High School Sports

Top seeds prevail in 4A boys basketball state tournament

The top seeds ruled on the first day of Class 4A boys state basketball tournament, with top-seeded Wasilla, second-seeded Dimond and third-seeded East each rolling to big victories on Thursday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Wasilla tripped Kodiak 64-46, East handled Juneau 87-55 and fourth-seeded Ketchikan held off fifth-seeded Bartlett 65-58. In the late game, second-seeded Dimond defeated seventh-seeded West Valley.

Dimond 62, West Valley 37

Twelve players tallied minutes and 10 players scored for Dimond in its 62-37 victory over West Valley.

The Wolf Pack tried to force a fast pace, but Dimond used its depth to keep up and the Lynx got stronger as the game went on. Dimond used a 25-9 fourth quarter to put an exclamation point on the win.

"Momentum is everything, so when we have the momentum and flow in a good game or bad game, it really carries on, and we have good energy going into the next game (now)," said Dimond senior Anthony Parker.

The 6-foot-1 point guard led Dimond with 14 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field. He added five rebounds, four assists and four steals.

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"I've been excited all week for this first game," Parker said. "Just starting off, I was sitting in the locker room with a smile. I'm just trying to have fun.

"It's senior year so I'm trying to have the best time I can and enjoy every single second of it."

Fellow senior Eric Jenkins chalked up 14 points and eight rebounds for the Lynx. Jenkins' scored seven straight points in a one-minute span in the fourth quarter.

Cornelius Mingo Jr. paced West Valley with 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double-double. Chancellor Fields Colbert added 10 points.

East 87, Juneau 55

With East's 32-point victory over defending champion Juneau, there's guaranteed to be a new Class 4A boys state champion this season.

The Thunderbirds dominated all facets of the game in their 87-55 victory.

Trey Huckabay racked up a day-high 36 points and Moses Miller filled out the stat sheet with 16 points, six rebounds and five assists.

Diques Esaw added 10 points on a perfect 4 of 4 from the floor for the T-birds.

Erik Kelly led the Crimson Bears with 21 points, but Juneau's 30 turnovers doomed any chance at an upset.

Wasilla 64, Kodiak 46

A 20-point first quarter propelled Wasilla to a quick double-digit lead and the Warriors never looked back in their 64-46 victory over eighth-seeded Kodiak.

Wasilla led 20-8 after the first quarter.

A trio of double-digit scorers spearheaded Wasilla, with Kobe Brown (18 points), Isaac Houck (15) and Aeron Milliron (12) doing most of the damage.

Augustine Cauging paced Kodiak with 17 points.

Ketchikan 65, Bartlett 58

Brent Taylor poured in a game-high 24 points to boost Ketchikan over Bartlett 65-58 in the battle between the four and five seeds.

The biggest difference came at the foul line, where Ketchikan attempted 23 more free throws than Bartlett. The Kings went 15 of 34 from the line to 9 of 11 for the Golden Bears.

Ryan Trailer led Bartlett with 15 points and Madison Coulson added 14. Anthony Camacho (13 points) and Latraviaus Kingsland (10) rounded out the Golden Bear's double-figure scorers.

Marcus Lee supplied 15 points and eight rebounds for Ketchikan.

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Thursday's results

Wasilla 64, Ketchikan 46

Ketchikan 65, Bartlett 58

East 87, Juneau 55

Dimond 62, West Valley 37

Friday's games

11 a.m. – Kodiak vs. Bartlett (loser out)

12:30 p.m. – Juneau vs. West Valley (loser out)

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7 p.m. – Wasilla vs. Ketchikan (semifinal)

8:30 p.m. – East vs. Dimond (semifinal)

 
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