COOL UNDER PRESSURE

WASILLA — During a second-half timeout Monday, the Wasilla team doctor rubbed a bag of ice on the neck of the Warriors’ Cody Pfeifer.

If it was an effort to cool off the hot-handed Wasilla senior, it didn’t work.

Pfeifer scored 36 points and pulled down 11 rebounds to lead Wasilla to a 63-56 come-from-behind win over the Juneau-Douglas Crimson Bears during the first day of Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic at Wasilla High School.

“He played his stinking guts out from the get-go,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said after the win. “The offense, it was obvious to everybody, but he led us in every category, including just taking over, and saying, you know what, I’m going to become a leader on this team.”

Pfeifer hit 14 shots from the field and sank 8-of-10 free throws. He hit shots when it mattered, scoring 13 in the fourth quarter and 20 in the second half.

Plus he pulled down the team-high 11 boards and helped spark the Warriors at the defensive end.

“If he’ll just play that hard, he’ll take a lot of memories out of this season,” Engebretsen said of the 6-foot-3 guard. “If he’ll play that hard and take his leadership role that he just developed and run with that, he’ll build some terrific memories.”

Pfeifer scored 13 of Wasilla’s 19 fourth-quarter points, as the Warriors used a 19-9 fourth-quarter run to erase a double-digit deficit and record the nonconference win.

“It’s nice to gut it out, grind it out and get a win,” Engebretsen said.

Pfeifer scored 36 of his team’s 63 and only four Warriors found the bottom of the net during the win, but Engebretsen said it was a team effort that led to the comeback.

“The second half, they all just decided they were going to have to gut it out,” Engebretsen said. “We did a few things differently and had to settle it in a bit.”

Sophomore Connor Devine added 12 points and a handful of blocks in the win. The 6-7 post recorded a pair of key blocked shots during the final 16 seconds of regulation. One of those blocks came with the Warriors leading by only three.

Another sophomore, Braydon Kuiper, added nine points. Junior Cole Schierman chipped in six. Guards Drew Ford, Joel Quenga and Wade Stahle, newcomers to regular time at the varsity level, also played significant minutes.

“We had a lot of young guys out on the floor,” Engebretsen said. “They’re finding their groove hopefully. That’s what Christmas tournaments are all about. The nice thing is, we get to do that in front of our home crowd.”

Juneau buried a trio of early three-pointers and built a 16-9 lead after the first quarter and a 37-29 halftime advantage.

Tony Yadao led the Bears with 13 points. Colin Gozelski added 11, while Paul Tupou and Alex DeRocher chipped in eight each.

Wasilla 63, Juneau-Douglas 56

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Monday, Wasilla High School

Juneau 16-21-10-9—56

Wasilla 9-20-15-19—63

Juneau (56) — Ibesate 2 1-3 6, Hurtte 1 0-0 2, Yadao 6 1-1 13, Gozelski 2 7-8 11, Wilson 2 1-1 5, P. Fenumiai 1 0-0 3, DeRocher 3 0-0 8, Tupou 4 0-0 8; Totals: 21 10-13 56.

Wasilla (63) — Schierman 2 2-3 6, Kuiper 4 1-1 9, Pfeifer 14 8-10 36, Devine 5 2-2 12; Totals: 25 13-16 63.

3-point field goals: Juneau 4 (DeRocher 2), Wasilla 0; Total fouls: Juneau 17, Wasilla 15.