General announcements
All Spectators must be on the player guest list. Two spectators per participant per game. Gym will be cleared after each contest. All spectators will wear a face covering and have a signed KPBSD COVID Waiver.
All Homer events will be streamed on the Homer Mariners You Tube Channel.
Upcoming events
Hockey
The Homer hockey team will travel for a game against Soldotna High School at 7 p.m. this Saturday at the Soldotna Sports Center. Then, the team travels for another away game against Kenai Central High School at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 at the Kenai Multi-Purpose Facility.
Basketball
Homer will host Seward High School this Saturday, with the girls varsity team playing at 3 p.m. and boys varsity at 4:30 p.m. Then, the basketball teams will host Kenai Central High School early next week, with the varsity girls playing at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 2 and the varsity boys playing at 7:30 p.m.
Nordic skiing
The cross-country ski team travels to Seward this weekend for a meet at noon on Saturday at Seward High School.
In review
Basketball
The Kenai Peninsula’s basketball season started last Thursday for teams in Homer, Nikiski, Kenai and Soldotna.
Thursday
The Nikiski Bulldogs hosted the Mariners in their season opener. The Lady Mariners fell to Nikiski 36-33, but the boys came out victorious against the Bulldogs, 55-31.
In the girls game, Homer’s Luara Inama had 11 points, and Delilah Harris contributed 10. For Nikiski, Lillian Carstens made 19 points, while Kinlee Jeffreys had 11.
Nikiski girls 36, Homer 33
In the boys game, Parker Lowney led Homer with 13 points, helped out by Eyoab Knapp with 12 and Clayton Beachy with 10. For Nikiski, Austin Stafford had 12 points and Brady Bostic made 11.
A balanced scoring attack led the visiting Mariners past the Bulldogs.
Friday
On Friday, the season also started for Ninilchik and Seward. The Ninilchik Wolverines took on Kenai Central’s C team last Friday. The Ninilchik girls came out on top, winning 26-25, while the boys fell to the Kardinals 36-35.
In the girls game, Ninilchik’s Rebecca Okonek came up with none points, followed by Jade Robuck, Rian Ofstad and Taylor Rickard, who all contributed four points. Wolverines Autumn Calabrese and Mia Denboer had two points each. In the boys game, Cole Hadro and George Nelson each made 11 points, and were helped by Thomas Nelson with five points, Celony Allen with four, Blake Lemons for three and Brandon Ducker with one.
Saturday
Rounding out the weekend was a matchup between Ninilchik and Homer’s junior varsity teams on Saturday, in which the Homer girls came out on top while the Ninilchik boys beat the Mariners.
The Homer JV girls team won 37-22. Ninilchik’s Jade Robuck scored 11 points, while Rebecca Okonek had five, Rian Ofstad added four and Mia Denboer contributed two.
In the boys game, the Wolverines topped the JV Mariners 79-53. For Ninilchik, George Nelson racked up 24 points. He was helped by Jaylin Scott who added 17, as well as Thomas Nelson with 14, Cole Hadro with 12, Brandon Ducker with six, Cody Blossom with three, Blake Lemons with two and Wyatt McClosky with one.
Tuesday
Both Homer varsity teams traveled to Soldotna on Tuesday for games against Soldotna High School. The girls fell 56-17 while the boys were victorious at 43-40.
The Homer girls are now 0-2. For the Stars, Morgan Bouschor had 19 points to pace the Stars, while Autumn Fischer had 11 and Drysta Crosby-Schneider added 10. For Homer, Laura Inama’s led the team with nine points.
The Homer boys are now 2-0 for the season. Clayton Beachy had 14 points to lead the Mariners, while Josiah Raymond had 11. For the Stars, Ethan Sewell had 12 and Nate Johnson added 10.
Nordic skiing
This past Saturday the Homer cross-country ski team went up the road for a meet at the Tsalteshi Trails near Soldotna, against Seward, Kenai Central and Soldotna High Schools.
The Homer boys did not have enough skiers to qualify for an official team place. Seamus McDonough placed 23rd for Homer in the boys 7.5 kilometer freestyle race. Skiers raced individually, and times were combined for an overall team time.
The Mariner girls placed third overall with a time of 1 hour, 49 minutes, 21 seconds. Ireland Styvar was Homer’s top finisher in the girls race, taking sixth place. Zoe Stonorov took 11th place, Eryn Field was 13th, Frida Renner was 19th, Elena Badajos was 20th and Leah Dunn was 26th.
The Peninsula Clarion contributed to this report.
