Unalakleet boys close in on return to title game in Rally the Regions tourney

The Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic entered its second day of action Thursday at Dimond High with the heavyweights of the Class 2A boys and girls field needing to take care of business at Dimond High.

On the boys side, a scoring duel broke out between Craig's Drew Marker and Unalakleet's Aiden Ivanoff in a battle of 1-0 teams.

In the first half, Ivanoff had 24 points — he was 4-of- 8 from 3-point distance — and Marker had 17. The first 16 minutes ended with the Wolfpack on top 37-31, but Unalakleet went on a run over the final four minutes of the fourth quarter to put the game away, 80-62.

The victory gave Unalakleet the inside track to returning to the championship game Saturday. Unalakleet lost in last year's championship to Unalaska, which beat Bristol Bay in a late game 71-42 on Thursday.

In an afternoon/evening session rife with championship implications, the girls teams from Craig and Bristol Bay looked to stay unbeaten. Craig, in its first Rally the Regions appearance, jumped out to an early lead and maintained it throughout, defeating Cordova 40-30.

That set up an 8 a.m. Friday morning showdown with the West JV.

Later Thursday, the defending 2A state and two-time Rally champion Bristol Bay failed to keep three-peat hopes alive after falling to Unalaska 46-40.

Kaira Villamor (13 points) and Hailey Wilson (13) proppelled Unalaska to victory.

Earlier in the day, the Cordova boys defeated Haines 77-57, and Hooper Bay clubbed Lumen Christi 65-40.

Among girls, the West JV downed Unalakleet 63-38 and Lumen Christi edged the Chugiak JV 28-26.

Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic

Thursday's games

Boys

Cordova 77, Haines 57 (Cordova — Christian Adams 27, Cody Sjostedt 24, Kaiden Graves 16. Haines — Dylan Swinton 27)

Hooper Bay 65, Lumen Christi 40 (Hooper Bay — Jayden Carl 26, Kevin Green 12, Arnold Simon 12. Lumen Christi — Andrew Howard 10)

Unalakleet 80, Craig 62 (Unalakleet — Aiden Ivanoff 31, Arctic Ivanoff 24. Craig — Drew Marker 41)

Unalaska 71, Bristol Bay 42 (Unalaska — Matt Faoasau 28, Trevor Wilson 16. Bristol Bay — Kaleb Hill 20)

Girls

West JV 63, Unalakleet 38 (West JV — Gillian Huss 16, Sunny Pedebone 13. Unalakleet — Jewel Wilson 15, Summer Sagoonick 11)

Lumen Christi 28, Chugiak JV 26 (Lumen Christi — Sophia Dupras 11. Chugiak JV — Hayden Reynolds 7)

Craig 40, Cordova 30 (Craig — Johnna Allen 12, Mary Boling 8, Sara Yates 8. Cordova — Edrea Navarro 11, Abby Bourgeois 8)

Unalaska 46, Bristol Bay 40 (Unalaska — Kaira Villamor 13, Hailey Wilson 13. Bristol Bay — Sharon Hansen 23, Denali Moorcroft 12)

Friday's games

8 a.m. — West JV vs. Craig (girls)
9:30 a.m. — Lumen Christi vs. Craig (boys)
11:00 a.m. — Lumen Christi vs. Unalaska (girls)
12:30 p.m. — Bristol Bay vs. Cordova (boys)
3 p.m. — Bristol Bay vs. Chugiak JV (girls)
4:30 p.m. — Hooper Bay vs. Unalaska (boys)
6 p.m. — Cordova vs. Unalakleet (girls)
7:30 p.m. — Unalakleet vs. Haines (boys)