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 individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The 2024 high school basketball season saw the reigning girls state champions at the 4A level record a milestone win for its head coach and there were some explosive scoring outings in the final week of the regular season in boys prep hockey. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team also notched a meaningful victory for its head coach while the men’s team finally found a way to win a late thriller. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.
Headlines and highlights
The final week of the high school hockey regular season saw Chugiak senior forward Maximus McFall record a hat trick in a 5-0 shutout of Dimond on Friday. Earlier in the week, defending Division I state champion West beat Service 11-3 and brothers Paul and Joey Dittrich each scored a pair of goals. Alex Green, Devin Berg and John Lamantia each scored a pair of goals for South in a 10-2 win over Bartlett.
[Brothers Paul and Joey Dittrich have West High boys hockey poised to make a strong title defense]
In prep hoops action, the defending 4A state champion Wasilla girls team extended its winning streak to 17 straight dating back to last season and stayed undefeated at 12-0 with a 61-14 blowout of West Valley this past Saturday. In doing so, the Warriors notched the 600th career victory for longtime head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax.
“I am thankful that I have had the opportunity to coach and teach at the same high school over the last 30 years,” she said in a statement. “I have been blessed with the amount of talent that has gone through my girls basketball program as well as the support I have had from Wasilla high school as well as the community of Wasilla. In reaching this milestone I also self reflect on the amount of work, dedication and time that I have put into the girls basketball program at Wasilla high school. I am very proud of myself for obtaining this accomplishment and for the privilege to be a role model to the young ladies that have played for me over the years.
“First and foremost, I would love to thank my husband, my son, and my mom and dad for their unwavering support of my coaching passion. Without them, I would not be able to do what I do. Secondly, I would have not attained all these wins without surrounding myself with great assistant coaches over the last 30 years. I have been fortunate enough to have coaches on my staff that had my back (loyalty), challenged me when I needed to be challenged, and supported me when I needed to be supported. Third, I would like to throw my big thanks out to all my parents and warrior fans that showed up day in and day out to support me and my basketball program. Finally, I would like to thank all the players that have dedicated themselves to me and my girls basketball program. Without their commitment to me and my program, I would have never reached this milestone of 600 wins.”

On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team also recorded a milestone win in lopsided fashion for its head coach Ryan McCarthy on Saturday. The Seawolves hosted McCarthy’s alma mater, Northwest Nazarene, and cruised to an 86-47 victory, marking the 300th of his career at the helm of the program.
“UAA has been my dream place to be ever since I was a boy coming to Seawolf games with my dad,” McCarthy said in a statement. “I’ve been able to work for amazing athletic directors, administrators, support staff and work with some of the best basketball coaches who care deeply about our student athletes. I could literally put a long list of names who have been instrumental in our success. I have scored zero points in these wins. These wins are a result of the ladies who came to UAA and dedicated themselves with the pursuit of becoming the best version of themselves. I’m incredibly grateful for each one.
“Lastly, all of the assistant coaches and volunteer coaches who have been critical in development in game planning. I couldn’t have asked for a more special experience at UAA. I’m thankful for these years here and being able to represent my home state.”
[International post players step up to propel UAA women’s basketball to bounce-back win]
The UAA men’s basketball team finally found a way to come out on top in a close game this past Saturday and snapped a six-game losing streak in the process by edging out Simon Fraser 59-58. It marked the Seawolves’ first win in nearly a month and the clutch game-winning bucket came courtesy of Anchorage’s own Hasaan Herrington who drove into the paint for a layup to give his team a one-point lead with four seconds left on the clock. The Red Leafs had an opportunity to snatch victory away from the jaws of defeat but failed to convert a last-second jump shot at the buzzer. Herrington led the team with 17 points and two blocks and was two rebounds shy of a double-double.
“I’m proud of our defensive intensity tonight,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said in a statement. “We defended extremely well after the first four minutes – probably one of our best performances of the year. SFU has four very good offensive players, and we were able to limit three of them. Offensively, we were not pretty, but we executed in crunch time and our offensive rebounding was excellent. It was a big performance by Hasaan, and we got a nice lift off the bench from Luke Devine.”
