The Rewind: Skier Gus Schumacher cracks top 10 at worlds; UAA women’s basketball team secures No. 1 seed in GNAC tournament

Gus Schumacher of the U.S., left, and Mika Vermeulen of Austria compete during the Men's Mass Start 20 km Free during the FIS Cross-Country World Cup event in Falun, Sweden, Sunday Feb. 16. 2025. (Fredrik Sandberg/TT News Agency via AP)

Welcome to The Rewind, a weekly digest that puts a spotlight on the biggest stories and best performances from Alaska’s world of sports.

This past week featured several notable individual and team performances across the Alaska sports landscape at the high school, collegiate and professional levels. The 2024 high school basketball regular season came to a close with some exciting matchups. On the college scene, the University of Alaska Anchorage women’s basketball team continued to dominate while the men ended the season on a high note. Outside the state, several Alaskans had impressive performances and career achievements worth recognizing and celebrating.

Headlines and highlights

The final week of the high-school basketball regular season wrapped up this past week and saw the Service boys basketball team notch a 60-47 statement win over Dimond on Wednesday to secure the No. 2 seed in this week’s Cook Inlet Conference tournament. The Cougars had four players reach double figures in scoring, led by senior guard Logan Zadra who had a game-high 16.

“It’s kind of difficult to play a team over and over, but to come out and put a statement game out that says we’re ready to play basketball in the tournament is what we wanted,” Service head coach Antonio Wyche said.

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On the girls side, one of the most exciting matchups of the week took place out in the valley between Wasilla and Mountain City Christian. The top-ranked and defending 4A state champion Warriors successfully defended their home court in a thrilling 50-48 win over the visiting Lions and were led by a double-double from senior forward Layla Hays, who recorded 20 points and a dozen rebounds.

On the college scene, the UAA women’s basketball team used a career night from freshman forward Ashlyn Rean in a 89-66 rout of Western Oregon last Thursday to claim the Great Northwest Athletic Conference title outright and secure the No. 1 spot in this week’s conference tournament. Rean led the Seawolves with 26 points, 10 rebounds and five steals.

The UAA men’s team ended the 2024-25 season on a high note by snapping a six-game losing streak with its first win in over a month by beating Saint Martin’s 69-48 in the season finale on Saturday. Leading the way for the Seawolves was junior guard Tyler Burraston, who recorded a career-high 26 points after going 7-of-14 shooting from behind the arc.

The Anchorage Wolverines were back in town and playing on their home ice for the first time since early February for a two-game series against their in-state rival Fairbanks Ice Dogs over the weekend. In the first game, they jumped out to a 3-0 lead through the first two periods and were led in scoring by local product Toby Carlson, who assisted on a goal and scored an empty-netter to tie a bow on a 4-1 victory.

In the second game on the following night, the Wolverines fell 3-2 in a shootout in front of an NAHL season-high crowd of 5,069. Both teams scored a pair of goals in the first period, and neither could find the back of the net through the remainder of regulation and in overtime. Fairbanks forward Luca Ricciardi was the only skater to get the puck past a goaltender in the shootout.

Alaska stars shining Outside

Anchorage’s Gus Schumacher skied to a career-best finish to claim ninth place in the men’s 20-kilometer skiathlon at the World Championships this past Saturday in Trondheim, Norway. With his mark of 44:25.9, he was not only the top American finisher but also the only one to crack the top 10.

“We are putting ourselves there and eventually things are going to click,” Schumacher said. “Overall, today was really good. It was the first time up in the woods (a section of the course) and it was so loud — you couldn’t hear anything, couldn’t feel my body! I am really proud of today. My classic skis were quite good and I was in a good spot going into the skate and skied in the pack, which made it a bit harder to move through the pack but I am really proud of staying in there and giving myself the opportunity!”

Fairbanks’ Daishen Nix helped lead the Rio Grande Valley Vipers to a 100-87 victory over the College Park Skyhawks last Friday in the NBA G-League. He was fabulous in all facets of the game, recording a triple double after finishing with a team-leading 23 points and 11 assists, and he recorded the third-most rebounds with 10.

Anchorage’s Alissa Pili reached double figures in scoring for Team Harris in two of the three games she played this past week in the Athletes Unlimited basketball league. The former Bartlett multisport star dropped 13 points against Team Siegrist last Thursday and 14 against Team Sims on Saturday.

The complete list of highlights continues with individual performances across various sports and competitions.