The Rewind: 3 UAA athletes earn weekly GNAC honors; Bettye Davis East and Nome boys basketball teams stay unbeaten

Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The 2024 high school basketball season saw both of the reigning state champions at the 4A and 3A levels remain undefeated, and boys prep hockey saw a showdown between rivals for a great cause. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage had a trio of student-athletes honored for their standout performances. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

The past week in the high school hockey season saw two of the top teams in the Cook Inlet Conference face off Thursday night in a unique event to promote inclusion through sport. Dawning the emblem of Batman, defending Division I state champion West bested rival Chugiak which sported the shield of Captain America in a 4-2 tightly contested Partner’s Club Superhero Hockey Game.

“I thought Chugiak played a great game, they’re well-coached and gave us everything we wanted and then some,” West head coach Rob Larkey said. “They played really tough, and so did we. It was a back-and-forth seesaw battle.”

Players from both teams also had the handwritten names of special education students from their respective schools’ Life Skills programs on the nameplates on the back of their jerseys.

“To see the smiles on the kids’ faces and just them wearing our jerseys means the world,” said West forward senior Paul Dittrich who scored one of the Eagles’ goals.

[Special education highlighted in Partner’s Club Superhero Hockey Game between high school rivals]

In high school hoops action, the defending boys state champions at the highest levels in the Last Frontier stayed undefeated by winning all the games they played in the respective tournaments they competed in. Two-time defending 4A state champion Bettye Davis East improved its state-best streak of consecutive wins against Alaska competition to 26 straight at the Colony Basketball Classic out in the Mat-Su. Meanwhile in town, defending 3A champion Nome-Beltz ran the table at the Wolverine Classic and bested host South for a 19th straight win in the tournament championship game led by tournament MVP and University of Alaska Anchorage commit Finn Gregg.

[Grace Christian boys embrace the challenge of playing 4A basketball opponents full time]

Two of the top individual talents in the state on the girls side faced off for the first time in a sanctioned high school game last Tuesday night. Star freshman Kennedi Gaines led Bartlett to a 53-46 win over Service and sophomore sensation Aryanna Watson in the first of many CIC clashes in budding rivalry. Gaines scored a game-high 27 points while Watson led her team with 18.

On the college scene, a trio of UAA athletes received Great Northwest Athletic Conference Player of the Week honors for their outstanding individual performances this past week. Sophomore sprinter Joshua Caleb continued his historically blazing start to the indoor track and field season by breaking the conference record in the 400 meters with a time of 47.22 seconds at the University of Washington Indoor Preview. It marked the second-fastest time in Division II so far this season, topped the GNAC record of 47.61 seconds set by Simon Fraser’s Vladislav Tsygankov in 2017 and earned him track athlete of the week honors in the process.

Caleb’s teammate Marc Mercier earned his first-career field athlete of the week honors after recording a conference-leading long jump provisional qualifying mark of 23-8.75 feet (7.23 meters). It tied the sophomore from Darmstadt, Germany, for 24th on the Division II performance list and was the sixth-best long jump in conference history.

After leading all GNAC players in rebounding this past week with 11 per game and averaging 17 points, two blocks and two steals per game while shooting 61.9% from the field, UAA’s Tori Hollingshead earned the second women’s basketball player of the week honors of her career and first of the season. The senior post helped the Seawolves extend their win streak to six in a row and stay unbeaten against conference opponents with home triumphs over Simon Fraser and Western Washington.

“Tori stepped up big time for us this past week as we dealt with an injury that required her to play a lot more minutes,” UAA head coach Ryan McCarthy said in a statement. “We have seen Tori take over in games before, but what impressed me most was her focus and improvement on the defensive end. She can switch out onto guards and bother them with her length, and she is a very good rim protector. She brought her best on both ends of the floor and played some of her best basketball last week.”

On the men’s side, UAA nearly squandered a 20-point lead and a career night from junior guard Tyler Burraston in a stunning 76-74 loss to in-state rival UAF on Saturday afternoon. Burraston led the team in their lone action of the week with a game-high 23 points that including going an impressive 7-of-14 on 3-pointers.

