Luke Gilbert dropped eight three-pointers and a tournament high 28 points on peninsula rival Kenai in a 68-59 loss to the Kardinals in the final game of the season for the Mariners in Wasilla, Saturday.
The game began in the same fashion as all the other Homer-Kenai contests this year tightly.
Gilbert hit three three-pointers in the first quarter and the Mariners grabbed the early lead 18-15. The Mariners bumped the lead to 10 points in the second quarter 33-23 before Kenai's Geoffrey Gemmell started catching fire. Gemmell scored 10 quick points and Barnes added 6 points in the second quarter as Kenai closed the lead to one-point at the half, 32-33.
The Kardinals came out of the break as hot as they entered it and built an 11 point lead of their own early in the third quarter that they never relinquished.
All told, Barnes, Gemmell and company had put together a 21-2 run, the largest of either team this season.
The Mariners tried to climb and shoot their way back into the game in the fourth quarter, as Gilbert hit four three-pointers. But Kenai held on for the victory.
Mariner Coach Steve Smith said Barnes had given the Mariners fits all year, and the tournament game was no exception.
"Nick Barnes showed us why he belongs on that first conference team," he said. "It doesn't matter who guarded him."
Barnes finished with 25 points and Gemmell finished with 21 for the Kardinals. Steven Golson finished with nine for the Mariners and Casey Siekaniec and Jeremy Kuipers each added 7.
Gilbert, plagued by foul-trouble all game hit just three buckets in arguably the most exciting game of the tournament, a Mariner 54-52 overtime victory over Soldotna Friday.
The Mariners grabbed a 7-point lead going into the fourth quarter 36-29, but the Stars charged back to within three with five seconds left in the game.
From there they needed a miracle shot to stay in the game. And they got one from the most unlikely Star. Freshman Brook Carver, who at the time had only scored 2 points, and wasn't even on the roster the last time these two teams met, hit a desperation 30-foot three-pointer that sent the crowd in a frenzy and the Stars into overtime.
Stunned but not shaken, the Mariners held the Stars to a single point in the overtime. Golson was fouled on a three point attempt, but made only one of three free-throws to tie the game at 52.
Soldotna's Ryan Hall, dogged defensively by Golson all game, lost the ball out of bounds with 25 seconds to play.
The Mariners pushed the ball down court, Golson shot a three and missed. Kuipers got the rebound, shot the ball, was knocked to the floor, and missed the shot. But Casey Siekaniec got the rebound and put up a shot that dropped when the buzzer sounded, giving the Mariners the victory.
The Mariners started the tournament against the heavily-favored Palmer Moose on Friday, but showed no signs early of giving in. The Mariners took a first quarter lead 10-8, and stayed with the explosive Palmer squad in the second, trailing by only three points at half-time.
The Moose extended their lead to 45-38 by the end of the third quarter, behind a couple of three-pointers by Charlie Bentt. But when Gilbert hit his second three in the game early in the fourth quarter the lead was just five points.
"(The game against) Palmer was the best we ever played," said Gilbert. "They are the best team in our region and we kept with them into the third."
From there the Moose pounded it into their two 6-foot, 7-inch post players. Jesse Prins scored 10 of his 12 points in the fourth, mostly on tip-ins over the smaller Mariner players. And the Moose pulled away for the 65-49 victory.
Golson finished with a team-high 13 points for the Mariners and Gilbert added 10.
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