The last time the Bristol Bay girls were on an Anchorage basketball court, they were cutting down the nets to celebrate their Class 2A state championship.
In their first game Wednesday at the annual Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic at Dimond High, the Angels found themselves in a surprising spot — trailing Unalakleet with just 5½ minutes left in the game.
Enter Denali Moorcraft.
The 5-foot-11 junior forward hit 22 of her game-high 27 points in the final half in a narrow 57-46 victory. Moorcraft's bucket with 5½ minutes to play gave the Angels their first lead, 44-43, and Unalakleet managed only three points the rest of the way against the two-time Rally the Regions champions.
In the other girls games Wednesday, Unalaska shellacked the Chugiak JVs 60-22; the West JV stormed Cordova 53-23 and Craig romped past Lumen Christi 68-19.
On the boys side, defending tournament champion Unalaska and do-it-all guard Trevor Wilson defeated Cordova 68-51; Unalakleet relied on a pair of Ivanoffs – two of five on the team — in a 77-45 blistering of Bristol Bay; Haines swamped Lumen Christi 57-36 and Craig topped Hooper Bay 75-63.
Unalaska's Wilson needed only three quarters to score 30 points en route to a first-day tournament high of 32. Teammate Matt Faoasau chipped in 18 rugged points inside.
Cordova's Christian Adams came on after a sluggish start, scoring all but two of his team-high 22 points in the final three quarters.
Unalakleet made first-year head coach Thurman Jack's debut an easy one. Jack, taking over the head reins for long-time coaching icon Steve Ivanoff, unleashed a couple of experienced Ivanoff players — junior Aidan (24 points) and senior Arctic (15). Those two keyed a 20-9 run in the first quarter during which the Wolfpack rarely let off the accelerator.
Given the first-day performances by the Unalaska and Unalakleet boys, a rematch of last year's Rally championship game would not be unexpected. But for the Bristol Bay girls, winning a third straight Rally the Regions title may be a difficult assignment.
Gone from last season's team are mainstays Anna Hansen and Riley Lyon, who as seniors guided the Angels to the state championship. On Wednesday, Moorcroft and Hansen's sister Sharon provided the leadership needed to help the Angels escape the scare by Unalakleet. Sharon Hansen scored 20 points, and she and Moorcroft scored all but 10 of their team's points. Unalakleet was led by Jewel Wilson's 18 points.
Wednesday's games
Girls
Unalaska 60, Chugiak JV 22 (Unalaska — Kayla Villamor 18, Hailey Wilson 12, Kiara Villamor 11. Chugiak JV – Hayden Reynolds 7, Felicia Ortiz 6)
West JV 53, Cordova 23 (West JV — Sunny Pedebone 10. Cordova — Nailea Martinez 6, Abby Bourgeois 6)
Bristol Bay 57, Unalakleet 46 (Bristol Bay — Denali Moorcraft 27, Sharon Hansen 20. Unalakleet — Jewel Wilson 18)
Craig 68, Lumen Christi 19 (Craig — Mary Boling 20, Dior Vaughan 16. Lumen Christi — Maeve Bakic 10)
Boys
Unalakleet 77, Bristol Bay 45 (Unalakleet — Aiden Ivanoff 24, Arctic Ivanoff 15, Larry Wilson 13. Bristol Bay — Kaleb Hill 18, Conner Romer 15)
Unalaska 68, Cordova 51 (Unalaska — Trevor Wilson 32, Matt Faoasau 18. Cordova — Christian Adams 22)
Haines 57, Lumen Christi 36 (Haines — Carson Crager 25, Dylan Swinton 19. Lumen Christi — Lam Puoy 11, Brenden Gregory 8)
Craig 75, Hooper Bay 63 (Craig — Drew Marker 36. Hooper Bay — Jayden Carl 20)
Thursday's games
9 a.m. – Haines vs. Cordova (boys)
10:30 a.m. – Unalakleet vs. West JV (girls)
Noon – Lumen vs. Hooper Bay (boys)
1:30 p.m. – Chugiak JV vs. Lumen (girls)
4 p.m. – Craig vs. Cordova (girls)
5:30 p.m. – Craig vs. Unalakleet (boys)
7 p.m. — Unalaska vs. Bristol Bay (girls)
8:30 p.m. – Unalaska vs. Bristol Bay (boys)