Coach motivates Warrior girls; state champs remain undefeated

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors don’t have a panic button. They have their head coach, Jeannie Hebert-Truax, to remind them it’s time to take care of business.

With the Palmer Moose hanging with the two-time defending state champions for three quarters, the Warriors, sparked by a reminder from their head coach, used a 13-4 fourth-quarter run to score a 48-33 victory over the Moose Friday at Palmer High School.

“We had a little talk at halftime,” Hebert-Truax said of the Warriors, who trailed by one after the first quarter and led by four at the half.

Seniors Alexis Imoe and Alysha Devine combined for nine third-quarter points, and Devine scored six key points early in the fourth to help Wasilla earn the victory and stay undefeated.

“Eventually my kids got to them, and we pulled away,” Hebert-Truax said.

Hebert-Truax said Devine’s work early in the fourth was big for the Warriors.

“That’s when we first started pulling away,” Hebert-Truax said.

Caitlin Scott hit a pair of key three-pointers for Palmer in the third quarter to keep things interesting. Scott’s second three cut Wasilla’s lead to 29-27 with 3:47 left in the third. But the Wasilla defense held Palmer to only a Leya DePriest layup in the final half of the third quarter and a pair of DePriest baskets in the fourth.

Imoe and Devine led Wasilla with a dozen points each and Savanna Burke added 11 points and seven rebounds. Devine also swiped a game-best six steals.

Scott and DePriest each scored a team-high eight for Palmer. Kalei DePriest grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds. Leya DePriest added nine rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass. Palmer out-rebounded Wasilla 38-26 in the game. The Moose held a 14-2 advantage in rebounding after the first quarter.

Both teams shot less than 35 percent in the game.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Wasilla 48, Palmer 33

Friday, Palmer High

Wasilla 10-13-12-13—48

Palmer 11-8-10-4—33

Wasilla (48) — Ford 2 0-0 4, Imoe 3 4-4 12, Devine 6 0-0 12, Hutchins 1 0-0 2, Dinkel 2 3-4 7, Burke 4 3-7 11; Totals: 18 10-15 48.

Palmer (33) — Southwick 1 0-0 2, K. DePriest 2 1-2 5, Scott 3 0-0 8, Osiensky 1 0-0 2, Straight 2 0-0 4, Blake 0 4-4 4, L. DePriest 4 0-2 8; Totals: 13 5-8 33.