Kake state championship hopes fall by a point

With no players over 5-foot-10 the Shishmaref Northern Lights were an improbable victor over a Kake Thunderbirds team that was senior-laden, tall and fast, but that is why state championship basketball is played.

Kake did everything they needed to do to win their semifinal game against Shishmaref, but a last-second shot could only pull the Thunderbirds to 68-67 and the buzzer sounded with the Northern Lights inbounding the ball for the 1A quarterfinal win Thursday at the 2025 March Madness Alaska Basketball State Championships inside Anchorage’s Alaska Airlines Center.

“It’s not what we wanted, not what we strived for,” Kake coach Anthony Ross said. “Not what we played all year for. It’s a tough pill to swallow. Proud of the boys. They played to the last second.”

Kake trailed 67-61 with 23.9 seconds remaining and Shishmarelf’s Norman Stenek on the free throw line. Stenek would miss two shots and Kake’s Aiden Clark rebounded the ball and threw a full-court pass that Talen Davis caught and drained a shot past the arc to pull to 67-64.

Kake fouled Shishmaref’s Elijah Barr who hit one of two for a 68-64 lead with 11.4 seconds left and after a Thunderbirds timeout Keontay Jackson did everything he could to draw a foul on a shot past the arc, but could only draw all net and pull to 68-67 as the Northern Lights celebrated.

Kake had led 53-42 starting the fourth quarter, but Shishamref went on a 10-0 run to pull to 53-52 and then took a 55-53 lead on a shot past the arc by Corben Nayokpuk.

Kake’s Jackson tipped in a missed rebound to tie the game at 55-55, but Nayokpuk hit past the arc again and Stenek added a shot for a 60-55 lead.

Jackson pulled Kake to 60-58 and after Stenek gave Shishmaref a 63-58 cushion Jackson hit a pair of free throws to pull the Thunderbirds to 62-60 with two minutes left to play.

A steal by Shishamaref’s Nayokpuk and a shot past the arc by Ivan Davis-Nayokpuk put the Northern Lights up 65-60.

Jackson hit a free throw for Kake with 48 seconds left, but Davis-Nayokpuk hit two from the charity stripe for the 67-61 lead and earning the margin that Kake would fall one point short of.

“There were parts of the game we thought we were out of it, 20 seconds to go, down five, but we battled,” Coach Ross said. “We had our opportunities. Keontay missed a wide-open layup at the end of the game. Our free throws. We made a good adjustment at half to cover their shooters but we didn’t get out on them quite quick enough and they knocked them down when they needed to.”

Said Ross of his opponents, “They are quick, they don’t hesitate. Once we score there is now down, their heads are not down, they are already past half-court shooting another shot. We had to make that adjustment at halftime of just getting back quick because they got that ball out of bounds and they were right back in our face again.”

The two teams started the game on a basket exchange that put Kake up 17-13 after eight minutes of action.

Kake’s Jackson was countering baskets by Shishmaref’s Frederick Olanna who at five-foot-seven was a small blur among the giants in the paint who fed Davis-Nayokpuk for 10 points in the second quarter.

Shishamaref would lead 32-29 at the half.

Kake opened the third quarter on a 9-0 run with scores by Jackson, T. Davis, Clark with Jackson accounting for five of the points.

Kake led by 10 points with two minutes left in the stanza, 45-35, when Olanna scored seven points in a row to pull to 47-42.

Kake’s T. Davis hit a pair of free throws, Zackery Hanson hit inside and T. Davis had a layup for the 53-44 lead heading into the final stanza.

The character of Kake was never in doubt in the game.

“As a coach that is what I am most proud of,” Coach Ross said. “Again, it’s a tough pill to swallow but the sportsmanship we had at the end, the fact that we played until that last second, we executed until the very end. I’m proud of them. It’s a tough pill, a lot of seniors on the team and it’s not the way we wanted to end it but I’m proud of them.”

Jackson scored a game-high 36 points to lead Kake, Hanson added 10, T. Davis, Devin Aceveda and Daniel Bean-Willis six each and Xzavier Munoz-Torres three. Jackson had eight rebounds, Clark six, Aceveda four, Munoz-Torres and Hanson three apiece, T. Davis two and Rodney Moler one.

The Thunderbirds were 9-18 at the free throw line, the Northern Lights 9-14. Kake had 16 turnovers, Shishmaref 11.

Davis-Nayokpuk led Shishmaref with 21 points, C. Nayokpuk 18, Olanna 15, Colton Hadley nine, Barr three and Stenek two.

Kake’s first loss puts them into winners bracket consolation play against Davis-Ramoth at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Shishmaref plays second seed Cook Inlet Academy at 7:45 p.m.

1A HOONAH GIRLS 37, SHAKTOOLIK 55

The Hoonah Braves girls hit a Shaktoolik roadblock on their path to the state title Thursday, falling to the Wolverines 55-37.

The Braves shot just 25% from the field and 18% past the arc while the Huskies hit 48% and 26%, respectively.

Hoonah held the early lead as Jora Savland, Paige Woitte, Easton Ross and Nevaeh Campbell helped the Braves take an 8-7 first-quarter lead.

Shaktoolik opened the second quarter on a 14-0 run to lead 21-7 with three minutes left to play in the stanza.

