The Kenai Central boys and Grace Christian girls won Peninsula Conference titles Saturday at Nikiski Middle-High School.

The Kardinals, the No. 2 seed, defeated top-seeded Homer 53-46 to move to 18-8 overall and avenge two earlier losses this season to the Mariners, who are 8-13. Both squads are going to the Class 3A state tournament.

The top-seeded Grace girls beat No. 2 Kenai 59-23 and have won every league title since the Peninsula Conference was created in 2022. Grace is 19-5, while Kenai is 16-10. Both squads have spots on Class 3A state, where the Grizzlies are two-time defending champions.

The Grace boys also had won every league title since 2022, but they moved up to Class 4A this season and that created an opportunity for the Kardinals to make history.

Kenai assistant coach Ken Felchle, the former longtime Kenai boys head coach, worked his extensive list of Kenai Central sports contacts after the game and concluded this was the first league title for the Kenai boys since 1981.

Former Kenai girls head coach Craig Jung said Region III was split into north and south back then. The Kardinals won a 1981 tournament including Adak, Soldotna, Homer, Seward and Kodiak by upsetting the top-seeded Bears 51-48 before a partisan, packed house at Kenai Central. That was a second straight region title for Kenai.

The boys half of the Peninsula Conference has just three teams — Kenai, Homer and Nikiski — which is a lot different than the stacked conferences Kenai has played in over the years.

Still, this Kenai program has just two seniors — with everybody else in the program freshmen and sophomores — so head coach Nolan Rose said the title is a big deal.

“Acknowledge the fact that the league’s not what it used to be, so we can’t sit here and feel too good about ourselves,” Rose said. “But we are in the history books, and it’s region champs.

“We get to have that forever, so it’s pretty cool.”

Homer got its two victories this season against Kenai while having a lot of success attacking the Kardinals’ signature 1-3-1 zone.

Rose completely changed it up Saturday, going into a game with a plan to play man-to-man, and not the 1-3-1, for the first time all season. The coach scouted the Mariners and tried to take away each member of the starting five’s strengths.

“It’s the kids that get the credit, because they’ve got to go out and do it,” Rose said. “And we did. We held them to 46 points.

“Forty-three was the number we talked about this morning. If we can hold them to 43 points, we’re probably going to win the game.”

Homer coach Jose Musa said he took it as a sign of respect that Kenai did not run the 1-3-1. The coach said Homer goes into a lot of games expecting to face man-to-man defenses, so it should not have been a big adjustment.

“You could tell they’ve been watching film on us,” Musa said. “They knew guys names and were playing to the weaknesses of individual matchups.

“And they wanted it more than us. They did from the jump. They came out hot.”

Kenai led 15-8 after a quarter, 24-18 at the half and 40-30 after three quarters.

Mason Tunseth paced the Kardinals with 23, while Caleb Litke had 17. Rose said both of those players took advantage of openings created by Homer’s aggressive defense.

“They overplay everything,” Rose said. “They’re so extended, they make it difficult for us to run our offense.

“It puts our players in positions where they’ve got to play a little bit more individually to make plays.”

When Kenai did miss, the Kards got a bunch of offensive rebounds. Musa said he uses offensive rebounds as a gauge of which team wants the game more.

“I mean, they beat us twice, right?” Rose said. “Both our teams are evenly matched, so it’s hard to beat a team over and over again.”

Homer went on an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter, with Preston Stanislaw hitting a layup for a 40-38 game with 6:30 left.

The Mariners had it down to 45-44 with 3:21 left, but went cold from the field after that.

Musa said practice habits and attitude had not been good leading up to the game, and it showed.

“I think what happens on the court on any given night has less to do with whether the ball is going in the hoop or not, and more about the decisions that you make leading up to the game,” Musa said. “It’s appropriate, I think, what happened tonight.”

At the same time, Musa said it’s his job to have the team ready to play such an important game, and he apologized to the Homer community for not having the team ready.

“That’s the last time they’ll see this team, that they’ll see anybody wearing a Homer jersey, that’s not prepared to play,” he said.

Homer is senior-heavy, so Rose said he couldn’t help but think experience might be playing a factor as the Mariners closed the gap in the fourth quarter. But Kenai showed maturity at the right time.

“Credit to the kids,” Rose said. “They righted the ship and got it done, and now they get to cut the nets down, which is pretty cool.”

Miles Metteer had 8 for Kenai, while Carter Felchle had 3 and Reid Titus had 2.

For Homer, Einar Pederson and Justus Grimes had 9, Ben Engebretsen had 8, Jamen Anderson had 6, Spencer Dye and Stanislaw had 5 and Henry Wedvik, who gave Kenai fits in previous games, had 4.

