Chris Lee
Edmonds College guard Chris Lee of Ketchikan is king of the north.
The sophomore playmaker on Monday was named MVP of the NWAC’s North Region and earned a spot on the first team all-league.
Winning MVP is even more impressive when you remember Lee missed the first half of the season. Yet he still managed to win the award by a unanimous vote.
The 6-foot-1 Alaskan averaged 19.5 points on 54% shooting to go with 6.0 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 15 games. Edmonds went 12-3 in the games he played and clinched the North Region’s No. 1 seed for the NWAC Tournament.
There was a two-game stretch last month that really summed up Lee’s player-of-the-year season.
First, he dropped a season-high 28 points on Shoreline to fuel a 77-74 win. Three days later he poured in 21 of his 23 points in the second half on 8-of-14 shooting, including five of nine from 3-point land, to bring Edmonds back from a nine-point halftime deficit to beat Skagit Valley 67-61.
Lee was a second team all-league pick last season and has led Edmonds to a 40-16 record in his career.
Damarion Delaney
In the East Region, Anchorage’s Damarion Delaney earned second team all-league honors for Spokane.
The former Cook Inlet Conference Player of the Year out of East High averaged 16.2 points on 48% shooting in 25 games. He pumped in 30 or more points three times, netting a career-high 32 twice.
He added 4.4 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.6 steals per game.
Delaney is his team’s leading scorer and helped Spokane clinch a berth into the NWAC Tournament.
Amy Sokaitis
On the women’s side, Fairbanks’ Amy Sokaitis was named East Region Coach of the Year for a second straight season.
Sokaitis led Columbia Basin to a 23-2 record in the regular season and the region’s No. 1 seed for the NWAC Tournament. Columbia Basin finished 14-0 in league games.
Last year, Sokaitis turned a 9-17 club into a 22-5 final four team.
Sokaitis played high school ball at Monroe Catholic before going on to play at NCAA Division II Western Colorado. Prior to coming to Columbia Basin in 2021, Sokaitis spent seven seasons at Lebanon Valley College where she compiled a 91-83 record.
Additional Article Sponsors:Alaska Airlines | Nicole Johnston | Richard Mize | Advanced Diagnostics, INC | Aktive Soles | Alaska Oil and Gas Association | Aspen Endodontics | Black-Smith, Bethard & Carlson, LLC. | BOSCO’s | Coho Financial Group | Continental Auto Group | Don Clary & Judy Besh | Glen Bailey | Invisalign-Ben Ward | JL Properties | Joey Caterinichio & Ja Dorris| Kathleen Navarre | Midas Alaska | Moose’s Tooth, Bear Tooth and Broken Tooth Brewing | Perkins Coie – Sarah & A.J. Schirack | R&M Consultants, Inc. | RE/MAX Dynamic Properties Kevin Taylor | Residential Mortgage | Seth Wickersham & Alison Overholt | Taylored Restoration | Korndrop Family Foundation | Arctic Slope Regional Corporation | Replacement Glass | Zareena and Allen Clendaniel | Foley & Pearson | UAA Seawolves | Tony and Carla Slaton Barker | Sportclips Haircuts | Alliance for Support of American Legion Baseball in Alaska | Alice & Gunnar Knapp | Amy and Jason Miller | Burgerfi | Charles Fedullo | Dan Rufner | Darren Lieb | Don Winchester | Donley Family | Dr. Justin Libby, DDS | Firetap | Harlow Robinson | Jason & Shannon Metrokin | Jim & Michelle Hajdukovich | Joe Alston | Kathie Bethard | Krispy Kreme | Kristopher Knauss | Loren Kroon | Mark and Jamie Johnson | Mark Silverman | On the Border | Pete Robinson | Rick Mystrom | Team Heat | Team Moriarty | The Conway Family | Todd Whited | Moria Smith | In memory of Drs. John & Elizabeth Tower | Peter Pounds | Multisport Training of Alaska/Lisa Keller |
