Colony, Wasilla boys win on first day of NLC tourney

The Colony Knights and Wasilla Warriors boys basketball squads each moved forward during the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships Thursday at Wasilla High School.

The wins set up an all-Valley bout Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the semifinals.

Second-seeded Colony coasted to a 66-18 victory over seventh-seeded Kodiak in the first round. The Knights started the game on a 17-6 run and led 36-10 at halftime. Colony drained eight three-pointers in the game. Jackson Ainsworth had three, and scored a game-high 17. Layton Lockard added a dozen.

Third-seeded Wasilla beat sixth-seeded Mountain City Christian 65-48. Wasilla scored 27 of its points in the third quarter. Tristen Horton hit a trio of threes and led Wasilla with 16. Brayden Sparrs chipped in 10.

Fifth-seeded Soldotna upset Palmer 58-49. Top-seeded Grace Christian received a first-round bye in the seven-team conference.

Grace will play SoHi in the other semifinal at 6:45 p.m.

Grace, Wasilla and Colony finished in a three-way tie in the regular season NLC standings at 10-2. Palmer finished 6-6. MCC and SoHi tied at 3-9. Kodiak was 0-12.

Wasilla and Colony both earned first-round byes in the six-team NLC girls tourney.

Top-seeded Wasilla will meet No. 4 seed Soldotna Friday at 5 p.m. in the semis. The Stars got past fifth-seeded Palmer.

Second-seeded Colony plays third-seeded Mountain City Christian in the other semifinal Friday at 1:15 p.m. MCC beat sixth-seeded Kodiak 76-11.

Both Palmer teams are now in consolation play. The Moose boys and girls are both in the fifth-place games at 10 a.m. and 11:45 a.m. Saturday.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.