 20
Soldotna 55, Palmer 53
Wasilla 71, Nikiski 29
Tanalian 49, Chief Ivan Blunka 32
Susitna Valley 43, Cordova 27
West Valley 45, Juneau-Douglas 30
Ninilchik 75, Kalskag 34
Petersburg 35, Wrangell 34
Nunamiut 50, Kali 40
Craig 34, Kake 30
Metlakatla 51, Haines 46
College
Women’s Basketball
Thursday
Western Oregon 73, UAA 53
Saturday
UAA 62, Saint Martin’s 41
Men’s Basketball
Thursday
Western Oregon 55, UAA 53
Saturday
UAA 71, Saint Martin’s 68
Gymnastics
Friday
Bridgeport 193.550; UAA 191.125; Ursinus 190.025; Rhode Island College 188.425
Sunday
Brown 192.900; UAA 192.425; Southern Connecticut 191.100
NAHL
Friday
Anchorage Wolverines 2, Kenai River Brown Bears 1
Saturday
Anchorage Wolverines 3, Kenai River Brown Bears 2