“We played very well for 29 minutes and unfortunately it’s a 48-minute game and I think that we got a little happy with ourselves after we got the big lead and stopped playing,” UAA head coach Rusty Osborne said. “This is a conference game. Teams aren’t going to stop playing, especially teams with pride and they have a lot of pride. They kept banging at it and we didn’t match their intensity and execute down the stretch.”

[UAA men’s basketball suffers third straight loss after blowing double-digit lead to UAF]

The UAA hockey team fared much better in its tightly contested matchup with the Nanooks later that night. Thanks to a clutch goal from freshman forward Ryan Johnson, the Seawolves were able to take a rare 2-1 lead in the annual Governor’s Cup series with a shootout victory.

“We went from being pretty pumped to a little down but it’s all good,” Johnson said. “It’s always tough letting a lead go, but we’re resilient. We did our job.”

[UAA hockey takes Governor’s Cup lead in shootout win]

The UAA gymnastics team opened its 2025 season on the road with a trip to California where they competed in a pair of quad meets. Some of their notable performances included freshman Hannah Boyd recording a 38.425 all-around score and sophomore Jamilia Duffus excelling on both vault and bars on Sunday at the University of California-Davis quad meet.

“I think we got through some of our opening-night jitters from Friday and showed tremendous improvement up and down the lineup,” UAA head coach Marie-Sophie Boggasch said in a statement. “We’re encouraged to make progress today and excited to work on the details and impress our home fans next week in Anchorage.”

The Anchorage Wolverines were back on the road this past weekend but didn’t have to go far as they traveled to Soldotna to play the Kenai River Brown Bears in a two-game weekend series and spilt. They won the first game on Friday 4-1 after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first period. Their four-game win streak was short-lived, however, despite drawing first blood with the first goal in the second game but they went on to get outscored 3-0 in the third period in a 3-1 loss.

Alaska Pacific University cross-country skier Rosie Brennan has returned from World Cup racing in Europe to focus on a health issue. In an Instagram post, the Anchorage Olympian wrote: “It’s been very challenging to get the medical care I need overseas and without friends, family, and my coach so I’ve made the decision to return to the U.S. to try to move forward more effectively.”

Brennan is currently in 28th place in the World Cup standings with 393 points. She wrote in the Instagram post she hopes to return this season but is prioritizing healing.

“When your livelihood depends on your body, these are the things nightmares are made of. As with all things out of our control and unknown, I’m crushed and scared and don’t know what the future holds. But I know I need to be in a place where I can physically and mentally heal, focusing one day at a time in hopes of returning before the season is over.”

Alaska stars shining Outside

Anchorage’s Sayvia Sellers stayed hot last week with a pair of explosive scoring outings in which she tied the highest- and second-highest single-game point totals of her career in back-to-back games for the University of Washington women’s basketball team. In an 82-69 loss to the University of Michigan last Wednesday, she tied her career-high in points with a game-high 30 to lead the Huskies that included draining a trio of 3-pointers and going 7-of-7 on free throws. The former Anchorage Christian School star and two-time Gatorade Player of the Year followed it up with a 24-point outing in an 87-58 win over Purdue University on Saturday in which she led the team in scoring. That performance included going 5-of-8 from behind the arc and she also logged a game-high six assists.

Anchorage’s Edefuan Ulofoshio was active for the fifth straight game and sixth time this season on Sunday in the Buffalo Bills’ 27-25 win over the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs. His only snaps came on special teams, where he played 11, the second-fewest of his rookie campaign since he played eight in his regular-season debut in Week 9. He’ll be playing against the two-time defending champion Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC championship game Sunday for a chance to advance to the Super Bowl.

Anchorage’s Jeremy Swayman helped propel the Boston Bruins to a commanding 6-2 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning last Tuesday as the starting goaltender. The former South standout made a season-high 43 saves to earn a second straight win in front of the net and 16th of the season.

Fairbanks’ Daishen Nix recorded 14 points in his debut game for the Rio Grande Valley Vipers in a 133-110 loss to the Austin Spurs last Friday. His point total was the second-highest on the team and he tied for the team lead in assists with three to go along with three rebounds and a steal.

