Colony boys, Wasilla girls finish NLC regular season undefeated

PALMER — A pair of Valley teams capped undefeated conference seasons Friday night at Colony High School. But while one led throughout, another overcame adversity and used a late push to stay perfect.

Sparked by an early 8-0 run, the Wasilla girls, undefeated against all competition, improved to 10-0 in Northern Lights Conference play with a 56-29 win over the Colony Knights.

The Colony boys used a 21-point fourth quarter to ward off a feisty Wasilla squad and claim a 57-44 win over the Warriors.

“We were able to at least, maybe not stop them, but at minimum slow down some of their momentum,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of the win over the Warriors.

Dane Kuiper scored a dozen of his team-high 15 points in the second half, and Cameron Brown added six second-half points as the Warriors worked to rally.

“They hung around. Working with (Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen and assistant coach Matt Berg) for as long as I have, I’ve got a lot of respect for them,” Berg said. “(Wasilla) plays how they’re supposed to play. They do the right things, and tonight’s no different.”

Colony earned the 13-point win, but the teams battled through a second quarter dominated by defense, and played through a second half in which neither team carried away the momentum.

“It gave a message to my guys, the fact that no one’s rolling over,” Berg said. “It’s going to be a dogfight of a region tournament.”

With its 10-0 record, Colony enters the Northern Lights Conference Championships as the top seed. The Knights earned a first-round bye in the tourney, which starts Thursday at Soldotna High School in Soldotna. Wasilla (3-7) is the No. 5 seed and will play fourth-seeded Soldotna Thursday. The winner of that game moves into the semifinals to play Colony.

Damien Fulp scored a game-high 19 points for the Knights, and Nathan Umbarger added 16 points and a dozen rebounds.

Fulp and Umbarger combined for 14 points in the fourth quarter.

The Wasilla girls opened the doubleheader with an early 8-0 run. The Warriors didn’t allow a point until Colony’s Mary Klapperich hit a pair of free throws at the 5:15 mark of the first. Klapperich scored six of her team-high 10 at the free throw line.

Wasilla forced 32 Colony turnovers in the win and didn’t allow the Knights to hit double digits in scoring in any of the four quarters.

Jenna Ford finished with five of Wasilla’s 14 steals in the conference. Alysha Devine added four steals to her game-high 14 points. Six of Devine’s points came during a 16-point Wasilla first quarter.

Kyla Dinkel posted a double-double, finishing with 12 points and 14 rebounds. Alexis Imoe chipped in 10 points, and Savanna Burke had nine points, eight rebounds, two blocks and two steals.

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

Colony boys 57, Wasilla 44

Friday, Colony High

Wasilla 11-7-10-16—44

Colony 17-4-15-21—57

Wasilla (44) — Brown 5 3-5 13, Carney 1 0-1 2, Krueger 1 3-5 5, Kuiper 4 5-9 15, McGregor 0 3-4 3, Cook 1 0-0 2, Hanson 2 0-0 4; Totals: 14 14-24 44.

Colony (57) — Compton 1 0-0 2, West 2 0-0 4, Gray 3 3-4 8, Fulp 7 2-2 19, Menard 0 2-2 2, Umbarger 5 5-8 16, Bush 1 1-3 3, Eisenhower 1 0-0 3; Totals: 19 13-19 57.

Wasilla girls 56, Colony 29

Friday, Colony High

Wasilla 16-11-8-21—56

Colony 8-6-7-8—29

Wasilla (56) — Ford 1 0-0 2, Imoe 3 4-5 10, Devine 5 4-5 14, Hutchins 2 2-2 7, Dinkel 5 2-2 12, Edwards 0 2-2 2, Burke 3 3-6 9; Totals: 19 17-22 56.

Colony (29) — Klapperich 2 6-6 10, Farris 2 0-0 4, Tweed 2 1-4 7, Turcotte 2 0-1 4, Willardson 1 0-0 2, Solano 1 0-0 2; Totals: 10 7-11 29.