Prep Hoops: West Valley wins Alaska Prep Shootout, improves to 8-0; Jamari Sims MVP

Jamari Sims

After losing two all-state studs to graduation, the West Valley boys basketball team figured to be in rebuild mode.

Turns out it was just a remodel.

The Wolfpack have a new look but possess the same winning blueprint under coach Colten Growden, who has his team 8-0 on the heels of last season’s 26-2 campaign that included a second-place finish at the ASAA Class 4A state tournament.

Key holdovers Jamari Sims and Leyton Nield played pivotal roles in leading West Valley to the 30th annual Alaska Prep Shootout championship, capped by a 79-34 beatdown of Juneau-Douglas in Saturday’s title game at Dimond.

Nield pumped in a game-high 23 points in the final and earned a spot on the all-tournament team.

Meanwhile, Sims poured in 25 points in a semifinal win and directed the offense to a season-high 79 points in the title game to win MVP honors.

ALASKA PREP SHOTOUT
Saturday’s Results
Championship Game
West Valley 79, Juneau-Douglas 34
Third Place
Dimond 66, Ketchikan 41
Fourth Place
Nome-Beltz 59, Mountain City 55
Seventh Place
Houston 56, Lumen 37
All-Tournament
Halen Nield, WV
Finn Gregg, NOME
Marek Hajdukovich, DIM
Marcus Stockhausen, KET
Javonte Walls, DIM
Noah Whitted HOU
Jhowel Estigoy JUN
Darian Igwacho, MCC
Sean Oliver, JUN
Leyton Nield, WV
MVP – Jamari Sims WV

West Valley took control from the jump, racing out to a 16-4 lead behind Sims’ back-to-back 3-pointers and three post buckets from Sawyer Peterson.

Peterson finished with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting. The 6-foot-6 forward put on a clinic in the post with a variety of nice moves.

Nield hit two 3s and scored on a drive as the lead swelled to 36-20 near the end of the second quarter.

It was the kind of night where Juneau’s lane violation wiped away a free throw and moments later Sims threw the ball over his shoulder while falling out of bounds and it went right to Magus Endicott under the basket for a layup and free throw that pushed the lead to 46-24.

Sean Oliver and Alwen Carrillo each had 11 points for Juneau-Douglas. Oliver, the team’s leading scorer, struggled on 3-of-10 shooting. The off night was uncharacteristic after a scorching scoring stretch in the first two days of the tournament.

ALASKA PREP SHOOTOUT
High Scoring Games
36 – Sean Oliver JUN
33 – Marek Hajdukovich DIM
31 – Finn Gregg NOME
28 – Sean Oliver JUN
26 – Marcus Stockhausen KET

JUN 13 13 3 5 – 34
WV 23 25 21 10 – 79
JUN – Gerrin 4, Parker 2, Carrillo 11, Casperson 3, Estigoy 3, Oliver 11, Sleppy 0, Mallot 0, Penalosa 0.
WV – H.Nield 4, Miranda 5, Bell 5, Sims 6, Cromer 4, L. Nield 23, Geyer 2, Irish 0, Petersen 17, Bostwick 8, Endicott 5.

Dimond 61, Ketchikan 44

In the third-place game, Dimond’s Marek Hajdukovich dropped in 23 points and converted a 4-point play for the Lynx, who won all four quarters and seized command with an 11-point run to start the second half.

Amelio Ambrosio bagged 16 points and seven rebounds while Javonte Walls had 11 points and five assists.

Marek Hajdukovich

Hajdukovich was on a heater early as he poured in six points during a 19-12 run to open the game. He kept it going when he drilled a corner 3 and was fouled, swishing the free throw to complete a rare 4-point play.

Hajdukovich stayed hot in the second half as he threw in 10 points in a 17-8 spurt when Dimond sealed the deal.

Ketchikan has a nice big three comprised of posts Andrew Kleinschmidt and Jared Rhodes alongside shooter Marcus Stockhausen. Those three combined for 35 of the team’s 44 points.

KET 11 14 13 6 – 44
DIM 14 17 22 8 – 61
KET – Scoblic 0, Williams 0, Kleinschmidt 15, Rhodes 12, Secrest 0, Cornel 0, Lorenzo 9, Stockhausen 8.
DIM – Ambrosio 16, Walls 11, Castro 0, Stovall 6, Hajdukovich 23, Wilson 5, Pederson 0, Odia 0, Young 0.