The North Pole girls basketball team is starting to put everything together and that made it difficult for the Lathrop Malemutes on Tuesday night.

After a tight first quarter, the Patriots put the hammer down on the Malemutes and rolled to a 54-23 victory in a Mid Alaska Conference high school game at Lathrop.

“We’re getting to the point where everyone is starting to understand the system,” North Pole coach Rob McIntosh said after the Patriots’ win. “Lathrop played hard, but we got stronger defensively each quarter.”

McIntosh said the Patriots were able to maintain the same tempo throughout the game.

“Our girls played solid all the way through,” he said. “Every time Lathrop would make a little run, we answered with a bigger one.”

The Patriots (7-3 overall, 2-2 conference) also displayed their depth as nine different players scored points, but none hit double figures.

“We can go 10 deep with our bench,” McIntosh said. “If one player is having an off night, we have the option of going to someone else who might be on that night.”

Josie Broderick led North Pole with nine points, while Sydney McIntosh, Jasmine White and Rachael Church knocked down eight apiece.

Jessica Krier led the Malemutes with six points.

The Patriots play in the Valdez Elks Tournament this weekend. Their opening round game is Thursday morning against the Barrow Whalers.

Lathrop boys win

In the boys game, Lathrop held off a furious North Pole rally and came up with a 54-53 win against the Patriots, who were ranked second in the state’s WPI rankings, which determine seedings for teams that qualify for the state tournament.

Lathrop led most of the game, but the Patriots took a brief lead with about 3 minutes remaining before Lathrop took the lead for good.

“North Pole has a very good team, but I think their press hurt them tonight because we were able to get a lot of layups,” Malemutes coach Milo Griffin said. “The press helped them get back in it in the fourth quarter, but in the end I think it hurt them a little bit.”

In the final 10 seconds, the Patriots had a chance to take the lead, but missed a pair of free throws and a couple of rebound opportunities before the final buzzer sounded.

“I have to give credit to my guys for not giving up,” Lathrop coach Kevin McHenry said of his team’s second-half comeback. “We played basketball the way we’re used to in the second half and gave ourselves a chance to win and that’s all you can ask for.”

Keith Mays led the way for the Malemutes, scoring eight of his game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter. Tyler Hamilton chipped in 15, while Ray Streeter and Andrew Holland added eight apiece.

Griffin also credited freshman Everett Green for his defensive play.

“For a kid who’s just learning how to play basketball, he’s been doing a great job defensively for us,” Griffin said.

Jesse Ward registered 14 points for North Pole and Luke Demientieff tallied 10.

Effie Kokrine splits

The Effie Kokrine Warriors split a pair of hard-fought Central Interior Conference games against the Nenana Lynx on Tuesday night in Fairbanks.

Effie Kokrine won the girls game, 60-51, but Nenana captured the boys contest 58-54.

Effie Kokrine had three players score in double figures in the girls game to overcome an outstanding 33-point performance by Nenana’s Haley Tyler. Effie Kokrine outscored Nenana 20-10 in the fourth quarter to pull out the win. Shalene Huntington scored 20 points for Effie Kokrine, while Nelowa Nusunginya and Shannon Hosken added 14 apiece.

In the boys game, Nenana rallied from a 37-23 halftime deficit to claim a much needed victory. The Lynx outscored the Warriors

22-6 in the third quarter.

Tim Standifer registered 22 points for Nenana and Edwin Waskey dropped in 13. Leo Huntington had a game-high 30 points for the Warriors and Jacob Cowell tallied 17, but only one other player got into the scoring column.

Northway sweeps

The Northway Warriors were red hot Tuesday night in sweeping Central Interior Conference games against the rival Tok Wolverines. The girls notched a 61-18 victory, while the boys rolled to a 61-33 triumph.

Katherine Albert knocked down five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 23 points for Northway. Tasha Demit added 16 and Shanice Albert tallied 10. Tori Cronk led the Wolverines with eight points.

Brandon Teasdale led a balanced Tok boys offensive attack with 16 points and Todd Demit added 13. Daniel Thomas, Emmanual Baker and Tyler Demit kicked in eight apiece. Kane Young led Tok with 16 points.