Anchorage’s Kaeleb Johnson recorded his eighth 20-plus points scoring outing for the Vancouver Island University men’s basketball team in a 73-66 loss to Camosun last Friday. The former East standout led the Mariners with 23 points which tied for his second-highest total of the season and did so by going 6-of-6 from the free throw line and knocking down a trio of long balls.

Anchorage’s Mikayla Johnson recorded back-to-back double-digit scoring efforts for the University of Pittsburgh women’s basketball team last week, bring her total of such games this season to 11. After dropping 11 points in an 83-67 loss to North Carolina State University on Thursday, the former Bartlett standout led the team in scoring with a game-high 18 points in a 75-58 loss to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill on Sunday in which she shot 50% from behind the arc by going 4-of-8.

Anchorage’s Angelline Nageak had her streak of consecutive games reaching double figures in scoring for the Adam’s State University women’s basketball team snapped at five in a row this past week but she was able to help lead her team to a pair of victories. In an 82-59 win over Chadron State College last Thursday, the former Dimond standout was highly efficient shooting from the field, going 3-of-5 on 3-pointers and 4-of-4 from the charity stripe to finish third on the team with 15 points and reached 1,000 for her career. She also led the Grizzlies with seven assists and five steals. In that same game, her teammate and fellow Alaskan, Mykaila Pickard of Anchorage Christian School fame, tied her season-high in points with eight and recorded a season-high three steals.

Palmer’s Patrick McMahon helped lead the Montana State University men’s basketball team to a pair of back-to-back victories this past week by reaching double figures in scoring in each. The former Colony High star and Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year finished fourth on the Bobcats in scoring with 12 points in an 80-71 win over Weber State University last Saturday and followed it up with a 10-point outing in a 74-64 win over Eastern Washington University on Monday.

Anchorage’s Colin Kessler brought his goals scored total for the University of Vermont men’s hockey team to nine this past week by recording at least one in consecutive games for just the second time this season. He scored the Catamounts’ lone goal of their first game against Northeastern University to send the game into overtime where they’d fall 2-1 on Friday. Kessler followed it up by scoring the second goal in a 3-2 loss on Saturday.

(If you know of an Alaska athlete who has achieved a standout performance or reached a noteworthy milestone on the Outside, email sports@adn.com or jreed@adn.com with the details.)

Fast Forward

Prep

Basketball

Alaska Airlines Classic at West High School, Tuesday-Saturday

One of the premier prep basketball tournaments in the state will take place in town this week with the girls tournament having started Tuesday and running through Thursday with a round-robin format including the following schools: Bartlett, Ketchikan, Lumen Christi and West. The boys tournament will run from Thursday and wrap up on Saturday with the championship game tipoff slated for 6:30 p.m. and will feature the following schools: West, East, Ketchikan, Columbia (Georgia), Service, Colony, Heritage Christian (California) and Hoover (Alabama).

Hockey

South v. West at Ben Boeke, Friday at 7:30

Two of the top teams in the Cook Inlet Conference square off for the second time this season later in the week with the hopes of extending their respective win streaks in a “Red Out” game to raise money for the American Heart Association.

Skiing

Lynx Loppet Invitational at Kincaid Park, Friday and Saturday

Weather permitting, the last big race before region championships next month will take place in town this weekend with a classic dual start 5K on Friday at noon and a pursuit 5K race at 11 a.m. on Saturday.

College

Gymnastics

UAA v. Greenville at Alaska Airlines Center, Thursday and Saturday at 6 p.m.

The Seawolves will be hosting the Panthers for a pair of meets in their 2025 home opener this week. It will mark the first of three competitions they will host this season with the second not coming until Feb. 21 and the third being the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Championships a month later on March 22.

NAHL

Anchorage Wolverines v. Kenai River Brown Bears, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m.

The hometown junior hockey team will be back in front of its home fans at Sullivan Arena for the second time in 2025 this weekend for a two-game series against their other in-state rival for the second week in a row.

