Cook Inlet Conference Regional Tournament Recap

Four days and the first round of the Cook Inlet Conference Regional Tournament has ended.

Today, Friday March 8th at West High School, the semi-finals will begin for the boys games at 4:30; #2 seed, WPI: .636, East Anchorage (19-6) vs. #6 seed, WPI: .539, Eagle River (11-15) and at 7:30; #1 seed, WPI: .745, Service Cougars (24-2) vs. #4 seed, WPI: .590, West Anchorage (16-8).

South Anchorage Wolverines basketball team have some things to think about this summer. Wolverine's senior laden team lost to West Anchorage 74-31 Thursday night. South seemed frozen, and as if, "one more game" was the mentality of the team except for one senior. Wolverines scored their first double digits in the second quarter by Louis Page with 2:40 left in the second quarter 46-11. Wolverine fans owe senior forward Page a farewell dinner. Page seemed to be the only one that could find the basket scoring 15 points and 6 rebounds.

Wolverines were without senior forward Jack Hobbs out on crutches.

The West Anchorage Eagles came to play Thursday night against the South Wolverines. Eagles led from the tip with energy and a defensive effort that created a 21 point deficit by the end of the first quarter 21-4. The Eagle ended the game 74-31; totaling the biggest win margin of the 2013 tournament.

Three days of the Cook Inlet Conference Regional Tournament are in the books.

The Eagles had 3 players in double figures, junior guard DeAndre Wilson 17 points and senior guard Hugh Geary 17 points, 3 rebounds. They both cumulatively shot 6-9 from the three with added assistance inside from junior forward Theo Oghide 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 assists 1 block, and 1 steal.

The former state champs and third placed Dimond Lynx lost Wednesday in a game they shot 18 percent in the first half. Lynx down 18 (32 -14) with 7:26 left in the third quarter begin to rally. The lead is dropped to five with 2:10 left in the game (48-43). This will not be the last you see the Lynx. We say farewell to 3 Lynx's, senior guard and leader for the team, Damon Cikanek. Cikanek came through and almost pulled the win off scoring twenty -four of his 27 points in the second half while contributing 7 rebounds. Lynx fans also say farewell to senior guard Payton Lauwers and Stanson Afoa.

Lynx fans may have one life line left to make the state tournament playoffs. They will have to wait until the end of the third place game to see if they advance because of WPI rankings. Dimond Lynx have the fifth highest WPI rankings at .584 among the Alaska 4A conference teams, so they gotta wait and see.

The Eagle River Boys basketball team made history today. This public school which began 2005-2006 advanced today in the Cook Inlet Conference Regional Tournament for the first time in the school's history by defeating third ranked Dimond Lynx 62-52 and former State Champion last year. The Wolves came with probably one of the best point guards in the Cook Inlet conference who electrified the crowd, with constant low angle breaking crossover moves done in a timely way to avoid the full court and double team pressure put on by the Lynx. At 1:17 left in the first quarter 10-0 a strong stench to the fans, that there was an upset in mind of the sixth ranked Wolves. Wolves' senior point guard Shaquan Rhoades put on a terrific performance with 25 points, 12 rebounds, and 3 assists, 3 steals. Senior forward Eric Roberts played with poise after receiving his fourth foul and continued to aid the Wolves as he finished with 13 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists.

The seventh ranked Bartlett Bears will not advance. Bears played second ranked East Anchorage with a final score of 79-64. With this defeat, we say farewell to senior Isaiah Sherman-Newsome. He hit 6-8 from the field and 6-7 from the free-throw-line. Sherman-Newsome played as if on a mission scoring 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists. Bear fans future looks seemingly bright, as they will return three players sophomore guard Bentu Panoam, junior forward Bradley Johnson, and freshman sensation Marquis White. White in his first Regional Tournament led all Bears in scoring with 21 points; calmly hitting 3-3 from the three and 4 assists.

East Anchorage T-birds advance to play Friday against Eagle River. TheT-Birds showed their maturity Tuesday night, learning lessons from last year's early exit in regional play. The T-birds right from the tip were aggressive and created a 9-7 first quarter lead. The T-Birds led at halftime 31-20. The T-Birds push the lead to twenty with 2:52 left in the game (77-57). Three players in double figures led the offensive assault for the T-birds. Senior forward Austin Huss led all scorers with 25 points, 6 rebounds. T-Birds senior guard Jarred Laws 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assist and senior guard Xavier Johnson 14 points, 3 rebounds as Desmond Johnson the sophomore point guard played the role of distributor and defender extremely well.

Chugiak Mustangs the eighth ranked team in Cook Inlet Conference ended their season on Monday. Mustangs took on the Service Cougars who were ranked number one all year. Mustangs gave a good fight in the first half. Mustangs shot 12/30 from the 3 point line, but lost the rebounding war 35 to 52 making it tough to win (102-68). The Mustangs say farewell to senior guard Payton Fullmer who scored 13 points, 3 rebounds and 5 assists, also senior forward Jake Browniee who had 11 points and 4 rebounds. Skyler Fullmer a junior gives fans something to smile about for next year, as he collected a double double as a guard. Fullmer ended with 24 points, shooting 4 for 7 from the 3 point line, collected 12 rebounds carrying the team as he has all year.

Service Cougars the number one ranked team all year ended their first round match up with the Chugiak Mustangs sending a message to the rest of the Cook Inlet Conference, that the Cougars are serious and rolling on all cylinders (102-68). The Cougars advance to compete against the winner of the West vs. South game on Thursday. The Cougars have only lost once in regular season, and that was against the East T-Birds, a team that is poised to see the Cougars in the CIC title game. Cougars handled their business by committee on Monday night. Cougars had 5 players in double figures setting the highest scoring total and deficit of 34 points given to an opponent so far in the 2013 Regional Tournament. The leader for the Cougars and potential player of the year Adam Klie had 27 points, 15 rebounds, and 5 assists. Klie shot 12-18 from the field and obtained the most points and rebounds by any player thus far in this year's tournament. The cougar's junior guard CJ Toomer came off the bench, shooting the lights out from the 3 point line as he hit four in the second half for a total of 17 points and 9 rebounds. The scoring committee for the Cougars also included senior guard Amu Aukusitino 15 points, 6 rebounds, senior guard Marques Robinson 14 points, and junior guard Ihro Raguindin 14 points.