The Barrow boys survived a surging Bethel team in the fourth quarter to take the first spot in the semifinals at the Lime Solar/Pepsi ACS Invitational basketball tournament at Anchorage Christian.
Barrow also defeated Sitka in a girls semifinal game, giving both Whalers teams a chance at back-to-back tournament titles on Saturday.
But to earn consecutive crowns, the Whalers will have to get past host teams, ACS, which also earned championship berths for both boys and girls.
The Barrow boys fended off Bethel 38-35 in their semifinal. Bethel outscored the Whalers 14-10 in the fourth quarter, but Barrow guard Travis Adams sank 4 of 6 free throws in the second half en route to a game-high 19 points, and the Whalers maintained their lead.
Bethel boasted balanced scoring with Carl Charlie (10 points) and Clevon Constantine (9) heading the charge.
In the girls game, Barrow overcame a six-point halftime deficit to defeat Sitka 44-37.
Alaina Wolgemuth led the Whalers with 12 points and Milya Wright drained all six of her fourth-quarter free throws. She finished with nine points.
Tatum Bayne supplied 12 points for Sitka.
In the late semifinals, the ACS girls beat Point Hope 62-54 and the ACS boys rolled Kotzebue 58-49.
Danilo Guzman and Brett Dickerson propelled the ACS boys with a combined 34 points and five 3-pointers. The Lions trailed by seven points at halftime, but they outscored Kotzebue 19-7 in the fourth quarter.
The ACS girls were boosted by 21 points from Destiny Reimers and 13 from Jordan Todd. ACS trailed by one at halftime.
The girls championship will tip off at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at ACS followed by the boys championship at 7 p.m.
Lime Solar/Pepsi ACS Invitational
Anchorage Christian
Friday's scores
Girls
Bethel 68, Lumen Christi 22
Top scorers — Bethel: Courtney Williams 23, Marissa Crow 12; Lumen Christi: Chiamaka Lebechi 9, Nyadeng Puoy 5.
Kotzebue 43, Valdez 38
Top scorers — Kotzebue: Alanna Conwell 10, Calia Sieh 9; Valdez: Mackenzie Mott 17.
Barrow 44, Sitka 37
Top scorers — Barrow: Alaina Wolgemuth 12, Milya Wright 9; Sitka: Tatum Bayne 12, Zosha Krupa 10.
ACS 62, Point Hope 54
Top scorers — ACS: Destiny Reimers 21, Jordan Todd 13; Point Hope: Bridgett Dviok 21, Terza Oviok 19.
Boys
Sitka 81, Lumen Christi 20
Top scorers — Sitka: Gavin Flores 17, Andy Rule 13; Lumen Christi: Jarrett Fortune 9; Shon Nagel 4.
Valdez 78, Point Hope 46
Top scorers — Valdez: Bennett Hinkle 30, Jalen Freeman 20; Point Hope: Charlie Tuzroyluk 13, Al Lane 11, Mario Casaoos 11.
Barrow 38, Bethel 35
Top scorers — Barrow: Travis Adams 19, Stone Tuitua 8; Bethel: Carl Charlie 10; Clevon Constantine 9.
ACS 58, Kotzebue 49
Top scorers — ACS: Danilo Guzman 17, Brett Dickerson 17; Kotzebue: Bish Gallahorn 22, Ty Ramoth 14.
Saturday's games
Girls
9 a.m. — Lumen Christi vs. Valdez
10:30 a.m. — Bethel vs. Kotzebue
1:30 p.m. — Sitka vs. Point Hope
5:30 p.m. — Barrow vs. ACS, championship
Boys
9 a.m. — Lumen Christi vs. Point Hope
Noon — Sitka vs. Valdez
3 p.m. — Kotzebue vs. Bethel
7 p.m. — ACS vs. Barrow, championship