Classic MVP Sloan Lentfer of Grace signs with hometown Seawolves

By Van Williams Anchorage’s Sloan Lentfer didn’t need directions to UAA. He just followed his father’s footsteps. The Seawolves landed the reigning Alaska Class 3A player of the year out of Grace Christian after senior forward signed with UAA, a huge pull for longtime bench boss Rusty Osborne, who coached Lentfer’s dad Clint in the

2023 Title Game: Grace shocks California power Heritage for Alaska’s 5th title

By Van Williams It may not have been David vs. Goliath, but it was close. No doubt the Grace Christian Grizzlies of Anchorage were in the deep end when facing a powerful Heritage Christian Warriors team that was ranked as high as No. 14 in California’s Division I rankings. Grace weathered the storm early and

Giant killers: Harpoonerettes of Point Hope bag big game on and off court

By Van Williams Don’t be fooled by the small-schools tag for Tikigaq. The Harpoonerettes of Point Hope will steal your hoop dreams. Just ask the Durango Trailblazers, a Class 4A team out of Las Vegas, Nevada, where Tikigaq beat them 65-51 in a tournament. Durango has an enrollment of 2,600. Tikigaq has just 80 students.

Classic Rewind: Wyche reflects on record 49-point game vs Planet Athlete in 2016

By Van Williams Since 1989, the Alaska Airlines Classic has featured 11 McDonald’s All-Americans, a dozen NCAA All-Americans and eight NBA players. Yet it’s a 5-foot-9 guard from Anchorage who owns the single-game scoring record. West’s Da’Zhon Wyche torched Planet Athlete (AZ) for a career-high 49 points in the 2016 semifinals. “I had no idea

Classic Rewind: 1991 title game vs. Oak Hill put East’s Langdon on national map

By Van Williams Three decades have passed since he played in the game, but for former East High great Trajan Langdon it sometimes seems like yesterday when he faced mighty Oak Hill of Virginia. The 1991 Alaska Airlines Classic championship game was the most significant high school basketball moment in the state’s storied hoops history

2020 Title Game: Nix turns it on late as Trinity (NV) overcomes 42 from Moses

By Van Williams In middle school, Daishen Nix and Isaiah Moses spent endless hours on basketball courts in Anchorage helping each other work on their game. Then they went different directions in high school and figured they’d probably never face off in a high school game. But they got their wish in the Alaska Airlines

Classic Rewind: Schultz breaks gender barrier, first woman to coach in boys tournament

By Van Williams When the Chugiak Mustangs made a head coaching change in 2019, school officials wanted to keep it in-house and hired first-year assistant Josi Schultz. It was just like any other coaching hire. Except it wasn’t. Schultz became the first woman to be named head coach of a boys basketball team in the

2019 Title Game: Colony gives Alaska its first Classic championship since 2010

By Van Williams Colony’s Sullivan Menard outscored the opposition by himself in the first half of the Alaska Airlines Classic championship game in a near-perfect performance. His only hiccup was a missed dunk. It didn’t matter, though. He had already slammed home the point that he was the best player in the tournament and the

2018 Title Game: MVP McGhee drives Columbia (GA) over West Anchorage

By Van Williams The more games Lorenzo McGhee played in the Alaska Airlines Classic, the more game we saw from the Columbia guard. The 6-foot-5 senior increased his point total in all four games, culminating with a 23-point performance to lead the Eagles of Decatur, Georgia, to an 83-46 victory over host West Anchorage in

2017 Title Game: Whitely takes flight as Riverview (FL) glides to championship

By Van Williams Brion Whitely took flight with a thunderous jam to slam home the point that he was the best player during the Alaska Airlines Classic. The 6-foot-5 senior guard led the Riverview Rams of Sarasota, Florida, to an 86-54 victory over West Anchorage in the championship game his 18-point, 5-rebound effort in just