The Homer girls and boys basketball teams played at the 34th Annual Rus Hitchcock Nikiski Tip Off Tournament on Thursday through Saturday, before hosting Kenai Central in a Peninsula Conference matchup Tuesday.

The Mariners were swept by the Kardinals.

The Kardinals girls won 34-28 to move to 1-0 in the league and 10-0 overall, while Homer dropped to 0-1 and 2-4. The Kenai boys triumphed 63-26 to move to 1-0 and 7-3, while Homer is now 0-1 and 0-7.

Emma Beck powered the Kenai girls with 21 points, while Malerie Nunn had seven, and Chloe Goldsby and Emilee Wilson each had three.

Lawson Alexson paced Homer with seven, while Sydney Shelby and Bethany Engebretsen had six, Minadora Reutov had three, and Channing Lowney, Lillie Mae Kuhn and Emily Owens all had two.

For the Kenai boys, Daniel McRorie led the charge with 16 points, while Wade James had 15, Bridger Beck had 14, Carnell Gump had 10, Luke Armstrong and Jakob Kvasnikoff each had three, and Roc Riggle had two.

Nathan Overson paced Homer with 10 points, while Lucas Story and Morgan Techie each had four, Lance Seneff and Trent Fell each had three, and Henry Wedvik had two.

At the Rus Hitchcock Nikiski Tip Off, the Homer girls finished with a 2-1 record to take second in the tournament, while the Mariners boys finished 0-3. Both the Valdez girls and boys swept the round-robin tournament titles with 3-0 records.

Both the Valdez and Homer girls went into Saturday with 2-0 records, making that game the championship game of the tournament. Valdez won 37-23.

For the Buccaneers, Destiny Day and Carsyn Hinkle each had nine, Masen Holmes had eight, Lily Brown had six, Rylee Wade had three and Carlie VonBuskirk had two.

Lawson Alexson had eight to pace Homer, while Sydney Shelby had six, Minadora Reutov had four, Lillie Mae Kuhn had three and Hannah Stonorov had two.

The Homer girls started the tournament Thursday by defeating Kotzebue 47-34, taking a 16-7 lead after the first quarter.

For the Mariners, Reutov had 17 points, Alexson and Shelby had 12, Bethany Engebretsen had four and Kuhn had two points. For Kotzebue, Lindsy Greene and Mackenzie Swanson had 11, Destiny Hoffman had five, Siearrah Thomas had four and Ashlyn Nelson had three.

Friday, Homer defeated Nikiski 36-31.

For the Mariners, Reutov led the way with 13 points, while Shelby and Alexson each had 10. Kuhn pitched in three.

Kailey Stynsberg led a balanced scoring attack for the Bulldogs with six points, while Maggie Grenier and Ashlynne Playle each had five, Shelby Burman and Avery White had four, Savanna Stock had three, and Avery Ellis and Ember Nelson had two.

Thursday, the Homer boys opened up tournament play with a 68-49 loss to Kotzebue.

Trent Fell paced the Mariners with 11 points, while Einar Pederson had seven, Niko Sulczyski had six, Riley Huffman, Morgan Techie and Nathan Overson had five, Lucas Story and Theo McDonough had four, and Lance Seneff had two.

For Kotzebue, Zach Roetman had 14, Devin Sheldon had 13, Ayden Wasley and Kevin Schaeffer each had 12, Tyran Lane had 11, and Bron Baldwin, Gage Swanson and Timmy Gammett each had two.

Friday, Homer dropped a close one to Nikiski, 48-47.

For Nikiski, Charlie Chamberlain had 18, Drew Handley had 11, Seth Payne had eight, Braeden Porter had six and David Weathers had five. Techie had 11 for Homer, while Sulezyski had 10, Story and Fell had seven, Overson had six, Seneff had four and McDonough had two.

Saturday, the Valdez boys finished off their tourney title by toppling Homer 62-37.

Payton Gage had 26 for the Buccaneers, while Bryce Tucker had 18, Dillon Fowler had 11, Gavin Morris had five and Owen Watson had two.

For Homer, Fell had 13, Techie had nine, Story had six, Sulezyski had three, and Riley Huffman, Seneff and Overson had two.

Kotzebue won the sportsmanship award at the tournament for both the girls and boys.

Payton Gage of Valdez was the boys MVP, while the all-tourney team was Bryce Tucker of Valdez, Tino Tucker of Valdez, Ayden Wesley of Kotzebue, Tyran Lane of Kozebue and Drew Handley of Nikiski.

The girls MVP was Masen Holmes of Valdez, while the all-tourney team was Sydney Shelby of Homer, Lawson Alexson of Homer, Zaina McConnell of Kotzebue, Destiny Day of Valdez and Savanna Stock of Nikiski.

The Scrappy Award went to Allen Watson of Valdez and Maggie Grenier of Nikiski.

The free-throw champs were Kameron Bird of Nikiski and Carlie VanBuskirk of Valdez, while the 3-point champs were David Weathers of Nikiski and Lillie Mae Kuhn of Homer.

The Valdez girls and boys won the Hot Shot competition, while the Post-Up Player competition went to Dillon Fowler of Valdez and Lawson Alexson of Homer.

Homer High School C team player Jai Badajos in Alice Witte Gym on Friday, Jan. 13, 2023. The C team competed against Kenai Central High School. (Photo Emilie Springer/Homer News)