The Mariners secured the top seed in the south division of the Northern Lights Conference with a win over Skyview on Saturday.
After a sluggish start, the Mariners refocused on getting the ball into the hands of center Reba Temple in the third quarter.
Temple responded, scoring on six straight possessions to give Homer the lead.
The Panthers clawed back to take a 38-37 lead after three quarters, but the Mariner defense stiffened, holding Skyview to just seven points in the fourth quarter.
Down the stretch, the trailing Skyview team was forced to foul to gain possession of the ball.
But Homer guard Claire Siekaniec hit seven of 10 free throws in the quarter to give the Mariners the much needed 54-45 victory.
Siekaniec finished with a game-high 15 points,while Reba Temple had 14 points and Kayla Creamer added 10 points. Shelley Heffner paced Skyview with 14 points, while Nicole VanRyzin added 13 points.
On Friday, a controversial three-pointer at the buzzer gave Kenai the game and a senior night to remember.
With 0.3 seconds to play, and down by one point, junior Damaris Craig caught the ball and shot the three as the buzzer sounded for the 35-33 victory.
The play was controversial because the rules stipulate that a team needs at least 0.7 seconds on the clock in order to have enough time to catch the ball and take a shot.
A player can tip a ball into the basket on an inbounds play with just 0.3 seconds remaining, but they can’t catch and shoot, like Craig did.
Regardless of the call, Mariner Coach Tim Daugharty said the difference in the game was Homer’s eight turnovers in the fourth quarter.
The Kardinals controlled every quarter in the game except for the third quarter, and that quarter almost cost Kenai the game. Kenai led 22-14 at halftime but trailed 28-23 heading into the fourth quarter.
Allison Horazdovsky paced the Mariners with 14 points.
On Monday, the Mariner form improved, as they fought back against second-ranked Wasilla before losing by 11.
Homer outscored Wasilla 33-23 in the first and third quarters, but fell prey to a 15-0 run in the second quarter and an effective stall tactic down the stretch.
Homer ended the first quarter with a 12-9 lead. But in the second, Wasilla hit three straight three-pointers to take back the lead.
Homer settled down in the third and passed the ball to Temple, its leading scorer in the game, repeatedly to pull within one point.
The fourth quarter remained close through the first three minutes, but Wasilla maintained at least a one-point lead throughout.
With 4:46 to play and a 49-48 lead, Wasilla called a timeout. Wasilla then ate nearly four minutes off the clock with a stalling offensive set and pulled away late by hitting a pair of shots and three-out-of-four free throws down the stretch.
Despite the loss, Daugharty said the team was upbeat after the game.
“We now know we can play with any of the teams in this region,” Daugharty said.
“It’s been an encouraging season.”
The regular season concludes this weekend against the Bears.
Kodiak is the bottom seed from the south division, but that doesn’t mean they are a push-over, Daugharty said.
“They have a couple good players and a good coach,” Daugharty said. “They’ll be tough.”
Ben Stuart can be reached at ben.stuart@homer news.com.
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