Up in the interior, the UAA hockey team visited UAF for the latest installments of the Governor’s Cup series and dropped both games. The Seawolves fell 3-1 in the first contest on Friday and led by a hat trick from Nanooks senior forward Matt Hubbarde, they lost 5-1 on Saturday night to retake the lead in the series.
The Anchorage Wolverines bounced back in a big way in front of some big home crowds this past weekend as they snapped a three-game skid with a sweep of the Fairbanks Ice Dogs in a two-game series. They were in firm control of Friday night’s 3-1 win thanks in large part to a near-perfect penalty kill coupled with a standout performance from starting goalie Michael Manzi, who made 24 of 25 possible saves. Saturday saw an NAHL season record-breaking crowd of 4,126 attendees for a much tighter game in which the eventual game-winning goal was scored by Anchorage’s own Cole Frawner late in the second period as the third would go scoreless. With the two wins, the Wolverines took over second place in the Midwest Division and added four points toward their effort of repeated as Club 49 Cup champions.
[Wolverines use near-perfect penalty kill to snap 3-game skid in win over Ice Dogs]
Alaska stars shining Outside
Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman bounced back from a rough outing in net for the Boston Bruins in a 7-2 loss Tuesday to the Buffalo Sabres by stopping 22-of-25 shots in a 6-3 win over the New York Rangers this past Saturday, marking his 17th win of the season.
A great, aggressive play by Jeremy Swayman to deny JT Miller pic.twitter.com/9ucfqfYCIh
— Bear With Me (@BearWithMe_Pod) February 1, 2025
Alaskans now have double the reasons to root for the Seattle Seahawks in 2025 after the team announced Monday that it signed Palmer’s Malaesala Aumavae-Laulu to a reserve/future contract. Originally selected by the Baltimore Ravens in the sixth round of the 2023 NFL Draft out of Oregon, he now joins a team that includes fellow Alaskan, defensive tackle Brandon Pili of Anchorage who was signed to the team’s active roster from the practice squad on Jan. 4 and is under contract through next season.
We've signed G Sala Aumavae-Laulu to a reserve/future contract.
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) February 3, 2025
Read more » https://t.co/wZcfsGnAij pic.twitter.com/kPAgvrN11v
A pair of Alaskans squared off in the NBA G-League this past Saturday both reached double figures in scoring as Anchorage’s JT Thor helped lead the Cleveland Charge to a 110-104 victory over Fairbank’s Daishen Nix and the Rio Grande Valley Vipers. In the narrow win, Thor finished second on his team in scoring with 22 points to go along with seven rebounds and two assists. Meanwhile, Nix finished second on his team in scoring with 14 points and led them with eight assists to go along with three rebounds and three steals.
starting the first half with a dunk🤝starting the second half with a dunk@thorrjt | #ChargeUp pic.twitter.com/IZ0LTkA6xE
— Cleveland Charge (@ChargeCLE) February 2, 2025
Palmer’s Patrick McMahon broke his own single-game career high in scoring for the Montana State University men’s basketball team twice in three days by leading the Bobcats to back-to-back victories. In a 70-58 win over Sacramento State last Thursday, he recorded game-highs with 20 points and a pair of blocks. On Saturday narrow 74-73 win over Portland State, the former Colony High star and Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year nearly had a double-double with by leading his team with 21 points and nine rebounds to go along with three assists and a steal.
Alaska Air has ARRIVED 📈@1PatrickM pic.twitter.com/VpM2hpas4D
— Montana State Men’s Basketball (@MSUBobcatsMBB) February 2, 2025
Anchorage’s Kaeleb Johnson recorded his 16th and 17th double-digit scoring outings of the season for the Vancouver Island University men’s basketball team in back-to-back wins over Douglas over the weekend. The former East standout finished third on the Mariners with 10 points and in Friday’s 83-62 victory and scored a game and season-high 25 points in a 94-77 triumph on Saturday.
Anchorage’s Bret Link recorded his third goal of the season and first since his homecoming against UAA back in October this past Saturday for the Colorado College men’s hockey team in a 3-2 win over Western Michigan to split a two-game series between the teams.
