Sports

East and West boys, Dimond and East girls to meet for CIC titles

The top seeds in the Cook Inlet Conference tournament advanced to the Class 4A state tournament with semifinal round wins on Friday at West.

The No. 1-seeded East girls defeated West 39-38 and the top-seeded West boys prevailed 81-77 over fifth-seeded Bartlett.

Other semifinal winners were second-seeded Dimond girls, which defeated Chugiak 56-48 and the third-seeded East boys, who got past defending state champion Service 63-58.

The East and Dimond girls will play for the conference championship at 5 p.m. Saturday, followed by an East-West showdown at 7:30 p.m.

All four semifinal winners earned automatic bids to the Class 4A state tournament March 19-21 in Anchorage.

East junior Jasmine Richard nailed the two biggest free throws of the T-birds' season with 9.1 seconds left, lifting her team past the upset-minded Eagles.

East went up 37-36 on a put-back basket by Taria Page, but the Eagles struck back when Martha Thor got loose inside for a basket with 18 ticks on the clock.

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Richard drove the lane and got hacked by West's Marshala Eady to set up the go-ahead free throws.

The upstart Eagles -- who went 6-8 in the league during the regular season and advanced to the semifinals with a first-round upset of fourth-seeded South -- more than held their own during a ragged first half, making the T-birds work hard for every bit of their 26-20 halftime advantage.

Theyoung Puoy scored 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds for West, which got 11 points and nine boards from Eady.

Tennae Voliva had 16 points and 12 rebounds for East.

The trip to the state tournament will be the second in a row for East, which finished seventh at last year's tourney. West was trying to make its fourth straight state tourney, but now looks likely to get shut out. The Eagles entered the week ranked 12th in the WPI rankings, meaning they're not strong candidates to get one of two at-large bids at the eight-team tourney.

The Dimond girls had their hands full in a 56-48 win over a spirited Chugiak side that battled until the closing minutes.

The Mustangs nailed nine 3-pointers and briefly led in the second half before Dimond closed things out with an 8-3 run.

Dimond earned its eighth consecutive berth in the state tournament.

Dejha Canty scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds off the bench for the Lynx, who got 17 points and five steals from Rohyn Huss in her return from a one-game break due to injury.

Ashlynn Burgess had a huge game for Chugiak, scoring 10 points and hauling in 17 boards. Nicole Pinckney added a team-high 14 points and Hannah Russell and Randi McMullen chipped in eight apiece.

Chugiak caught fire from outside in the third quarter, taking a 36-33 lead on a 3-pointer by McMullen, the team's third trey of the frame.

Huss scored eight points in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to help the Lynx build their biggest lead 48-39 and prompting East to call timeout.

The T-birds responded with back-to-back 3-pointers from Russell and Pinckney to trim the lead to three points with four minutes to go, but that was as close as the Mustangs got.

Chugiak will have to wait until Sunday to find out if it's going to state. Two at-large teams will be selected for the eight-team tournament, and the Mustangs entered the weekend ranked No. 6 in the WPI rankings that determine which teams get those bids.

East, West to play for boys title

A super soph and some determined defense led East into the state tournament with a win over Service.

Sophomore Moses Miller scored 19 of his team-high 21 points in the second half and East rallied from a 12-point halftime deficit to stun the Cougars, who had beaten the T-birds twice during the regular season.

East's win advanced the T-birds to the Class 4A state tournament for the third straight season. East won it all in 2013 and finished fifth last year.

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Service, the defending state champions, hope to earn one of two at-large bids for the state tournament. That seems like a decent bet — the Cougars are ranked No. 2 in both the Alaska School Activities Association's WPI rankings and the statewide coaches poll.

Senior Desmond Johnson was all over the floor for East, scoring 12 points, dishing seven assists, hauling in six rebounds and nabbing four steals. Miller went 7-for-11 and hit three of his six 3-point tries, and Daon Jones provided eight points and 15 rebounds for the T-birds.

Nathan Fromm scored a game-high 23 points and nabbed 11 rebounds for Service. Pindo Drammeh added 12 points and grabbed 18 boards and Brad Wacker added 15 points.

Service was the better team in the first half, leading from the outset and taking a 32-20 lead into the break behind 13 first-half points from Fromm and eight from Drammeh.

East held Service to 27 percent shooting in the second half and limited Drammeh to a single basket after the break.

The T-birds opened the fourth in frenzied fashion, scoring the first 12 points of the quarter and seizing the lead for good on Miller's deep trey with six minutes to go.

In the nightcap, West finished the semifinals with a thrilling win over hot-shooting Bartlett in a game that wasn't settled until the closing seconds.

Da'Zhon Wyche hit one of two free throws with 9.3 seconds provide some breathing room for the Eagles, who went 14-0 in the CIC during the regular season.

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Devante Doutrive scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds for West, which got 18 points and 10 boards from Brandon Huffman and 13 points and nine assists from Wyche.

West led by five heading into the fourth quarter, but Bartlett battled back to tie the game 71-71 with four minutes left thanks to a pair of threes from Boyer and a breakaway lay-up from Bentiu Panoam.

Tyler Boyer scored 24 points and Judah Manuel had 22 for Bartlett, which hit 15 of its 32 3-point attempts. Boyer was 7-of-8 from behind the arc, while Manuel went 5-of-9 from downtown.

The Golden Bears had a golden opportunity to tie the game when West turned the ball over while trying to inbound under its own basket, but Manuel's 3-pointer with 10 seconds left bounced off the front of the rim and fell to Wyche, who was immediately fouled.

The state berth is the third in a row for West, which finished fifth in 2014 and won it all in 2013. Bartlett was trying to reach the state tournament for the first time since 2012. The Golden Bears still have an outside shot at an at-large bid, having entered the tournament ranked ninth among Class 4A teams in the WPI.

Cook Inlet Conference

At West High

Friday's semifinals

Boys

East 63, Service 58

West 81, Bartlett 77

Girls

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Dimond 56, Chugiak 48

East 39, West 39

Saturday's games

Boys

3 p.m. -- Third place: Service vs. Bartlett

7:30 p.m. -- Championship: East vs. West

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Girls

1 p.m. -- Third place: Chugiak vs. West

5 p.m. -- Championship: East vs. Dimond

Matt Tunseth

Matt Tunseth is a former reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and former editor of the Alaska Star.

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