In a season defined by records, Alissa Pili’s final bucket was the chef’s kiss. The University of Utah women’s basketball team’s two-time All-American out of Anchorage drilled a 3-pointer in the final seconds of Monday’s 77-66 loss to Gonzaga in the second round of...
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Prep Hoops: Top seeds Barrow and Grace girls win 3A semifinals, advance to state title game
When she was a senior in high school, 2011 Barrow grad Nicole Smith was part of a defense-minded Whalers’ girls basketball team that won the state title. Now that she’s the coach, Smith’s team plays a more wide-open offensive game, but the results are similar. The...
Prep Hoops: Falcons upset fourth-ranked West Valley in 4A boys state opener, will join East, Service, Monroe in Final 4
Wednesday was not the last dance for the Thunder Mountain boys basketball team. With the Juneau high school scheduled to be consolidated with the capital city's other high school, this is the final season for the Falcons and their last chance to win a Class 4A state...
Prep Hoops: Thunder Mountain claims school’s first 4A girls state win; Colony, Wasilla, MCCA advance
As Andrew Lee sat in the passenger seat of a vehicle driving away from the Alaska Airlines Center on Wednesday night, he tried his best to articulate the reaction to history being made by the Thunder Mountain girls basketball team. “Well, in a word, we’re elated,”...
Prep Hoops: Tino Tucker stands tall for Valdez, Mt. Edgecumbe moves to 25-0 at 3A boys state (Nome, Grace both roll)
Tino Tucker made some big plays in the second half to help the Valdez boys basketball team do just enough to hold off Barrow 34-31 Wednesday’s quarterfinals of the Class 3A state tournament. Wednesday’s game at Alaska Airlines Center was a one-possession contest for...
Prep Hoops: Barrow hits on all cylinders in 3A girls quarterfinals (Monroe, Edgecumbe & Grace also win)
The Barrow girls basketball team was hitting on all cylinders Wednesday, zooming all over the court and steamrolling Sitka 74-48 in the Class 3A state tournament quarterfinals. The top-seeded Whalers assisted on one-third of the team’s field goals, drilled seven...
Prep Hoops: Bartlett girls relish opportunity against No. 1-ranked Wasilla in 4A state tournament
Facing the state’s No. 1-ranked team in the first round of the state tournament would have some people calling foul, but Bartlett girls basketball coach Darian Lawson is calling his shot. The third-year coach wouldn’t be surprised if his eighth seeded Golden Bears...
Prep Hoops: Mt. Edgecumbe boys enter 3A state tournament riding 24-game heater; Grace’s Sophie Lentfer named Gatorade girls winner
Just because the Mt. Edgecumbe boys basketball team has a 24-0 record doesn’t mean the Braves had it easy this season. They had an 11-point fourth-quarter comeback against Sitka, blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead at Barrow and rallied late to win against Ketchikan....
Prep Hoops: Petersburg gets defensive, knocks off top-seeded Hooper Bay in 2A boys state final
A little pain at the beginning of the season paved the way for the Petersburg boys basketball team to experience ecstasy at the end. Early losses served as growing pains that later helped the Vikings sprout from pretenders to contenders, a journey that culminated on...
Prep Hoops: Lexi Cook pumps in 27 points to lift Metlakatla over Tikigaq for 2A girls state crown
There was a changing of the guard Saturday night in Class 2A girls basketball. Metlakatla wiped away years of frustration after erasing a third-quarter deficit to beat perennial powerhouse Tikigaq 51-42 in the state tournament championship game in front of 3,500 fans...
Prep Hoops: King Cove snaps Kake’s 60-game winning streak, claims Class 1A boys state title
Defense is king in King Cove and now the T-Jacks are kings of Class 1A boys basketball. Led by an active defense and late-game poise, King Cove held off defending state champion Kake 39-31 in the ASAA March Madness Alaska state title in front of 3,000 fans Saturday at...