Barrow and Bethel will face off in back-to-back championship games Friday at the Class 3A Western Conference basketball tournament at Dimond High.
Barrow's boys and girls both won first-round games Thursday, as did Bethel's boys and girls.
The Barrow boys rode Kamaka Hepa's 21 points to a 73-52 rout of Kotzebue. Evan Reich scored 16 points to lead Kotzebue.
The Barrow girls stopped Nome 45-34 behind Rose Mongoyak's 11 points. Senora Ahmasuk led all scorers with 16 for Nome.
Bethel's girls used 11 points from Haley O'Brien to beat Kotzebue 40-29. Paeton Schaeffer's 14 points paced Kotzebue.
Bethel's Peyton Corbett poured in 21 points to lead the Warriors past the Nome boys 62-46. Alex Gray topped Nome with 14 points.
The winners of Friday's title games will advance to the Class 3A state tournament March 19-21 in Anchorage. The losers will play for second place on Saturday, when the conference's other berths at the state tournament will be decided.
Class 3A Western Conference
Dimond High
Thursday's games
Boys
Barrow 73, Kotzebue 52
Bethel 62, Nome 46
Girls
Barrow 45, Nome 34
Bethel 40, Kotzebue 29
Friday's games
Boys
4:30 p.m. -- Kotzebue vs. Nome
8:30 p.m. -- Championship: Barrow vs. Bethel
Girls
3 p.m. -- Nome vs. Kotzebue
7 p.m. -- Championship: Barrow vs. Bethel
Alaska Dispatch Publishing