Girls rally, boys cruise as Warriors sweep Moose

WASILLA - The Palmer Moose held the big first half lead. But the Wasilla Warriors celebrated the victory.

Defending state champion Wasilla held Palmer to 10 second-half points and scored the 50-46 come-from-behind girls basketball victory over the Moose Wednesday night.

Palmer shot 61 percent from the floor and took a 34-22 lead into the intermission, but the Warriors rallied. Wasilla senior Alyssa Hutchins scored more than half of her game-high 18 points in the second half, and junior Alexis Imoe added 13 for the Warriors.

Imoe grabbed a steal and went the length of the court for a layup with just more than two minutes left in regulation to give Wasilla a 45-44 advantage, the Warriors' first lead since the first quarter.

Tress Whitfield scored all 13 of her points in the first half to help Palmer build the early lead. Taylor Blake scored 15 for Palmer, and Anna Koehn added 14.

In boys' action, freshman Dane Kuiper scored a game-high 24 to lead the Warriors to a 65-48 win over Palmer. Senior Connor Devine fell a block shy of a triple-double, posting 22 points, 19 rebounds and nine blocked shots.

Jared Straight drained four three-pointers, and led the Moose with 15 points.

See the Friday edition of the Frontiesman for full coverage.

Wasilla girls 50, Palmer 46

Wednesday, Wasilla

Palmer 17-17-6-4-44

Wasilla 12-10-14-14-50

Palmer (44) - Koehn 6 0-2 14, Blake 7 0-0 15, Whitfield 6 0-0 13, Brandenburg 1 0-0 2; Totals: 20 0-5 44.

Wasilla (50) - Hutchins 6 4-4 18, Imoe 5 2-4 13, Devine 1 3-4 5, Dinkel 5 0-1 10, Burke 1 2-2 4; Totals: 18 1-15 50.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 4 (Koehn 2), Wasilla 3 (Hutchins 2); Total fouls: Palmer 14, Wasilla 9.

Wasilla boys 65, Palmer 48

Wednesday, Wasilla

Palmer 3-10-15-20-48

Wasilla 10-19-18-16--65

Palmer (48) - Nisebett 2 0-0 4, Looney 4 0-2 9, Straight 5 1-3 15, Buresh 2 0-0 5, Niekamp 4 0-0 8, Mayer 2 2-2 7; Totals: 19 3-7 48.

Wasilla (65) - Ferro 3 0-0 6, B. Kuiper 4 0-0 8, D. Kuiper 9 5-8 24, McGregor 1 0-0 2, Devine 7 8-10 22, Roberts 0 1-2 1; Totals: 24 14-20 63.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 7 (Straight 4), Wasilla 1 (D. Kuiper 1); Total fouls: Palmer 19, Wasilla 12.