Colony girls rebound with win over Warriors

WASILLA — Friday night, Palmer scored its first girls basketball win over Colony since 2014. The following afternoon, the Knights had the chance to end their own drought.

Colony stunned two-time defending state champion Wasilla with a 53-35 victory over the Warriors Saturday at Wasilla High School. It’s the first time Colony beat Wasilla since former Knights standout Faith Farris hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to give Colony a win over the Warriors in the 2015 4A state quarterfinals.

Knights head coach Jeff Bowker said it was good to see his squad bounce back from a tough 57-52 loss to the Moose Friday night on Colony’s senior night.

“I am proud of the girls to get themselves ready to play,” Bowker said.

Bowker said he is impressed with the resiliency of his players, but with such a quick turnaround between the two games, the Knights had to look ahead.

“You can’t look in the rearview mirror very long,” Bowker said. “The challenge is, you don’t have a full 24 hours (between games).”

Bowker said the Knights didn’t have time to dwell on the loss to the Moose.

Colony led 21-17 at halftime and used an 18-point third quarter to build a double-digit lead. Junior Kali Bull scored 10 of her game-high 15 in the third. Senior Haylee Duguid also hit big shots, dropping a trio of three-pointers in the win. Senior Alex Carlton scored eight of her 14 points in the second half.

“I thought a lot of different girls did a good job for us today,” Bowker said.

Colony held Wasilla to 13 of 39 shooting and only six fourth-quarter points.

“I thought we did a better job defensively since the first time we played,” Bowker said.

Wasilla was also without all-state junior point guard Olivia Davies.

“They were missing Olivia. That adds another aspect to their game,” Bowker said.

Senior Maclaren Obremski led Wasilla with 13 points.

Wasilla finished at the top of the Northern Lights Conference at 9-1, despite the loss, and will be the top seed when teams hit the court for the NLC Championships Thursday at WHS. Colony (8-2) is the No. 2 seed. Both teams receive first-round byes.

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

Colony 53, Wasilla 35

Saturday, Wasilla High

Colony 9-12-18-14—53

Wasilla 6-11-12-6—35

Colony (53) — Hay. Duguid 3 0-0 9, Kenley 3 0-0 7, Bull 5 2-3 15, Novelli 2 0-0 4, Schwantes 2 0-0 2, Carlton 5 4-4 14; Totals: 20 6-7 53.

Wasilla (35) — Brandenburg 0 2-2 2, McSorley 2 1-1 5, Obremski 6 0-1 13, T. Anderson 1 0-0 2, Lawhead 1 3-4 5, C. Green 3 0-0 6, Titus 0 2-4 2; Totals: 13 8-12 35.