Bret Link has mastered the hockey equivalent of the bat toss#CCTigers pic.twitter.com/RnJiB1YhtW
— CC Hockey (@CCTigerHKY) February 2, 2025
[UAA hockey drops weekend series to No. 9-ranked Colorado College]
Fairbanks’ Alex Emers, a freshman at the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs, recorded a lifetime personal-best in the high jump with a mark of 6 feet, 8.75 in just his third collegiate meet at the Big Red Machine Open in Gunnison, Colorado, this past Saturday. In doing so, the former West Valley standout and Gatorade Player claimed his first college win and reached the Division II provisional standard in the event.
After five weekends of competition for the 2024-25 indoor season, UCCS has recorded a total of 3️⃣1️⃣ NCAA Division II provisional qualifying marks, including 21 on the men's side and 10 on the women's side! pic.twitter.com/q9re5fAUzx
— UCCS Track & Field (@UCCSTRACK) February 2, 2025
Palmer’s Sophie Wright ran the leadoff leg for a distance medley relay team for Western Washington University that set a program record and provisional qualifier with a mark of 11:26.85 at the University of Washington Invitational over the weekend.
Palmer’s Meika Lee continued her strong start to her freshman season by recording a 9.775 to help the University of Pittsburgh’s gymnastics team record an solid score of 48.750 in the floor event in a 195.275-195.350 loss to No. 22 Clemson this past Friday.
Our Floor Stars 🌟🌟🌟 https://t.co/9TwmszoBKG pic.twitter.com/NxqJjTi7hT
— Pitt Gymnastics 🏳️🌈🏳️⚧️ (@Pitt_GYM) February 1, 2025
(If you know of an Alaska athlete who has achieved a standout performance or reached a noteworthy milestone on the Outside, email sports@adn.com or jreed@adn.com with the details.)
Fast Forward
Prep
Basketball
Lady Lynx Tournament at Dimond, Thursday-Saturday
Some of the top girls teams at the 4A level will be in town this week for one of the premier tournaments of the regular season. The list of attendees includes host Dimond, perennial contenders Colony and Mountain City Christian Academy and 3A powerhouse Barrow.
Service at Bartlett, Friday at 6 p.m.
Two of the top young and overall talents in the state will square off for the second time this season in less than a month when freshman phenom Kennedi Gaines and the Golden Bears host sophomore sensation Aryanna Watson and the Cougars for a CIC clash heading into the weekend. In the first matchup between these two young talented teams, Bartlett came out on top 53-46 on the road Jan, 14 and now Service will be trying to return the favor this time around.
Hockey
CIC Regional championship at Ben Boeke, Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
The postseason for the 2024-25 season will officially get underway this weekend with regional action at the Division I level and the Division II state tournament taking place in Soldotna. Here in town, the CIC teams will be dueling for the chance to punch their tickets to the state tournament the following weekend. Action starts Monday and will run through Saturday with two games taking place during the week, one at Ben Boeke and one at the Harry J. McDonald Memorial Center.
Cross-Country Skiing
Region IV championship at Kincaid, Friday and Saturday
The 2024-25 region meet will be take place in town this weekend now that the weather is cooperating with a pair of races. Friday’s 7.5-K skate race will be at noon and the 3K classic relay race will be the following day at 11 a.m.
College
Women’s Basketball
UAA v. UAF at Alaska Airlines Center, Saturday at 7 p.m.
The Seawolves will be looking to extend their winning streak to three straight and complete the regular-season sweep of their in-state rivals this weekend. In the first matchup between these two teams this season, UAA bested the Nanooks by nearly 40 points in Fairbanks.
