Colony boys earn No. 2 seed in 4A tourney

PALMER — Throughout the 2018-19 regular season, the Colony Knights were on a quest for a top-2 seed in the 4A state tournament. Despite a bump in the road, Colony did secure one of the top two spots in the state tourney.

Colony, which finished third in the Northern Lights Conference tournament, earned the No. 2 seed in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships, which starts March 21 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

“This is why you do the work you do during the regular season,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said. “The fact we are still a two seed really is a testament to the work the guys put in through the regular season.”

Rival Palmer upset top-seeded Colony in the NLC semifinals. The Knights finished third in the conference tournament after a win over defending state champion Wasilla on the final day, and secured one of a pair of at-large berths in the 4A tourney. Berg said the Knights are happy to be about where they hoped they’d be in the state bracket with an at-large bid.

Colony opens state tourney play against seventh-seeded West Valley Thursday at 7:30 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage. Colony beat the Wolfpack 50-38 in February. Berg said the Knights can’t overlook West Valley.

“They’re getting healthy at the right time,” Berg said. “They won their league. They’ve played in a lot of close games.”

Colony and West Valley share the bottom side of the bracket with third-seeded Dimond and sixth-seeded Palmer, which meet Thursday at 8 p.m.

Palmer vaulted from the bottom seed of the Northern Lights Conference Championships to tournament title after wins over Kodiak, Colony and Soldotna during the region tourney. Palmer’s next challenge is Dimond, the 2018 state runner-up.

“We’re going to take that underdog approach,” Arnhart said.

Arnhart said the Moose will work to build on what they established during the region tournament, and hope to continue doing the things that led to success.

“We’ve got to take care of the basketball,” Arnhart said. “If you don’t turn the basketball over, you can compete with anybody.”

East Anchorage earned the top seed in the 4A boys bracket and will play eighth-seeded Ketchikan Thursday at 12:30 p.m. Fourth-seeded Soldotna meets fifth-seeded West Anchorage Thursday at 11 a.m.

“There are eight good teams in this tournament,” Berg said.

Wasilla, the lone Valley team in the 4A girls’ field, is the No. 6 seed in the bracket.

“We figured we’d probably be six or seven going in, so we’re not disappointed where we are at,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said.

Wasilla opens with sixth-seeded Bartlett Thursday at 5 p.m.

“It’ll be a good match with Bartlett,” Hebert-Truax said.

Bartlett beat Wasilla 47-38 in late January, but the Warriors were without senior standout Olivia Davies.

“Everbody is back. We’ve got Olivia back and that will help us, but she’s not at 100 percent,” Hebert-Truax said.

Hebert-Truax said the Warriors have a couple of players who have dealt with injury this season and are not quite at full stength, but are working through it.

During the NLC tournament, Wasilla survived a battle with Colony before getting past top-seeded Soldonta, the tournament host, in the final. Wasilla’s Sheridan Green hit a three-pointer with nine seconds to play to give Wasilla a 49-47win in the semis and followed with a 57-39 victory over the Stars.

Wasilla trailed SoHi 10-2 early in the final.

“The kids didn’t fold, they kept going after it,” Hebert-Truax said.

Wasilla share the bottom side of the bracket with second-seeded West Valley and seventh-seeded Chugiak, which play Thursday at 3:30 p.m. Defending state champion Dimond is the top seed and meets eighth-seeded Ketchikan Thursday at 8 a.m. Fourth-seeded Soldotna plays fifth-seeded West at 9:30 a.m.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.