ACS Invitational plays final games

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The ACS Invitational came to a close Saturday, crowning hardwood champions in its girls and boys championship games.

Barrow and Nome faced off in the girls championship game, with the Whalers’ Melissa Gerke and Dana Chrestman making baskets early in the first quarter. Barrow ran away with the game, taking the girls invitational title 77-23.

The Seward Seahawks and Nome Nanooks were locked in a classic battle for the boys title that ran late Saturday night.

In the fourth quarter, Christean Leckband knocked down a triple to put the Nanooks ahead 31-25.

With under a minute left and the Seahawks down five points, Keenan Prochazka headed into the lane for a no-look finish and was fouled – hitting the freebie to bring Seward two points behind Nome.

Nome upped its lead to four points on the next possession thanks to foul shots. Seward tried to answer, making several tries for the 3-ball but none of them made it.

The Nanooks’ Jeremiah Johnson clinched the game with a breakaway layup, giving Nome the boys title 44-38.

“It's awesome playing championship games,” said Nome guard Tim Sullivan. “And we know things are going to go bad, things are going to go good -- you just got to play hard through the highs and lows, and that's what we were able to do.”

Contact Charlie Sokaitis at csokaitis@ktuu.com