Last week’s results
High School
Basketball
Girls
Monday
Susitna Valley 46, Newhalen 39
Tuesday
Bartlett 59, Chugiak 26
South 36, Eagle River 28
Dimond 51, West 49
Wasilla 48, Mountain City Christian 37
Colony 56, Grace Christian 39
Service 69, East 19
Thursday
Kenai Central 44, Delta 35
Wasilla 64, Palmer 11
Service 46, Grace Christian 39
Dimond 53, South 26
Seward 65, Kodiak 36
Lumen Christi 35, Cordova 31
Chugiak 54, West Valley 13
Friday
Service 66, Dimond 51
Bartlett 46, West 44
Seward 41, Delta 25
Houston 36, Redington 34
Wasilla 52, Chugiak 9
Saturday
Susitna Valley 33, Petersburg 17
Grace Christian 48, Nikiski 20
Wasilla 61, West Valley 14
Colony 76, Soldotna 25
Unalakleet 38, Lumen Christi 29
Seward 41, Kenai Central 35
Boys
Monday
Susitna Valley 73, Newhalen 35
Tuesday
Chugiak 38, Holy Rosary Academy 30
Cook Inlet Academy 86, Nikiski 39
Wasilla 62, Mountain City Christian 39
Bartlett 54, Chugiak 39
Dimond 67, West 58
East 51, Service 37
Grace Christian 64, Colony 60
South 69, Eagle River 30
Thursday
Metlakatla 70, Susitna Valley 47
Palmer 67, Monroe Catholic 63
Kenai Central 45, Delta 35
Kotzebue 82, Homer 69
Grace Christian 78, Service 75
Dimond 62, South 59
NVTO 61, Seward 56
Petersburg 32, Lumen Christi 26
West Valley 66, Chugiak 53
Friday
Palmer 56, Chugiak 40
Cook Inlet Academy 63, Holy Rosary Academy 31
Seward 54, Delta 49
Wasilla 65, Kodiak 46
Ninilchik 71, Nanwalek 58
East 81, Eagle River 15
Dimond 62, Service 58
Bartlett 64, West 47
Colony 59, Soldotna 54
Houston 58, Redington 40
Grace Christian 60, MCCA 58
Susitna Valley 71, Nenana 30
Saturday
Ninilchik 87, Nanwalek 64
Colony 56, Soldotna 45
West Valley 45, Palmer 44
Kenai Central 62, Seward 39
Monroe Catholic 61, Chugiak 49
Homer 67, North Pole 40
Wasilla 49, Kodiak 38
Susitna Valley 59, Lumen Christi 52
Hockey
Tuesday
Colony 6, Dimond 1
Eagle River 4, Bartlett 1
Wednesday
West 11, Service 3
Thursday
Houston 9, Delta 1
Kenai Central 4, Soldotna 3
South 10, Bartlett 2
Chugiak 5, Eagle River 2
Friday
Houston 7, North Pole 2
Chugiak 5, Dimond 0
Palmer 12, Delta 5
Saturday
Palmer 9, Delta 5
Juneau-Douglas 3, Wasilla 1
Kenai Central 7, Homer 1
South 4, Eagle River 0
Bowling
Wednesday
Boys
Dimond 29, Bartlett 6
Dimond - Logan Jokela 218
Bartlett - Tristan Jones 175
East 29, Service 6
East - Damien Cruz 255
Service - Joseph Salao 197
South 35, Chugiak 0
South - Ethan Miranda 209
Chugiak - Finnley Lyon 122
West 33, Eagle River 2
West - Zach Bottass 202
Eagle River - Nathan Smith 232
Girls
Dimond 33, Bartlett 2
Dimond - Khloee Waldren 193
Bartlett - Cloud Callahan 153
East 20, Service 15
East - Lina Phatthana 150
Service - Evelyn Schultz 122
Chugiak 28, South 7
Chugiak - Abigail Lanehart 211
South - Sharon Cho 143
West 29, Eagle River 6
West - Kendall Bencid 124
Eagle RIver - Morgan Van Slyke 145
Cross country skiing
Friday
Makeup Race
Boys A
Team scores
1) Service 45:37.1; 2) East 48:55.7; 3) West 50:02.3; 4) Dimond 50:06.1; 5) South 50:54.2; 6) Eagle River 54:05.9; 7) Chugiak *Incomplete*
Individual scores
