First round: Wasilla girls 58,Skyview girls 24, final

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

PALMER — Skyview started the first half of Thursday's opening-round Northern Lights Conference game against Wasilla on an 8-3 run.

And then got run out of the gym.

Wasilla, the defending NLC and Alaska Class 4A champions, held Skyview without a point for the final 17 minutes of the first half, heading into the locker room with a 24-8 lead that left any early Skyview upset hopes soundly crushed. The second half wasn't much different, with the Warriors cruising to an easy 58-24 victory.

The win moved the Warriors into the semifinals, where they'll play the winner of Thursday's Palmer-Kenai game for a berth in the state tournament.

“In Regions, every game's a big game,” Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said following the win.

Wasilla didn't look sharp against the Panthers, a team that won just one conference game all season. The Warriors committed 24 turnovers on the game and shot less than 40 percent from the field.

“It was an ugly one, but you've gotta have some of those,” Hebert-Truax said.

All-state forward Jenna Johnson led Wasilla with 17 points, 10 rebounds, six steals and a pair of blocked shots. Johnson wasn't the only Warrior stuffing the stat sheet Thursday, with freshman center Kelsey Cottle picking up eight rebounds, four steals and three blocks to go along with four points.

Wasilla forced 40 Panthers turnovers on the game and had 22 steals, including six from senior point guard Shelby Fulton, who also scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds. .

The Warriors were sloppy in the early going, committing 12 first-half turnovers while shooting 27 percent from the floor. But Wasilla's defense was smothering, holding the Panthers to just two field goals and out rebounding Skyview by a 25-12 margin through two quarters.

Wasilla finished the game shooting just 37 percent from the floor, but the Warriors made nearly as many field goals (23) as the Panthers attempted (28).

Hebert-Truax said she wasn't entirely pleased with her team's opening-round performance, but wasn't complaining a bit about getting to within one game of reaching the state tournament.

“You've got to do it one game at a time,” she said.

Nearly every Wasilla player in uniform got into the scoring column. Celeste Colegrove had eight points, Skyler Nuss scored five, Hillary Apangolook, Isabella Blake and Carlee Naczi had four each and Jillian Troisi had two points and six rebounds off the bench.

Melissa Massey scored 10 points and grabbed five rebounds to lead Skyview, which also got five points from Brittany Meyer, three from Ivy O'Guinn and two each from Joanna Graves, Candace Penrod and Jessica Stewart.

The loss dropped the Panthers into the consolation round, where they'll face the loser of the Palmer-Kenai game Friday morning.

WARRIORS 58, PANTHERS 24

Thursday, Palmer High School

Wasilla 14 10 17 17 - 58

Skyview 8 0 9 7 - 24

WASILLA (58) — Apangolook 2 0-0 4, Fulton 4 0-0 10, Blake 2 0-0 4, Nuss 2 1-2 5, Naczi 2 0-0 4, Johnson 7 3-5 17, Colegrove 3 2-2 8, Pevan 0 0-2 0, Cottle 2 0-0 4, Troisi 1 0-0 2. Totals: 23 6-11 58.

SKYVIEW (24) — Graves 1 0-0 2, O'Guinn 0 3-4 3, Massey 3 3-5 10, Candace Penrod 1 0-0 2, Casee Penrod 0 0-2 0, Stewart 1 0-0 2, Meyer 2 1-2 5. Totals: 8 7-13 24.

Three-point field goals — Wasilla 2 (Fulton 2), Skyview 1 (O'Guinn). Total fouls — Wasilla 13, Skyview 8. Fouled out — none.