The Homer girls took the round-robin Seahawk Classic in Seward with a 3-0 record over the weekend in the round robin tournament. The Homer boys held a 1-2 record at the tournament, thanks to a close win against Glennallen.
Homer Winter Carnival fast approaches
The Mariners face another three-game tournament at the Homer Winter Carnival today through Saturday. The first match-up today pits the Homer girls against Dimond JV at 6:30 p.m., followed by the boys’ game against Unalaska at 8 p.m. Both boys and girls teams play Bristol Bay on Friday: girls at 6:30 p.m. and boys at 8 p.m. The weekend will finish off with girls and boys both playing Ninilchik at 4 and 5:30 p.m., respectively.
After travelling to Seward for the last two weekends, the girls are looking forward to playing at home for the Homer Winter Carnival tournament, said girls varsity basketball head coach Chad Felice.
“Practice this week will just be focusing on getting better on both ends of the ball,” Felice said.
The boys team goal is to improve with each game, as the young team with few upperclassmen faces off against some notoriously difficult opponents, said boys varsity basketball head coach Weston Carroll.
“(We’re) working on trying to have more patience on offense and continue to work on defense. It will be tough games,” Carroll said. “I haven’t heard too much about Bristol Bay, but I know Ninilchik and Unalaska are supposed to be good teams. And I’m sure Bristol Bay will be tough too.”
Girls beat Valdez, 62-49
The Mariner girls’ 62-49 win over Valdez on Saturday completed their dominance at the Seward tournament.
Senior Madison Akers paced the Mariners with 17 points, while senior Kayla Stafford had 15 and senior Aurora Waclawski added 14.
“Overall I think we got better over the weekend, which is always the goal,” Felice said.
Boys fall to Valdez, 47-34
On the boys side, Valdez defeated Homer 47-34. Sophomore Charles Rohr led the Mariners with 10 points, including three triples.
The Buccaneers led 21-9 at the half, then held on from there.
“It was pretty good weekend. There was improvement in lots of areas, so I’m happy about that,” Carroll said. “A couple of the kids were fighting a cold and feeling sick, so there was a little less energy on the last day.”
Tournament host loses to Homer girls, 49-33
The Homer girls took care of business against the host team Seahawks with a 49-33 win Friday.
Akers continued her terrific season with 17 points for Homer before fouling out, while Waclawksi chipped in 12.
Homer pressed early and grabbed an 18-10 first-quarter lead en route to a 29-17 lead at halftime.
“We stepped up our defense when it was needed most. I’m really proud of everyone,” Felice said.
Homer loses in tight Seward game, 63-60
In boys’ action, Seward grabbed a 63-60 win over Homer on Friday.
Seward staked out an early 17-8 lead, then pushed it to 32-21 at the half. However, the Seahawks had to hold off a determined charge by Homer to win by three points. The Mariners outscored Seward 23-16 in the fourth quarter.
Homer girls start with Glennallen win, 63-43
The Mariner girls played Glennallen Feb. 4, finishing the game with a 63-43 victory. Akers scored 30 points, followed by senior Sam Draves scoring 12 points, Waclawski with 8 points and Stafford with 7 points.
“We led from the start and keep around a 20-point lead the whole game,” Felice said. “We just had a real good team win. Everyone contributed.”
Last second hoop means Homer boys win, 48-47
Homer boys rallied with a literal last-second win against Glennallen on Thursday.
“We were down 10 and then came back for a one-point win,” Carroll said.
Sophomore Jordan Beachy scored at the buzzer for the last point.
Anna Frost can be reached at anna.frost@homernews.com. The Peninsula Clarion contributed to this report.