1) Zane Griffis, Service, 10:39.2; 2) Elias Watson, Service, 11:08.3; 3) Liam Dudley, West, 11:15.7; 4) Tommy Erickson, Dimond, 11:30.1; 5) Maxwell Richardson, Service, 11:37.9; 6) Walker Battreall, East, 11:52.3; 7) Finn Lunoe, South, 11:52.5; 8) Benjamin Strauss, West, 11:53.7; 9) Owen Lovejoy, East, 12:00.0; 10) Josiah Thompson, Service, 12:11.7; 11) Levi Watson, Service, 12:13.4; 12) Springer Moore, Service, 12:16.2; 13) Michael Dietsch, Dimond, 12:19.6; 14) Nathan Rehberg, East, 12:24.7; 15) Rox Mercer, Eagle River, 12:25.0; 16) Nash Smedley, Chugiak, 12:29.2; 17) Bryce Herda, East, 12:38.7; 18) Atlas Payne, Eagle River, 12:39.1; 19) Carter Troxell, Dimond, 12:39.8; 20) Maximilian Erickson, West, 12:41.2; 21) Malachi Williamson, South, 12:44.5; 22) Mason Card, South, 12:54.8; 23) Hunter Hamm, Chugiak, 13:21.0; 24) Haden Petrone, South, 13:22.4; 25) Luke Gaskill, Dimond, 13:36.6; 26) Leif Konrath-Bera, Eagle River, 13:57.7; 27) Henry Chmielowski, West, 14:11.7; 28) Quinn Lester, West, 14:25.1; 29) Markus Kirchner, West, 14:29.2; 30) Grant Wright, South, 14:57.3; 31) Garrett Roose, South, 15:01.7; 32) Tucker Nakken, Eagle River, 15:04.1; 33) Miles Price, West, 15:37.8
Girls A
Team scores
1) West 54:26.3; 2) Service 57:05.8; 3) Dimond 57:57.2; 4) South 1:01:20.6; 5) Chugiak 1:03:49.3; 6) East *Incomplete*; 6) Eagle River *Incomplete*
Individual scores
1) Rose Conway, East, 12:06.6; 2) Olivia Soderstrom, West, 12:20.3; 3) Zoe Rodgers, West, 12:20.5; 4) Heidi Schumacher, Service, 12:32.6; 5) Brynn Rathert, East, 12:45.8; 6) Reine Soule, Service, 12:53.8; 7) Svea Thomas, East, 13:30.4; 8) Gigi Leonetti, Dimond, 13:41.8; 9) Claire Hampton, Dimond, 13:52.8; 10) Duna Snedgen, South, 13:58.9; 11) Lily Poray, West, 14:36.3; 12) Hailey Colgrove, Chugiak, 14:44.9; 13) Sophia Randazzo, Dimond, 15:00.8; 14) Lily Betts, West, 15:09.2; 15) Annabel Uffenbeck, Service, 15:13.7; 16) Amelia Kari, Dimond, 15:21.8; 17) Ashley Sundstrom, South, 15:22.5; 18) Ruby Price, West, 15:29.1; 19) Abigail Page, South, 15:33.7; 20) Neve Hagenstein, West, 15:36.0; 21) Kelsey Momblow, Eagle River, 15:36.8; 22) Charlotte Toole, Eagle River, 15:42.1; 23) Olivia Sandoval, Chugiak, 15:52.6; 24) Teagan Halsey, Dimond, 16:16.4; 25) Harper Willman, South, 16:25.5; 26) Margaret Adams, Service, 16:25.7; 27) Sage Price, West, 16:26.1; 28) Allison Macy, Chugiak, 16:34.6; 29) Elise Matthews, South, 16:35.3; 30) Brianna Gill Anderson, Service, 16:36.7; 31) Anna Burrup, Chugiak, 16:37.2; 32) Ashley Mann, Eagle River, 16:48.3; 33) Claire Dayton, Chugiak, 17:03.0; 34) Ivory Sobek, Service, 17:08.0; 35) Kaylin Kirkham, Dimond, 17:27.7; 36) Savannah McCarney, South, 17:53.4
College
Women’s basketball
Thursday
UAA 65, Central Washington 56
Northwest Nazarene 80, UAF 68
Saturday
Central Washington 81, UAF 70
UAA 86, Northwest Nazarene 47
Men’s basketball
Thursday
Western Washington 76, UAA 73
Simon Fraser 77, UAF 74
Saturday
Western Washington 89, UAF 84
UAA 59, Simon Fraser 58
Hockey
Friday
UAF 3, UAA 1
Saturday
UAF 5, UAA 1
NAHL
Friday
Anchorage Wolverines 3, Fairbanks Icedogs 1
Saturday
Anchorage Wolverines 4, Fairbanks Icedogs 3