The Unalaska Raiders are 1-3 after two days of play in the Rally the Regions Hardwood Classic at Dimond High, but the fact the teams are here at all is a bit of a victory.
The Raiders had a heck of a time getting out of Dutch Harbor. The boys and girls teams were supposed to leave on Dec. 30, but snow and wind canceled flights that day and the next day.
The teams managed to fly out Wednesday and arrived in Anchorage around 4:30 p.m. — just in time for the 6:30 p.m. girls game and the 8 p.m. boys game, according to tournament organizers.
The Unalaska girls suffered a 50-34 loss to defending tournament champion Wrangell, and the boys took Cordova to overtime before losing 55-48. On Thursday, the girls rebounded with a win and the boys lost again.
At least the Raiders made it to Anchorage. The 12-team Rally the Regions tournament had to find a last-minute replacement for the Chevak girls, who weren’t able to make it to Bethel on Tuesday because of bad weather (and there were no flights from Chevak to Bethel on Wednesday).
As luck would have it, Hooper Bay’s girls team was stranded in Anchorage and was able to fill in for the Comets.
The tournament continues through Saturday.
Across town at Anchorage Christian, 16 teams are battling for boys and girls championships in the annual ACS Invitational, a three-day tournament that tipped off Thursday.
The field includes four reigning state champions — the ACS boys and girls teams, which swept last year’s Class 3A titles, and the Point Hope boys and girls teams, which swept the Class 2A titles.
In Thursday’s late boys game, only three points separated the Class 3A champs from the Class 2A champs -- Anchorage Christian 80, Point Hope 77.
ACS got big games from Daekwon Houston (23 points, 11 rebounds), J.D. McGee (18 points, 8 rebounds) and Matt Sanders (14 points, 9 rebounds) to offset a 25-point game by Point Hope’s Henry Kowunna. Kaesyn Hill added 16 points and 13 rebounds for the Harpooners.
In girls action, Anchorage Christian crushed Bethel 74-27 behind Destiny Reimers’ 23 points, 14 rebounds and five assists.
In other games, the Barrow boys and girls teams and the Eielson boys and girls teams all scored victories, as did the Kenai Central boys and a girls team from Astoria, Oregon.
ACS Denali Auto Glass/Pepsi Invitational
Thursday’s games
Girls
Astoria (OR) 66, Kotzebue 39
Barrow 51, Kenai 34
Eielson 52, Point Hope 46
ACS 74, Bethel 27
Boys
Kenai 44, Kotzebue 42
Barrow 55, Homer 47
Eielson 66, Bethel 56
ACS 80, Point Hope 77
Friday’s games
Girls
9 a.m. — Kotzebue vs. Kenai
Noon — Point Hope vs. Bethel
4 p.m. — Astoria vs. Barrow
7 p.m. — Eielson vs. ACS
Boys
10:30 a.m. — Kotzebue vs. Homer
1:30 p.m. — Bethel vs. Point Hope
5:30 p.m. — Kenai vs. Barrow
8:30 p.m. — Eielson vs. ACS
Rally the Regions (at Dimond High)
Thursday’s results
Girls
Unalakleet 52, Wrangell 46
Unalaska 47, Petersburg 32
Tanalian 49, Hooper Bay 36
Boys
Cordova 59, Unalakleet 43
Petersburg 46, Unalaska 36
Tanalian 61, Chevak 49l
Friday’s games
Girls
9:30 a.m. — Unalaska vs. Hooper Bay
12:30 p.m. — Wrangell vs. Tanalian
4:30 p.m. — Unalakleet vs. Petersburg
Boys
11 a.m. — Unalaska vs. Chevak
3 p.m. — Cordova vs. Tanalian
6 p.m. — Unalakleet vs. Petersburg