Rally the Regions: Petersburg, Bristol Bay girls to play in rematch of 2A state basketball championship

The Petersburg and Bristol Bay girls basketball teams each won their games Wednesday at the Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic to set up an undefeated Thursday showdown between last season's top two teams from the 2A state tournament.

The Vikings and Angels are both 2-0 in the four-day tournament at Begich Middle School. The tournament features 16 combined boys and girls teams from across the state.

On Wednesday, Petersburg beat West JV — the only non-2A team in tournament — 26-18 in a defensive standoff, and Bristol Bay dismantled Unalaska 64-17.

Chandler Strickland (12 points) and Emma Chase (6) powered the Vikings in a game where neither team reached double digits until the second half. Petersburg led 9-7 at halftime.

Bristol Bay had no trouble racking up points against Unalaska. Sisters Sharon and Anna Hansen combined for 43 points for the Angels.

Petersburg beat Bristol Bay 43-34 in the state championship in March, but the Vikings are without 2A player-of-the-year Kylie Wallace — who is now a freshman guard with the UAF Nanooks — and Bristol Bay has outscored its two tournament opponents by a combined 62 points through two games, making the Angels the favorite heading into Thursday's matchup.

Bristol Bay won the Rally the Regions tournament last year, beating Sewalik 42-18 in the championship.

On the boys side, last year's tournament champion, Unalakleet, also stayed undefeated with a 86-76 win over Cordova on Wednesday.

The high-flying Wolfpack know how to score in bunches. They are averaging 88.5 points per game through two games.

Aidan Ivanoff led Unalakleet's five double-digit scorers with 20 points and David Johnson and Taylor Harvey each added 18.

[Unalakleet boys win big to open Rally the Regions basketball tourney]

Cordova received 19 points from Cody Sjostedt and 18 from Christian Adams.

The tournament will conclude Friday with the girls championships at 6 p.m. and the boys championship immediately after at 8:30 p.m. All games are at Begich Middle School and are streamed online by tournament sponsor AK Fellowship of Christian Athletes at akfca.org.

Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic
Begich Middle School

Wednesday's scores

Boys

Metlakatla 67, Aniak 40
Top scorers — Metlakatla: James Henderson 15. Aniak: Matthew Morgan 25.

Petersburg 61, Dillingham 37
Top scorers — Petersburg: Stewart Conn 21. Dillingham: Caden Smeaton 18.

Unalakleet 86, Cordova 76
Top scorers — Unalakleet: Aidan Ivanoff 20. Cordova: Cody Sjostedt 19.

Unalaska 65, Bristol Bay 37
Top scorers — Unalaska: Carter Price 22. Bristol Bay: Austin King 14

Girls

Aniak 79, Metlakatla 56
Top scorers — Aniak: Shauna Koonuk 22. Metlakatla: Alexis Russell 13.

Petersburg 26, West JV 18
Top scorers — Petersburg: Chandler Strickland 12. West JV: Naenia Johns 11.

Cordova 50, Unalakleet 29
Top scorers — Cordova: Riley Butler 18. Unalakleet: Allie Ivanoff 10.

Bristol Bay 64, Unalaska 17
Top scorers — Bristol Bay: Sharon Hansen 27. Unalaska: Kayla Villamor 8.

Thursday's games

Girls

8 a.m. — Aniak vs. West JV
11 a.m. — Petersburg vs. Bristol Bay
3 p.m. — Unalaska vs. Cordova
6 p.m. — Unalakleet vs. Metlakatla

Boys

9:30 a.m. — Aniak vs. Dillingham
12:30 p.m. — Petersburg vs. Bristol Bay
4:30 p.m. — Unalaska vs. Cordova
7:30 p.m. — Unalakleet vs. Metlakatla

Girls scoring leaders through two games

Anna Hanson, Bristol Bay,  43
Sharon Hanson, Bristol Bay, 40
Shawna Koonuk, Aniak, 38
Riley Butler, Cordova, 33
Rylie Lyon, Bristol Bay, 28
Chandler Strickland, Petersburg, 28
Alyssa Morgan, Aniak, 26
Alexis Russell Metlakatla, 26
Naenia Johns, West JV, 25
Kayla Villamor, Unalaska, 23

Boys scoring leaders through two games

Caden Smeaton, Dillingham, 44
Aidan Ivanoff, Unalakleet, 40
Stewart Conn, Petersburg, 39
Taylor Harvey, Unalakleet, 36
Austin King, Bristol Bay, 35
Arctic Ivanoff, Unalakleet, 35
Carter Price, Unalaska, 33
Christian Adams, Cordova, 32
Trevor Wilson, Unalaska, 32
David Johnson, Unalakleet, 29