Last week’s results

Basketball

Girls

Tuesday

South 54, East 27

Bartlett 53, Service 46

Colony 55, Palmer 6

Dimond 64, Chugiak 39

West 54, Eagle River 21

Wasilla 50, Grace Christian 42

Wednesday

Kenai Central 45, Kotzebue 41

Thursday

Cook Inlet Academy 46, Nunamiut 30

Service 80, South 32

Seward 53, Susitna Valley 23

Minto 58, Birchwood Christian 16

Colony 60, Monroe Catholic 48

Nikiski 63, Ninilchik 11

Palmer 46, Houston 37

Friday

Tri-Valley 49, Birchwood Christian 25

Shaktoolik 75, Cook Inlet Academy 16

Seward 50, Galena 27

Monroe Catholic 67, South 23

Mountain City Christian 77, Soldotna 39

Barrow 85, East 20

Kotzebue 52, Nikiski 41

Grace Christian 58, Kenai Central 11

Lumen Christi 44, Cordova 39

Saturday

Birchwood Christian 43, Nunamiut 34

Monroe Catholic 50, Service 49

Barrow 66, East 10

Mountain City Christian 65, Soldotna 26

Boys

Tuesday

Birchwood Christian 53, Holy Rosary Academy 25

East 51, South 35

West 79, Eagle River 50

Dimond 62, Chugiak 47

Grace Christian 71, Wasilla 67

Colony 73, Palmer 42

Wednesday

Kenai Central 71, Kotzebue 38

Thursday

Cook Inlet Academy 63, Nunamiut 38

Seward 59, Susitna Valley 43

West Valley 67, Eagle River 30

East 60, Monroe Catholic 55

Minto 45, Birchwood Christian 37

Nome-Beltz 46, Wasilla 42

Lathrop 56, Bartlett 45

Dimond 74, Nikiski 51

Colony 64, Juneau-Douglas 54

Palmer 81, Houston 53

South 64, North Pole 27

Delta 53, Lumen Christi 48

Friday

Birchwood Christian 58, Nenana 18

Seward 78, Galena 46

Shaktoolik 64, Cook Inlet Academy 41

Bartlett 67, North Pole 57

Bethel 75, Susitna Valley 50

East 65, Colony 48

Ninilchik 81, Homer 56

Grace Christian 83, Kodiak 45

Mountain City Christian 52, Soldotna 41

West 61, Chugiak 46

South 53, Lathrop 38

Saturday

Grace Christian 63, Kodiak 44

Eagle River 46, North Pole 36

Birchwood Christian 50, Unalaska 46

East 71, Juneau-Douglas 54

Barrow 47, Kenai Central 37

Mountain City Christian 73, Soldotna 40

Monroe Catholic 47, Colony 40

Hockey

Tuesday

Houston 4, Colony 2

Wasilla 3, Palmer 2

West 10, Bartlett 4

Wednesday

South 3, Dimond 2

Thursday

Houston 6, Kenai Central 3

Wasilla 4, Soldotna 3

Palmer 14, Homer 1

West 4, Chugiak 2

West Valley 5, Eagle River 0

Friday

Palmer 5, Kenai Central 3

West 2, West Valley 0

Houston 8, Homer 2

Soldotna 5, Colony 3

Saturday

Chugiak 2, West Valley 1 (OT)

Colony 12, Homer 0

Soldotna 4, Palmer 1

Bowling

Wednesday

Boys

East 29, Bartlett 6

East - Colton Penetac 203

Bartlett - Alexander Egoak 184

West 29, South 6

West - Jahdyn Odom and Marcos Vian 197

South - Wyatt Mashburn 190

Dimond 27, Service 8

Dimond - Logan Jokela 231

Service - Cyrus Varela 228

Girls

Bartlett 29, East 6

Bartlett - Kara Lyman 160

East - Lina Phatthana 160

South 27, West 8

South - Aleesha Williams 136

West - Kendall Bencid 111

Dimond 31, Service 4

Dimond - Jarriah Silverio 177

Service - Lillian Blumenberg 159

College

Women’s basketball

Thursday

UAA 78, Simon Fraser 63

Western Washington 67, UAF 37

Saturday

Simon Fraser 99, UAF 80

UAA 67, Western Washington 59

Men’s basketball

Saturday

UAF 76, UAA 74

Hockey

Saturday

UAA 3, UAF 3 (tie)

NAHL

Friday

Anchorage Wolverines 4, Kenai River Brown Bears 1

Saturday

Kenai River Brown Bears 3, Anchorage Wolverines 1