In a tense pressure-packed battle for the boys basketball 2A State Championship over the weekend, Unalakleet rallied in the fourth quarter to beat the Cordova Wolverines for the title.
The score was tied 9-9 at the end of the first quarter when Unalakleet hit a pair of threes to erase an early Cordova advantage. The Wolverines moved ahead, 21-10, with 3:19 in the second quarter, with Blake Bailey and Thomas Nothstine both hitting threes. But Unalakleet closed the gap, 21-16, with a 6-0 run.
At the 3:28 mark of the third quarter, Cordova had what would be its biggest lead of the game, 10 points, with the score 29-19.
But Unalakleet tightened up their defense and full court pressure, outscoring Cordova 21-7 for the rest of the game. The Wolverines missed some easy shots, but more importantly went cold from long range, hitting only one of eight from beyond the arc. Most of those long shots were with a defender in a Cordova shooter’s face.
In contrast, Unalakleet hit their threes to pull away with a 40-36 championship win on March 15.
Chiko Jacob led Cordova with 13 points, John Itliong added 11, Noah Pearson had 6, and Bailey and Nothstine had 3 each.
Opening rounds and tournament accolades
Cordova reached the finals with a wild ride through the opening rounds.
Cordova squeezed past SuValley, 67-59, in overtime in their first game on March 13. The score was tied 53-53 at the end of regulation time. Free throws made the difference, and as a team Cordova shot a perfect 14 for 14.
Jacob led the scoring against SuValley with 28 points. Itliong added 12, Bailey had 11, Nothstine scored 10, and Pearson, Ibanez, and Gasmen each added 2.
Then in a wild semi-final matchup on March 14, Cordova barely triumphed Metlakatla in another overtime game, without ever leading in regulation time. Early in the third quarter Cordova trailed by 16 points, 30-14. The Wolverines battled back to win, 46-45.
Itliong led Cordova with 16 points, Jacob had 13, Bailey scored 7, Nothstine added 6, and Pearson put up 4.
In post-game ceremonies, Jacob and Itliong were named to the State All-Tournament team. Cordova also won the Team Academic Award.
The Cordova team and Coaches Jake Borst and Ben Johnson should feel proud. Getting to the state finals is hard – playing in the state finals is even harder.
Since the Alaska School Activities Association adopted the 1A, 2A, 3A, 4A classification system for basketball in 1984, only one Cordova team – the Lady Wolverines, coached by Virginia Anderson – has won the State Tournament. That’s a 41-year span.
This is only the second time the Cordova boys have made it to the finals. The first time was in 2006, when they lost to Heritage Christian. (Guess who was a member of that team? Jake Borst.)
