After a canceled Thursday night game against Seward, the Mariners had an extra day of rest before Friday’s conference game opponents, the Nikiski Bulldogs.
Lady Mariners fall 36-23
The Lady Mariners battled the Bulldogs under the Friday night lights in a rematch of the previous week’s Winter Carnival Tournament championship game.
In similar fashion, the Bulldogs once again beat the Lady Ms by a score of 36-23 in what was a defensive showing from Nikiski. Both teams had off scoring nights as Homer jumped out to a four-point lead in the opening quarter, turning out to be their largest lead of the game. The Bulldogs then turned things around as Sienna Wallace scored seven of her team’s 14 points going into the halftime break.
The Mariners were then held to just 10 points in the second half, eight of which were scored in the third quarter. Tayla Cabana led the Mariners with seven points while Nikiski’s Alyssa Dartch led all scorers with eight.
Homer boys win 48-34
In boys’ action, the Mariners were able to beat the Bulldogs two weeks in a row off many steals leading to fast break buckets.
The Mariners won 48-34, led by senior Sam Reinert’s 22 points, all coming from inside the paint. After an evenly matched first quarter, Homer kept up its stifling defense, cutting off passing lanes and eventually switching to a speedy 2-3 zone to keep the opponents guessing.
Nikiski was outscored 18-8 in the second quarter, down by 10 entering halftime. After a back and forth third quarter, the Mariners were able to hold the distance with a seven-point lead, proving that defense can create easy offense.
The Bulldogs’ full court press caught Homer off guard in the final quarter, narrowing the lead to just three. With six minutes in the game, Head Coach Mark Casseri called a timeout after a quick bucket which gave the Mariners motivation to instantly push the lead back to double digits. It seemed that the Big Blue could do no wrong, boxing out on every play, leading to numerous second chance buckets. The lead was pushed to 14 late in the game which made no question about the outcome in another Mariner victory.
Homer basketball plays away games the next two weeks, taking on the Skyview Panthers before making the trip to Cordova the following week where they will be facing the Wolverines.
Bulldogs 36,
Mariners 23
Nikiski 5 14 9 8 –36
Homer 9 4 8 2 –23
NIKISKI (36) — Epperheimer 1 4-4 7, Lynch 3 0-0 6, Thompson 3 1-4 7, Holloway 0 0-0 0, Cook 0 1-2 1, Wallis 3 1-2 7, Darch 3 4-6 10, Costello 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 11-18 36.
HOMER (23) — Cabana 3 1-2 7, Brown 2 0-0 4, Isenhour 0 0-0 0, Waclawski 1 0-0 2, Akers 1 0-0 3, Bench 1 0-0 2, Hill 0 0-0 0, Koplin 1 0-0 2, Gee 0 0-0 0, Oliver 1 1-2 3. Totals 9 2-4 23.
3-point goals — Nikiski 1 (Epperheimer); Homer 0.
Team fouls — Nikiski 9; Homer 18. Fouled out — none.
