Colony senior hits buzzer-beater, stuns Wasilla girls

ANCHORAGE — When the game is on the line, sometimes you just need a little faith.

Colony senior Faith Farris hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give the Knights a 45-42 win over rival Wasilla during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage Thursday.

Wasilla junior Catherine Baham hit a three to tie the game at 42 with five seconds left in regulation, leaving the Knights, potentially, with one final opportunity.

After the inbound pass, Farris raced up the left side of the court and drained a shot from the wing to push the Knights into the semifinals for the fifth straight year.

“We were actually going to draw something else up. We had something else planned,” Farris said after the win. “But at the last moment, we realized they weren’t set up how we thought they were going to be.”

So, the Knights scratched that plan, and just went for it, Farris said.

“To be honest, it really didn’t go to my head, how much it mattered until it went in,” Farris said of the game-winning shot.

As soon as the three-pointer dropped through the net and the buzzer sounded, her teammates stormed the floor to celebrate.

“We’ve always talked about dog piling, If we ever had a chance to do a pile, we would,” Farris said with a smile.

The win not only moved Colony into a semifinal date with West Valley, but it also gave the Knights the elusive win over their rival. Thursday marked the fourth meeting between the two Valley teams, and Wasilla owned a 3-0 record against the Knights. Wasilla beat Colony twice during the regular season, and again in the Northern Lights Conference final earlier this month.

“It’s amazing,” Farris said of the win. “(Wasilla’s) always one of our biggest competition. Since my freshman year, it’s always one you mark on the schedule. They’re a great team.”

While Wasilla had the definite advantage of the Knights during regular-season play, Colony has the experience in the state tournament. All five Colony starters played prominent roles on the squad that finished as the 4A state runner-up last year. Colony also finished third in the 4A girls bracket in both 2012 and 2013. Farris, a four-year starter for the Knights, is a prime example of that state tournament experience. On the other side, only Wasilla’s two seniors (Machia Toews and Cassidy Edwards) have state championship tournament experience. Toews and Edwards were members of Wasilla teams that won state titles during their freshman and sophomore seasons.

No other Wasilla player had hit the Sullivan Arena hardwood before Thursday.

“We definitely talked about that,” Farris said of the state tourney experience. “how we should be the most confident. This is my fourth state tournament. Other teams, it’s their first or second. Wasilla, they’re all young. Not being used to the bright lights and the big crowd, it’s kind of detrimental.”

Colony showed that experience early. The Knights led 9-4 after the first quarter and 23-12 at halftime. Farris hit a pair of three-pointers in the first half. Seniors Ashley Turcotte and Sarah Bonn hit key threes in the second quarter.

Bonn’s three gave Colony the 16-7 lead with three minutes left in the first half. Turcotte followed with another three to push Colony’s lead to 12 points with less than two minutes left in the second quarter.

Wasilla did bounce back, and nearly forced overtime with a 30-point second half. Junior Leya DePriest scored 16 of her game-high 18 points in the second half. Freshman Azlynn Brandenburg was stellar early in the fourth, scoring six points during the first two minutes of the final period. Brandenburg scored Wasilla’s first three field goals of the fourth quarter, and cut Colony’s lead to 33-32. Colony used buckets by Bonn and Chase Stephens to extend its lead back to five points, but DePriest led another charge.

With 3:20 left in the fourth, DePriest used a lay-up to cut the Colony lead to 37-34. With just less than three minutes left, DePriest went to the basket once again. This time, the 6-foot-4 forward got the bucket, drew the foul and hit the free throw to tie the game at 37.

Late in the game, a Sarah Brumbaugh free throw gave the Knights a 42-39 lead. With five seconds left, Baham hit her three-pointer for Wasilla, which tied the game at 42. That set up the opportunity for Farris to sink the buzzer-beater.

Farris praised her team’s ability to prevail.

“That’s one of our biggest assets. (Colony head coach Jeff) Bowker calls it grinding,” Farris said. “We know how to grind.”

Turcotte led Colony with 13 points in the game. Farris added 11 and Bonn chipped in seven. Stephens collected a team-high seven rebounds. Farris and Brumbaugh finished with six rebounds each.

DePriest finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds, both game highs. Brandenburg added a dozen.

With the loss, Wasilla moves back into the consolation semifinals and will face Thunder Mountain Friday at 8 a.m. at the Sullivan Arena.

Colony meets West Valley in the semis, Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Sullivan. The Wolfpack improved to 25-0 with a 50-37 win over Thunder Mountain early Thursday.

Colony 45, Wasilla 42

4A girls quarterfinals

Thursday, Sullivan Arena

Colony 4-19-8-14—45

Wasilla 6-6-14-16—42

Colony (45) — Farris 4 0-0 11, Stephens 2 2-2 6, Clark 1 0-0 2, Turcotte 5 1-2 13, Brumbaugh 1 1-2 3, Bonn 3 0-2 7; Totals: 15 4-7 45.

Wasilla (42) — Baham 1 0-0 3, Brandenburg 5 2-4 12, Toews 1 3-4 6, Dinkel 0 1-2 1, Edwards 1 0-0 2, DePriest 8 2-4 18; Totals: 16 8-14 42.