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FAIRBANKS — The host Lathrop Malemutes and West Valley Wolfpack girls basketball teams got off to winning starts in the abbreviated Golden Heart high school basketball tournament on Thursday evening.

The Malemutes edged the Kodiak Bears, 37-29, and the Wolfpack posted a 37-32 win over the Sitka Wolves.

The tournament was also supposed to feature four boys teams — Lathrop, West Valley, Glennallen and the Lathrop junior varsity, but when the Glennallen Panthers couldn’t make it to Fairbanks the boys bracket was reduced to just one game between Lathrop and West Valley. That will be played at 7:30 Saturday night.

Today’s girls games feature West Valley against Kodiak at 4:30 p.m. and Lathrop against Sitka at 6 p.m.

Saturday’s action features Kodiak-Sitka contest at 4:30 p.m. and a Lathrop-West Valley showdown at 6 p.m.

Thursday’s games followed similar patterns with the Fairbanks teams jumping in front at halftime, and then holding off the opposition down the stretch.

Lathrop led 19-14 at the break and boosted its advantage to 30-21 at the end of the third quarter.

Kaitlyn Hull led the way for the Wolfpack, scoring all 10 of her points in the first half. Allysha Lewis had a game-high 15 points for the Malemutes seven of those coming in the first half. Lewis added six more points in the third quarter to help Lathrop increase its lead.

Rachel Norton was the only Kodiak player in double-figures with 12 points.

West Valley took a 20-14 halftime lead and protected that in the second half. Sitka outscored West Valley 18-17 in the final 16 minutes of play.

Shelby Barton led a balanced West Valley offensive attack with an 11-point performance and Jasmine Yarde added nine for the winners. Both players scored in every quarter.

Six different Wolfpack players had points for the Wolfpack when they took a 14-12 lead in the first quarter. Justin Chapman registered a game-high 12 points for the Wolves, while Karimae Carlson and Kathryn Medinger registered eight apiece.

Other games

The Lathrop and North Pole hockey teams earned road victories on Thursday, while the Hutchison boys and North Pole girls basketball teams suffered losses in tournament play.

The North Pole hockey team posted a 15-2 win over Houston in a Mid Alaska Conference contest, while Lathrop downed the Palmer Moose in a nonconference game.

The West Valley hockey team lost to East Anchorage 10-1.

The Hutchison boys suffered a 49-40 loss to Soldotna in the Dimond tournament, and the North Pole girls dropped a 48-38 decision to Grace Christian in the Skyview tournament

Complete details will be published in Saturday’s Daily News-Miner.

Contact the News-Miner sports department at 459-7581.