4A Boys Championship | Two Different Roads. One Game. | March Madness Alaska 2026

Saturday, March 21, 2026 | UAA Alaska Airlines Center | 7:30 PM

Grace Christian didn't choose to be here. Not at this level, anyway.

The Grizzlies were forced up from 3A to 4A two years ago — ASAA classification rules, built on five years of winning too much at the wrong level. Grace had gone 26-19 against 4A competition while still classified as a 3A program. The association's message was clear: you don't belong down here anymore. So they moved up. And in year one, they walked into the state tournament as the top seed, won their opener, and were gone two games later. No trophy. No answer. Just a long offseason.

They've been building toward Saturday night ever since.

South Anchorage knows what Saturday night feels like. The Wolverines won the 4A Boys title in 2022 — Coach Jamaal Siah's first, the program's second in history. They came in that year as the sixth seed, knocked off the third, second, and first seeds in order, and won it on a buzzer beater in the final seconds — a moment captured in the video above. Then they spent three years trying to get back.

This season didn't make it look easy. South went 22-7, dropped games to conference rivals all winter, lost the region final to Service by three points. Nobody was circling them as a title contender. They beat Service in overtime in the quarterfinals anyway. They held Gatorade Player of the Year Jayden Miranda — who had 14 points in the first half — to two points after halftime in the semis. Every time this tournament asked South a hard question, they answered it. They enter Saturday as the fifth seed, same underdog role as 2022, different Wolverines carrying it.

Grace enters as the second seed, 24-4, NLC conference champions — their first 4A conference title. Coach Jason Boerger, who took over the program from his father Chuck, has spent years scheduling up, chasing 4A competition before the classification forced his hand. Bristol Tobin, Ashton Clarkson, and Brayden Clarkson have been through wars this season. Grace lost to Lathrop by 19 in February. They beat Lathrop by 15 three weeks later in the semifinal. This group doesn't process a loss — they absorb it and come back sharper.

Neither team has seen the other all season. No shared court, no film, no reference point. Just Saturday.

Grace is here to finish what last year left unfinished. South is here to prove 2022 wasn't a moment — it was a standard. One game. Neutral floor. No more road.

4A Boys Championship — Grace Christian vs South Anchorage | Saturday, March 21, 2026 | 7:30 PM