The opening rounds of the Peninsula Conference Basketball Championships featured five games, two upsets and three higher seeds advancing in the double-elimination format tournament at Cook Inlet Academy.
Girls First Round Results
Ninilchik Girls 31 – Lumen Christi 27
The Ninilchik girls opened the girls bracket with the tournament’s first upset as the Wolverine girls defeated Lumen Christi 31-27. The victory was the first of the season over a conference opponent for the #5 seeded Ninilchik girls. Isabella Koch recorded 11 points to lead Ninilchik. Ninilchik advances to a winner’s, semi-final game against the tournament’s #1 seed Nikolaevsk on Thursday at 5:30 p.m.
Cook Inlet Academy Girls 49 – Birchwood 21
The CIA girls controlled play throughout against Birchwood in first round action between the #2 seed Eagles and #3 seed Warriors. The Eagles were lead by Adara Warren with 22 points. The Cook Inlet girls have a bye until the conference championship game on Friday, March 1st at 7:30 p.m.
The #1 seed Nikolaevsk girls earned a first-round bye and open play on Thursday against Ninilchik at 5:30 p.m.
Boys First Round Results
Lumen Christi Boys 72 – Kodiak ESS 28
The #2 seed Lumen Christi boys overpowered Kodiak ESS 72-28, lead by Andrew Howard with 20 points. Lumen advances to play Ninilchik at 7 p.m. on Thursday.
Ninilchik Boys 52 – Cook Inlet Academy 24
The #3 seed Ninilchik boys controlled play against Cook Inlet Academy for a 52-24 victory over the Eagles. Garrett Koch scored 20 points for the Wolverines; Mason Zeigler scored seven for the Eagles. Ninilchik advances to the winner’s, semi-final game on Thursday to face Lumen Christi at 7 p.m. Cook Inlet enters the double-back round with a 1 p.m. Thursday game against Kodiak ESS.
Nanwalek Boys 54 – Birchwood Christian 50
The #5 seed Nanwalek recorded the only first-round upset with a 54-50 victory over Birchwood Christian. Uriah Huntsman scored 22 points for the Nanwalek Eagles, including 15 in the second half leading Nanwalek’s comeback victory. Nanwalek faces #1 seed Nikolaevsk on Thursday in the 4 p.m. winner’s bracket contest.
Peninsula Conference Tournament Schedule: Thursday, February 28th
1 p.m. CIA Boys vs Kodiak ESS
2:30 p.m. Lumen Girls vs Birchwood
4 p.m. Nikolaevsk Boys vs Nanwalek
5:30 p.m. Nikolaevsk Girls vs Ninilchik
7 p.m. Ninilchik Boys vs Lumen
