Bartlett girls take down West in first-round CIC hoops game

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Fai Fua Filoialii, of the East High School T-Birds, looks for the basket as Katie Pearce and Sosefina Aukustino, of the Service High Cougars defend in the Cook Inlet Conference basketball tournament at East High in Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. (Bob Hallinen / ADN)

In a matchup between two teams with identical records, the Bartlett girls basketball team knocked the West Eagles out of contention for a state tournament berth Wednesday at West High.

Kianna McWhite poured in 19 points to lead the Golden Bears to a 56-48 victory in the first-round Cook Inlet Conference game.

Both teams finished the CIC's regular season with 7-7 records. Bartlett took control early, using six points from McWhite to grab a 15-9 lead after one quarter.

McWhite and Amelia Uhila each sank seven free throws to help Bartlett to a 19-11 scoring edge at the foul line.

Nene John topped West with 12 points.

In other CIC girls games, East got 16 points from Daisy Page and 15 from Azaria Robinson to beat Service 65-21, and top-seeded Dimond raced to a 42-9 halftime lead en route to a 73-22 drubbing of Eagle River.

In boys action, West buried Bartlett 75-50, Dimond stopped Service 60-42 and East handled Eagle River 79-62.

Trailing 23-17 after one quarter, West limited Bartlett to a basket and two free throws in the second quarter to seize a 40-27 halftime lead.

Jamari Lawrence tossed in 15 points to lead a balanced attack for the Eagles, who had six players with eight or more points. Samuel Marqueda led the Golden Bears with 13 points.

Wednesday's losers are eliminated from the tournament. The winners advance to semifinal games Friday at West High, where championship games will be played Saturday at 5 p.m. (girls) and 6:45 p.m. (boys).

The top two boys and girls teams will advance to the Class 4A state tournament March 22-24 at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Wednesday's scores
Boys
West 75, Bartlett 50
Dimond 60, Service 42
East 79, Eagle River 62
Chugiak 58, South 40

Girls
Bartlett 56, West 48
East 65, Service 21
Dimond 73, Eagle River 22
Chugiak 50, South 29

Friday's semifinals at West High
Boys
4:15 p.m. — Dimond vs. East
8 p.m. — West vs. Chugiak

Girls
2:45 p.m. — Dimond vs. Bartlett
6:15 p.m. — East vs. Chugiak