The Nome-Beltz Nanooks boys’ basketball squad is heading back to the 3A state tournament after besting Utqiagvik 61-54 on March 10 and defeating Bethel 64-35 on March 9 in the first round of the Western Conference championship.
Nome trailed Utqiagvik 38-32 at the half but outscored then 8-2 to tie the game at 40-40 in the second half. With the win, Nome-Beltz improved its overall record to 22-2.
In the Friday game, Nome-Beltz saw multiple scorers with Jade Greene (26), Finn Gregg (18), Richard Cross (8) Orson Hoogendorn (4), Ethan Hannon (3) and Peyton Weyiouanna (2) all pitching in for the win.
At the state tournament, the No. 2-seed Nanook boys will now face No. 7 Utqiagvik again — this time in in Anchorage on March 22 at 3:15 p.m. It will be a main-court game at the Alaska Airlines Center.
In other Nome-Beltz basketball news, the Lady Nanooks squad fell to Bethel 45-39 on Saturday in the 3A conference second-place game. The Nome-Beltz girls fell to Bethel in the first round of the tournament 57-44. The Lady Nanooks beat Kotzebue 33-30 on Friday to advance to the second-place contest.
The Nome-Beltz cheer squad took second place at the conference tournament last week.
Image at top: The Nome-Beltz boys and girls basketball teams, and the Lady Nanook cheerleaders competed at the Western Conference championship last week. Photo courtesy Patrick Callahan.
