Break doesn’t slow down WHS

WASILLA — After 19 days off, it’d be natural for the Wasilla Warriors to look rusty on Tuesday.

But a three-week break didn’t appear to slow the Warriors down. If anything, the hiatus may have made them even more ready to play.

Wasilla used a 23-3 first-quarter run to grab a 69-48 Northern Lights Conference win over the Palmer Moose at Palmer High School on Tuesday.

“The kids were excited, hungry to play,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said. “It definitely showed in that first quarter.”

Junior Alysha Devine scored seven of her 11 points in the first quarter, and senior Alyssa Hutchins added seven of her game-high 18.

The Wasilla defense also held Palmer to a single field goal in the first. It took the Moose about four minutes to find the basket, before Taylor Blake hit the baseline to get the Palmer layup.

“The defense caused a lot of havoc, lot of pressure,” Hebert-Truax said. “The kids were very positive, very intense.”

Wasilla broke the game open early in the first, getting buckets off steals on consecutive Palmer possessions.

Ricki Koso grabbed a steal at half court and dropped a pass back to Hutchins, who drained a three-pointer. On Palmer’s next possession, Devine got the steal and went to the basket.

“That was definitely part of our game plan, play good right off the bat,” Hebert-Truax said. “In previous years that was one of our downfalls, being ready to go.”

Wasilla carried that momentum into the second quarter, using an early 12-4 run to push its advantage to 32-7.

Hutchins, hit a trio of three-pointers, and scored a team-high 18. Junior Kyla Dinkel scored 15 and Devine added 11.

Blake led the Moose with 22 points. Half those points came in Palmer’s 22-point fourth. Caitlin Scott added seven for Palmer, and Tress Whitfield and Kasara Brandenburg added six each.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Wasilla 69, Palmer 48

Tuesday, Palmer High

Wasilla 23-14-12-20—69

Palmer 3-13-10-22—48

Wasilla (69) — Hutchins 6 3-4 18, Imoe 2 3-6 7, Koso 1 0-0 2, Brumbaugh 0 2-2 2, Devine 5 1-3 11, Toews 1 0-0 2, Dinkel 6 3-4 15, Garcia 4 1-2 9, Burke 0 1-2 1; Totals: 25 14-23 69.

Palmer (48) — Simmerman 1 0-0 3, Scott 3 0-0 7, Koehn 0 4-6 4, Blake 8 5-6 22, Whitford 1 4-6 6, Brandenburg 2 2-3 6; Totals: 15 15-21 48.

Three-point field goals: Wasilla 3 (Hutchins 3), Palmer 3 (3 tied with 1); Total fouls: Wasilla 20, Palmer 14; Fouled out: Wasilla- Devine.