Colony crowned

PALMER — Wasilla wasn’t going to go without a fight.

Trailing by 18 points in the second half, the seven-time defending NLC champion Warriors rallied to within three points before fading down the stretch, losing a 60-49 decision to the Colony Knights in the Northern Lights Conference championship game.

“We just had to weather the storm, and we did it,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said of his team’s victory, Colony’s first NLC title since 2000.

The Knights got 22 points from sophomore Alex Coon and 14 points and eight boards from junior Kara Larson in the win, while Wasilla was led by Jenna Johnson’s 17 points and seven rebounds.

Colony opened the game on a 10-2 run, but the Warriors were able to get back into it, briefly taking the lead on two Johnson free throws early in the quarter.

The teams traded the lead four times in the first half, with the Knights going ahead for good on a Megan Bowker jumper with just over four minutes left to play in the second quarter.

Colony got a solid first half down low from Coon, who used a variety of nifty spin moves to score 12 points in the first half, leading the Knights to a 29-21 lead at the break.

Neither team was sharp early, with the Warriors committing 15 first-half turnovers and the Knights giving the ball up 11 times.

Johnson kept the Warriors in the game through halftime, scoring all 10 of her first-half points in the second quarter to keep things close.

Colony didn’t let up in the third, starting the second half on an 12-2 run to push the lead to 18 points.

But the Warriors weren’t going to go quietly.

After cutting the Colony lead to 15 on a three-pointer by by senior Shelby Fulton, Warriors coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax called a timeout. Wasilla came out of the huddle and switched to a zone defense.

That changed everything.

“I knew Jeannie was going to come up with something,” Witzel said.

With Colony flustered by the new defensive approach, Wasilla flourished, forcing turnovers with abandon, then getting easy buckets at the other end.

“We got real tentative,” Witzel said.

A Fulton lay-up midway through the fourth quarter cut Colony’s lead to just three points, but that was as close as the Warriors would get. The Knights ended the game on a 12-4 run, getting 10 of those points at the free-throw line as Wasilla was forced to foul as the game neared its conclusion.

“We’ve been fortunate this year that when teams have made that run, we’ve been able to answer,” Witzel said.

Despite the loss, Hebert-Truax said she was pleased with her team’s ability to get back into a game that was heading toward blowout status.

“I’m proud as heck of my kids,” she said. “They’re fighters.”

Colony also got nine points each from Jackie Hamann and allie Grazulis, four from Hayley Hotchkiss and two from Megan Bowker.

Celeste Colegrove had 10 points and seven rebounds for Wasilla, Fulton and Carlee Naczi scored seven each, and Skyler Nuss and Kelsey Cottle each had four.

The win was especially sweet for the Knights, a team that saw a run of 13 straight berths in the state tournament snapped during last year’s tournament.

“We had a goal of wanting to reach the state tournament this year,” Witzel said.

Both Colony and Wasilla made the tourney by reaching the NLC finals, and Hebert-Truax said she still beelives the Warriors are a legitimate threat to repeat as champions. And if they have to go through Colony?

“I’d love to get another crack at them,” she said.

KNIGHTS 60, WARRIORS 49

NLC title game

Saturday, Palmer High School

Colony 11 18 17 14 — 60

Wasilla 8 13 18 10 — 49

COLONY (60) — Hamann 2 5-6 9, Hotchkiss 1 1-3 4, Grazulis 3 2-4 9, Me. Bowker 1 0-0 2, Coon 7 8-11 22, Larson 6 2-4 14. Totals: 20 18-28 60.

WASILLA (49) — Fulton 3 0-0 7, Nuss 2 0-0 4, Naczi 3 0-0 7, Johnson 7 3-6 17, Cottle 2 0-2 4. Totals: 22 3-8 49.

Three-point field goals — Colony 2 (Hotchkiss, Grazulis), Wasilla 2 (Fulton, Naczi). Total fouls — Colony 14, Wasilla 24. Fouled out — Fulton, Naczi.