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For the most part, Interior teams competing in the Alaska School Activities Association State High School Basketball Tournament next week in Anchorage will get off to early starts.

The Galena boys and girls, competing in the Class 2A tournament, are the only teams that will play later than 1 p.m. on the opening day of their respective tournaments.

The 1A and 2A tournament are scheduled from March 18-20, with all games being played at Sullivan Arena.

The 3A and 4A tournaments are slated for March 20-22. The first day of the 3A tournament is at the Wells Fargo Sports Complex on the University of Alaska Anchorage campus and the first day of the 4A tournament will be at West Anchorage High School. The final two days of each tournament are at Sullivan Arena.

The Lathrop Malemutes boys and girls teams both earned No. 7 seeds in the Class 4A tournaments.

The Lathrop boys are paired up against No. 2. Bartlett in the opening round at 8 a.m. on March 20. In other opening round games, No. 3 Dimond plays No. 6 Kenai, No. 4 South Anchorage takes on No. 5 Juneau-Douglas and No. 1 Colony meets No. 8 Palmer.

The Lathrop girls are pitted against No. 2 Colony in an 11:20 a.m. contest. Other openers include No. 3 South Anchorage against No. 6 Palmer, No. 4 Juneau-Douglas against No. 5 Wasilla and No. 1 Chugiak against No. 8 Dimond.

While the 4A tournament is seeded, the other three tournaments have brackets that are predetermined. In the 3A and 2A tournaments, each conference champion plays a second-place team from another conference. In the 1A tournament, there are eight conference champions and they are matched up based on a rotation system that was established several years ago.

The three Interior teams in the 3A tournament play one after the other on opening day. The Eielson girls kick things off with a 9:40 a.m. contest against Bethel. That’s followed by a 11:20 a.m. game between the Eielson boys and Bethel. The Hutchison boys, making their first tournament appearance in the four-year history of the school, face Nome at 1 p.m.

Other 3A boys games feature Grace Christian against Nome at 6:50 p.m. and Heritage Christian against Petersburg at 8:30 p.m.

The 3A girls tournament opens with Cordova playing Barrow at 8 a.m. In afternoon games, Anchorage Christian plays Petersburg at 3:30 p.m. and Grace Christian against Mt. Edgecumbe at 5:10 p.m.

Both Galena squads enter the 2A tournament as Central Interior Conference champions. The Hawks boys play Noorvik at 5:10 p.m. on March 18, while the girls take on Chevak at 6:50 p.m.

The Tri-Valley boys get off to an early start with an 8 a.m. game against Bristol Bay. Other openers have Point Hope playing Hoonah at 9:40 a.m. and Angoon taking on Seldovia at 3:30 p.m.

The Northway girls get a 1 p.m. start against Ninilchik. Other opening day contests pit Point Hope against Kake at 11:20 a.m. and Yakutat against Cook inlet Academy at 8:30 p.m.

Fort Yukon and Huslia earned trips to Anchorage by winning the Golden Heart Conference Tournament last weekend in Tanana.

The Huslia girls get the 1A state tournament started with an 8 a.m. contest on March 18 against Togiak. The Fort Yukon boys start at 11:20 a.m. against Togiak.

Other girls games feature Akiachak against Alakanuk at 9:40 a.m., Kwethluk against White Mountain at 3:30 p.m. and Kiana vs. Alak at 5:10 p.m.

On the boys side, it’s Kalskag against Russian Mission at 1 p.m., Napaskiak against Elim at 6:50 p.m. and Buckland against Nunamiut at 8:30 p.m.