Ross hit two free throws for Hoonah to break the drought and Savland found a spot from past the arc to close to 21-12, but the Huskies made four free throws by June O’Conner and Madison Katchatag for a 25-12 lead at the half.

Shaktoolik’s Summer Sampson hit a string of shots to open the second half and the Huskies led 38-14 until Ross hit from past the arc to cut the deficit by three, 40-17.

Shaktoolik would lead 46-26 after three quarters.

Hoonah subbed liberally through the fourth quarter and all the Braves responded with strong defensive work throughout.

“We’re used to being ahead, so they (Braves) don’t know what it feels like to be behind and have to do that hard work to get back in it,” Hoonah coach Marlene Duvall said. “We just couldn’t keep up with them (Huskies)… We still played physical man-to-man defense, we played tough and are in great shape and worked hard on the boards. After the game we’ll tell them to chalk that up as a loss, talk about a couple things we need to work on and then be done with it. Tomorrow is a new day.”

Ross led Hoonah with 13 points, Woitte and Campbell added eight apiece, Savland six and Chloe Lane two. Ross and Campbell had four rebounds apiece, Savland and Woitte three apiece, Lane two, Jenna Jack and Payton Smith one apiece. Ross had eight steals, Lane three, Ava Hinchman two and Campbell one.

The Braves hit 10-15 at the free throw line, the Huskies 5-10. Hoonah had 14 turnovers, Skaktoolik 17.

Sampson led Shaktoolik with 18 points, Annette Paniptchuk 13, O’Connor 12, Autumn Curtis seven, and Katchatag five. Katchatag led with seven rebounds and Curtis led with four assists.

Hoonah (1-1) plays in a winners bracket consolation semifinal at 9:30 a.m. Friday. Shaktoolik (2-0) advances to a 4:45 p.m. semifinal.

1A KLAWOCK GIRLS 53, NUNAMIUT 25

The Klawock girls put on a showcase game when they needed it the most and rebounded from Wednesday’s opening state tournament loss to defeat Nunamiut 53-25 on Thursday in a consolation bracket game.

The Chieftains jumped out to a 16-5 first-quarter lead and then held the Amaguqs scoreless in the second quarter to take a 33-5 lead at the half.

Klawock led 44-14 after three quarters.

Léa Armour led the Chieftains with 19 points, Jayla Edenshaw 14, Kaiya Marvin eight, Keira Sanderson six, AnaRose Peratrovich, Kendra Yates and Alli Demmert two each. Marvin led with nine rebounds, Edenshaw seven, Peratrovich six, Demmert three, Armour two and Sanderson one. Edenshaw and Marvin had five steals apiece, Armour and Sanderson four apiece and Demmert one.

Klawock hit 2-5 at the free throw line, Nunamiut 1-8. The Chieftains had 18 turnovers, the Amaguqs 34.

Anna Nukapigak scored 17 points for Nunamiut, Asialuk Woods and Eileen Panigeo three apiece and Calleigh Gordon two.

Klawock plays in a 9:30 a.m. consolation bracket semifinal. Nunamiut is eliminated from the tournament.

LATE GAMES

2A HAINES GIRLS 22, GLENNALLEN 37

The Haines Glacier Bears opened there 2A state tournament in a slugfest with the Glennallen Panthers, falling 37-22 despite a hard-fought game

Glennallen led 6-5 after one quarter and Haines took an 11-10 lead into halftime.

Glennallen outscored Haines 20-8 in the third period for a 30-19 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

Emma Dohrn led Haines with 10 points, Ashlyn Ganey six, Ari’el Godinez-Long and Sydney Salmon three apiece. Ganey had 10 rebounds, Salmon eight, Godinez-Long and Caroline Eliott six apiece, and Dorn four.

The Glacier Bears were 3-8 at the free throw line, the Panthers 7-14.

Cheyenne Fields led Glennallen with 11 points, Koiana Cooley 10, Alianna Stone eight, Brejanay Stone-Jordan six and Rene Rock Albert two.

Haines plays an elimination game against Metlakatla at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Glennallen plays a semifinal against Chevak at 3:15 p.m.

1A SKAGWAY BOYS 71, SCAMMON BAY 48

The seven seed Skagway boys stayed alive in the 1A state tournament with a 71-48 win over six seed Scammon Bay on Thursday.

Skagway jumped out to a 25-6 lead after eight minutes and were never threatened in the game.

The Panthers led 41-17 at the half and 56-32 starting the final eight minutes.

Royce Borst led Skagway with 25 points, Camden Lawson added 15, Landon Rodig 12, Ryder Calver eight, Zane Coughran six, Arthur Aribam three and Malcolm Lawson two. Calver led with eight rebounds and Borst seven. C. Lawson led with five assists and Rodig led with four steals.

The Panthers hit 21-31 at the free throw line, the Eagles 9-15.

Aiden George led Scammon Bay with nine points, Dane Uttereyuk eight, Christian Chandler and Albert Yunak six apiece, Dallas Kaganak and Charlie Kaganak five apiece, Toby Sundown, William Rivers and Mica Uttereyuk three each.

Skagway plays a consolation semifinal at 12:30 p.m. Friday. Scammon Bay is eliminated from the tournament.

• Contact Klas Stolpe at klas.stolpe@juneauempire.com.