Bartlett Bears outrebound Colony

WASILLA - The Bartlett Golden Bears boys basketball team rebounded its way to victory over the Colony Knights 66-61, but the win didnt come easy.

Colony blasted out of the chute, running up a six-point lead on the Bears in the first five minutes, until Bartlett figured out who Colonys leader was.

Thats when Colonys Mike Johnson attracted the Bears attention.

Bartlett double-teamed the Knights on-court leader throughout the game, sandwiching him with their half-court defense and forcing him to cough up the ball several times.

Bartlett fouls also took their toll on Johnson, who went to the foul line seven times, but only converted three points in 11 tries.

They were playing great man-to-man defense, Colonys Cole Magner said. If Mike is having an off day, then I try to pick up the slack.

Magner tossed in 24 points to lead all scorers and had six steals in the game, but the Bears maintained a slight scoring edge.

Bartlett took the lead late in the first quarter and never relinquished it. Nine players scored points for the balanced Bears attack in the foul-laden game. Referees penalized the two teams 51 times.

The refs were calling every little thing ticky-tack, Magner said, and it was hard to play our style of defense.

Although the Knights were a much smaller team, they contested every rebound, crashing in from various angles and forcing the Bears to several jump balls, but the Bears inside game prevailed.

Bartletts big man in the middle, 6-foot-4-inch Tui Alailefaleula, was too much for the Colony post game.

He tossed in 14 points, leading the Bears in scoring as the Knights eventually fell victim to his tenacious rebounding.

With Bartlett leading 57-49 late in the game, Nathan Schwartzbauer and Josh Williams muscled under the net and came up with a couple of clutch rebounds for Colony. The Bears resorted to some strategic fouls late in the game and Colony could only convert four of 11 fourth-quarter foul attempts.

Bartlett compiled 23 points in 38 attempts from the line, while Colony was just seven for 20 in the game.

Johnson yanked down 12 rebounds for the Knights and Magner had six, but the two Colony guards didnt get much scoring support from their bench.

No other Knight scored more than six points as Johnson and Magner combined for 44 of Colonys 61 points. Matt Berg also grabbed five rebounds for the Knights.

We feel that we are every bit as good as Bartlett, Colony assistant coach Tom Lincoln said, but we really missed Jared Boyd, who is out with the flu.

Bartlett plays 100 miles an hour and were not real deep on the bench, so its hard to run with a team like that when two or three of our guys play the whole game, he said.

The Bears were seventh in the new Winning Percentage Index state rankings before the game started, right behind the Knights, who were sixth.

The new seeding system, which will be used at the state tournament, seemed to accurately depict Colony and Bartlett as relatively equal squads.

The game followed that pattern as well.

BARTLETT (66) Drussell 0 3-4 6, Perkins 1 3-6 5, Tolliver 3 2-5 9, Walker 4 3-6 11, Black 4 4-4 12, Calahan 1 1-2 3, Smith 1 0-0 2, Blewett 1 1-2 4, Alailefaleula 4 6-9 14. Totals 20 23-38 66.

COLONY (61) Williams 2 0-0 6, Johnson 8 3-11 20, Davies 1 2-3 4, Magner 10 1-4 24, Foster 2 0-0 4, Schwartzbauer 0 0-0 0, Berg 1 1-2 3. Totals 24 7-20 61.

Total Fouls Colony 29, Bartlett 22, Fouled out Davies, Foster, Alailefaleula. Three-point goals Williams 2, Johnson, Magner 3, Drussell, Tolliver, Blewett.Photo: Mike Johnson scrambles after a loose ball against Bartlett. He had 20 points and 11 rebounds in the game.Photo by GENE JANSEN.