All of the teams made it to the Alaska Airlines Center for the first round of the Class 4A and 3A state basketball tournaments, but the Glenn Highway closure made for some empty bleachers.
Spectators were particularly scarce in the morning sessions, which offered three games featuring Valley teams whose fans were on the wrong side of the closure.
"We do have some officials who may not make it," said Billy Strickland, executive director of the Alaska School Activities Association. "I would also say we are down for attendance."
In the Class 4A boys tourament, three of the four Anchorage teams claimed victories, including the sixth-seeded West Eagles, who surprised the third-seeded Colony Knights 62-56.
In other games, top-seeded and defending champion Dimond defeated Juneau 48-39, second-seeded Wasilla tripped East 62-45 and fifth-seeded Chugiak edged fourth-seeded West Valley 42-38.
West 62, Colony 56
Smooth-shooting Luka Wal poured in 23 points on 10 of 14 shooting to lead the Eagles, who survived 30 turnovers.
Dalon Johnson netted all three of his attempts from 3-point range to finish with 11 points, and Devin Mong collected 10 rebounds to help West outbound Colony 31-22.
Sullivan Menard had six steals and pumped in 24 points, hitting 9 of 10 free throws, to lead Colony. Jon Pomrenke added 14 points and Will Freeman had 12.
Chugiak 42, West Valley 38
Hunter Harr's 14 points and Derryk Snell's 10 rebounds sparked the Mustangs.
Neither team shot well — Chugiak was 17 of 49 and West Valley was 15 of 42 — but the Mustangs managed three triples to West Valley's zero for a 9-0 scoring advantage behind the arc. Tyler Trevino sank two of Chugiak's 3-pointers.
Cornelius Mingo paced West Valley with 13 points and six rebounds.
Wasilla 62, East 45
The Warriors owned a huge 37-16 rebounding advantage in their win over East.
Reilly Devine spearheaded the effort with 11 rebounds to go with 16 points. Jordan Knight added 13 points and seven rebounds and Levi Houck had 12 points.
Hassan Herrington led a balanced offense for East with 10 points.
Dimond 48, Juneau 39
Dimond dug its way out of an early hole, rallying from a 9-4 first-quarter deficit.
Free throws made a difference in the low-scoring game — Dimond hit 18 of 24, and Juneau sank 11 of 18.
Isaiah Moses knocked down six of seven foul shots en route to a game-high 20 points and Nicolas Horning hit 7 of 11 on his way to 17 points for the Lynx.
Juneau's Erik Kelly, the Class 4A Player of the Year, provided his team with 17 rebounds and 11 points, nine from free throws. Kolby Hoover added 14 points.