An action-packed Saturday night of hoops at West High saw the East Thunderbirds edge the Dimond Lynx in a 57-56 overtime thriller for the Cook Inlet Conference boys championship.
In the girls title game, the Dimond dynasty continued behind Alissa Pili’s 35-point explosion, which sent the Lynx to a 68-60 victory over the Bartlett Golden Bears. This marks Dimond’s fifth-consecutive CIC title and its ninth since the 2009-2010 season.
The boys championship game started slowly, with both teams dialed in defensively and conservative offensively. The Lynx were in control during the first half, leading 13-11 after the first quarter and 28-22 at halftime behind 14 first-half points from senior Evan Hoosier.
The Thunderbirds stormed back with a 7-0 scoring run midway through the third quarter that carried them to a 41-39 lead at the end of the quarter.
Heroics from juniors Jaren Carle and CIC MVP Isaiah Moses kept the Lynx alive in the fourth quarter, giving them a three-point lead with less than a minute to play.
A costly Dimond turnover led to a game-tying 3-pointer by senior Jaron Williams with eight seconds left. The Lynx missed from deep at the final buzzer, sending the game into overtime, 54-54.
“I was scared, I’m not gonna lie,” Williams said about his overtime-forcing 3. “I’m just happy it went in.”
In the extra period, both teams were locked into a stalemate for two minutes before a layup from Hoosier put Dimond up 56-54.
On the next possession, senior Kaeleb Johnson drilled the game-winning 3-pointer with 1 minute, 22 seconds remaining.
His team trailing 57-56, Hoosier had a chance to put Dimond in the lead at the free-throw line with just under a minute remaining, but couldn’t convert. East stifled Dimond’s efforts in the waning seconds.
“Dimond is an incredible challenge,” said East coach Chuck Martin, whose team went 11-3 in the CIC and split with the Lynx during the regular season. “They don’t get rattled and they execute. It took a super effort from us to win.”
Hoosier led the Lynx with 18 points, Moses poured in 15 and Carle tallied 12.
The Thunderbirds were led by a 22-point effort by Williams, who scored seven in the fourth quarter.
The girls game wasn’t as close but it had a heated matchup between Pili, Dimond’s three-time Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year, and Amelia Uhila, Bartlett’s sophomore standout who racked up 31 points.
The young Golden Bears stood toe-to-toe with the battle-tested Lynx at the start, getting 12 points from Uhila to make it 17-17 after one quarter.
The Lynx pounced out to a 34-27 halftime lead, and then inexperience caught up to the Golden Bears in the second haf. Pili took full advantage, feasting for 16 third-quarter points.
When Pili fouled out with less than three minutes left, Dimond maintained its poise and stymied a Uhila-led Bartlett comeback.
“We had four or five kids foul out. Some kids who didn’t think they were going to play had to step up and make a shot and a free throw in the end -- everyone contributed and we found a way,” Dimond coach Jason Stahl said.
Along with Pili’s monstrous 35-point performance, senior D’Ahvionn Rabb contributed nine points for the Lynx.
Uhila kept the game interesting with 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“It’s always fun to watch (Uhila) play and play against her,” Pili said. “She’s one of the best players in the state.”
In the third-place game, the West boys dismantled Bartlett 95-65, and the West girls nipped Chugiak 41-40.
In the boys game, senior Diques Esaw exploded for 41 points and junior Jamari Lawrence and senior Joel Martinez each contributed 12 points for the Eagles.
The Golden Bears were led by junior Leroy Manogiamanu’s 16 points.
For the West girls, Sunny Pedebone and Gillian Huss scored nine points apiece and Naialani Felix and Nyeniea John both added seven.
The Mustangs were led by their two all-conference selections -- Chasity Horn posted a game-high 13 points and Eva Palmer added 10.
The four teams that played in Saturday’s championship games earned the CIC’s automatic berths the Class 4A state tournament. There are two at-large berths available.
The tournament begins March 21 at the Alaska Airlines Center.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this story misstated the East boys’ regular-season conference record.
CIC All Conference
Boys
MVP — Isaiah Moses, Dimond
Coach of the Year — Chuck Martin, East
All conference
Hasaan Herrington, East
Kaeleb Johnson, East
Jaron Williams, East
Rashad King, Bartlett
Leroy Manogiamanu, Bartlett
Bishop Tosi, Bartlett
Evan Hoosier, Dimond
Carter Moore, Dimond
Jamari Lawrence, West
Joel Martinez, West
Reece Ivanoff, South
Ryan Adkins, Eagle River
Jackson Wall, Chugiak
Brandon Gall, Service
Girls
MVP — Alissa Pili, Dimond
Coach of the Year — Clarence Smith, Bartlett
All conference
Naialani Felix, West
Ah’kayzee Galloway-Davis, West
Nyeniea John, West
Amelia Uhila ,Bartlett
Kianna McWhite, Bartlett
Skye Miller, East
Kimora Nicdao, East
Maris Soland, South
Lily Weimann, South
Chasity Horn, Chugiak
Eva Palmer, Chugiak
Ariyanna Camacho-Villafuerte, Dimond
Grace Harder, Eagle River
Cadie Stoddard, Service