The Philomath High School boys basketball team overcame the opponent’s home-court advantage, played strong defense and hit the offensive boards hard in a 47-34 victory over Ketchikan at the Clarke Cochran Christmas Classic late Saturday.
The Warriors (4-6) advance to the championship game and will face Nome-Beltz, which won Alaska’s Class 3A state championship last season. The Nanooks defeated Fairbanks Lathrop in the other semifinal, 70-57.
The tournament finale is scheduled to tip-off at 8:30 p.m. local time (9:30 p.m. Pacific).
In the win over Kings, Philomath held slim leads through the first two quarters with advantages of 7-4 and 22-18. Sophomore Jamin Peters caused problems for Ketchikan early by scoring all five of his points on the evening in the first quarter. In the second quarter, senior Zack Powers scored seven of his team-high 11.
The Warriors pulled away for good in the third quarter with a balanced-scoring effort that included senior Grant Niemann scoring five of his 10 points, an effort that included a 3-pointer. Powers hit a couple of baskets as well and seniors Caleb Russell, Logan Matthews and Hudson Raab all contributed to the scoreboard.
In the fourth, Niemann scored another five points, including a second 3-pointer, and Matthews, junior Josiah Peters and sophomore Esias Sapp all found the basket as Philomath put the game away to win by 13.
Marcus Stockhausen, a 6-foot-4 senior, led Ketchikan (3-2) with 16 points. Senior Gage Massin added 11.
