Colony, Wasilla girls squads score 4A state quarterfinal wins

The eighth-seeded West Anchorage Eagles put some late pressure on Colony. But the top-seeded Knights prevailed.

Colony closed with a 9-2 run, and walked off the court with a 54-46 win over the Eagles during the girls quarterfinal round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships Wednesday night at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

With the win, Colony moves forward to face fifth-seeded Juneau-Douglas Friday at 3:15 p.m. in the semifinals. Juneau got past fourth-seeded Bartlett 49-45.

West Anchorage, which had trailed by double-digits, used a three-pointer to cut Colony’s lead to 45-44 early in the fourth quarter. Knights senior Hallie Clark, who was just named the Gatorade Alaska Girls Basketball Player of the Year, drove to the basket to push Colony’s lead to three points at the 4:20 mark of the fourth. Jericho Wuestenberg also had a key basket at the 1:50 mark. Clark, Ally Shelley and Tonya Karpow added free throws in the final minutes.

Third-seeded Wasilla cruised into the girls semifinals with a 64-28 victory over sixth-seeded Dimond earlier in the day. The Warriors will now face second-seeded Mountain City Christian Friday at 4:45 p.m. MCC beat seventh-seeded North Pole 51-36.

The Warriors are seeded just behind MCC, despite a 2-0 mark against the Lions this year.

Wasilla opened with a 20-6 run Thursday against the Lynx, and held Dimond to single digits in each quarter. Wasilla’s senior standouts, Mylee Anderson and Layla Hays, combined for 49 of Wasilla’s 64 points. Anderson, a UAA commit, netted a game-high 28 points, and was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Hays, who will play at Division I Iowa next year, had a double-double with 21 points and 11 boards. Savannah Kroon added seven points and six rebounds for Wasilla.

Mat-Su boys team did not fare as well. Both third-seeded Wasilla and seventh-seeded Palmer fell in the first round. Now, the Valley rivals will meet for a fourth time this season. The Warriors and Moose play Friday at 9:30 a.m. in an elimination game. Two weeks ago, Wasilla beat Palmer in the Northern Lights Conference title game.

Sixth-seeded Monroe Catholic never trailed in a 50-38 victory over the Warriors Wednesday. The Warriors were able to cut Monroe’s lead to six points twice in the second half, but the Rams responded each time with a bucket.

Barak Wagle led Wasilla with 11 points. Deegan VanDussen added nine, and Noah Kroon chipped in eight.

Two-time defending 4A state champion East Anchorage, the No. 2 seed, scored a 52-35 win over Palmer. The T-Birds held a 6-2 lead over the Moose after the first quarter, but broke the game open with an 18-6 second-quarter run.

Logan Rolston led Palmer with nine points. Nolan Garner added eight.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.