Musa said the end of the conference tournaments is a good time to thank his wife, Ana Alves, and the spouses of basketball coaches everywhere.

“It’s been a long season,” he said. “When you get to this point, you tend to be more appreciative of those who don’t ask for the thanks.”

Grace girls 59, Kenai 23

As a coach taking over a team that’s won the last two Class 3A state titles, Krystyna Park hasn’t been afraid to add new things.

She said her focus all season has been defensive intensity. That showed in the first half as Kenai didn’t score a point until 7:07 remained in the second quarter, and didn’t score a field goal until the halftime horn sounded with the score 35-3.

“All game, every game,” Songer said of the Grizzlies’ defensive intensity. “That’s just how it is with them. They’re in your face, and they’re just great defenders.”

Park said having that defensive intensity means practicing like that every day, and having the whole team buy in. That means the whole bench is cheering on the play on the floor with the same intensity.

“They brought the intensity,” Park said. “They want that to be their identity, and I absolutely love it.”

The Grizzlies were not hitting outside shots. That saps the defensive intensity of many teams. Not Grace.

“You try to teach them that your defense can carry you through so many lulls,” Park said. “And we didn’t shoot well for four quarters, really.”

While Grace didn’t run their starters the whole second half, the Kards were still able to keep the damage to 24-20 for the final 16 minutes.

Songer said the Kardinals were nervous in the first half. That, combined with Grace’s defense, was a recipe for disaster. He said the trick that many coaches would like to figure out is how to play less nervous from the tip.

“I wish we could start a game with the thought of nothing to lose, which is how we came out in the second half,” he said.

Park gave credit to her seniors. Hope Jackson, who had 4, held Kenai freshman Bryleigh Williams to 2 points after Williams had 23 on Friday. Sophie Lentfer scored 20 and Park said the reigning Gatorade Alaska Player of the Year also had over 10 assists.

The coach also gave credit to junior MJ Van der horst for strong rebounding, plus being an offensive force with 18 points.

Also for Grace, Molly Schild had 8, Poppy Wiggers-Pidduck had 5, and Faith Salima and Reese Van der horst had 2.

Now the Grizzlies get to see how their defense works at Class 3A state.

“That’s been a goal of theirs coming into the season,” Park said of another title. “Obviously, I’m late to the party, but I think we’ve changed some standards, and I think that has helped us better prepare.”

For Kenai, Evelyn Cooper led the second-half charge by scoring all of her 12 points in the final 16 minutes. Also, Sierra Hershberger had 3, and McKenzie Spence, Willow Graham and Ellsi Miller had 2.

“The girls worked their tails off and I’m just proud to be where we’re at,” Songer said. “We’re going to extend the season.”

Nikiski girls 49, Homer 27

Playing with just six players, the No. 3 Bulldogs claimed third place at the tournament and finished 9-16 overall. No. 4 Homer, which split with Nikiski during the regular season, finished 7-18.

For the Bulldogs, Blakeley Jorgensen closed out an impressive freshman campaign by pouring in 28, while Abby White had 10, Madison Iyatunguk had 4, Natalie Huntsman had 3 and Kailey Stynsberg had 2.

For Homer, Channing Lowney topped off her career with a 21-point effort, while Stella Condon had 4 and Emily Stafford had 2.

Peninsula Conference cheerleading awards

Team results — 1. Kenai; 2. Grace Christian.

MVP — Sarah Baisden, Kenai.

Coach of the Year — Julie Smith, Grace.

Good sport team — Thea James, Homer; Ellee Pancoast, Kenai; Abi McKay, Grace.

First team all-conference — Sarah Baisden, Kenai; Makenzie Harden, Kenai; Syliva McGraw, Kenai; Cara Graves, Kenai; Katie Jackson, Grace; Liz Blomfield, Grace; Ellen Barrett, Homer.

Kenai Central celebrates winning the championship Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Peninsula Conference tournament at Nikiski Middle-High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Homer’s Justus Grimes drives on Kenai Central’s Carter Felchle on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Peninsula Conference tournament at Nikiski Middle-High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Grace Christian celebrates winning the championship Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Peninsula Conference tournament at Nikiski Middle-High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Evelyn Cooper passes under pressure from Grace Christian’s Sophie Lentfer and Hope Jackson on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Peninsula Conference tournament at Nikiski Middle-High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)

Kenai Central’s Evelyn Cooper passes under pressure from Grace Christian’s Sophie Lentfer and Hope Jackson on Saturday, March 8, 2025, at the Peninsula Conference tournament at Nikiski Middle-High School in Nikiski, Alaska. (Photo by Jeff Helminiak/Peninsula Clarion)