Grand debut

WASILLA — Alyssa Hutchins said she doesn’t typically get hit with a case of the nerves just as she hits the court. But Thursday night, things were a little different. Hutchins was making her debut with the Wasilla Warriors.

“I was so nervous,” Hutchins said after scoring a game-high 27 points during a 77-40 win over the West Anchorage Eagles at Wasilla High School Thursday night.

Hutchins may have felt nervous early, but quickly settled into life as Wasilla’s new starting shooting guard. The junior hit a few early shots, and scored 12 points during Wasilla’s 28-point first quarter.

Hutchins scored 18 points during the first half. She opened the second half by draining a trio of three pointers for the Warriors.

Hutchins was not the only Warrior to hit the 20-point mark on Thursday. Senior all-state post Kelsey Cottle added 20 points in the win. Sophomore point guard Alexis Imoe added 11 points for the Warriors.

“We just all clicked,” Hutchins said.

Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax was able to empty her bench during the lopsided win over a West Anchorage team that qualified for the state tournament last year. Eleven different players scored in the game.

Behind the shooting of Hutchins and Cottle’s play in the paint, Wasilla jumped out to a 28-8 lead during the first quarter. The Warriors, who finished as the runner-up in the 4A tournament last season, never trailed.

Wasilla girls 77, West Anchorage 40

Thursday, Wasilla High School

West (40) — Cr. Nidoy 3 0-0 11, Bookert 1 0-0 2, Ch. Nidoy 3 0-0 8, LaVern-Tosi 2 2-4 4, Deas 1 1-1 3, Harris-Grant 2 0-0 5, Kozloff 2 0-0 5, Zamora 0 2-2 4; Totals: 14 5-7 40.

Wasilla (77) — Hutchins 11 1-1 27, Apangolook 1 0-0 2, Imoe 4 0-0 11, Koso 1 0-2 2, Devine 0 1-2 1, Brown 2 0-0 4, Colegrove 1 2-2 4, Dinkel 1 0-0 2, Cottle 10 0-0 20, Burke 1 0-0 2, Johannes 1 0-0 2; Totals: 33 4-7 77.

Three-point field goals: West 6 (Cr. Nidoy, Ch. Nidoy 2); Wasilla 7 (Hutchins 4).

West boys grab win

WASILLA — The 2010-11 season began the same way the 2009-10 season ended.

In a rematch of the last season’s 4A state title game, West Anchorage posted a 69-43 win over the Wasilla Warriors at Wasilla High School on Thursday.

“We weren’t good enough tonight,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said after the loss. “We’ve got a long way to go, but we’ll get there. The goal is to get there by March.”

Senior Devin Bookert scored a game-high 18 points to lead the defending 4A state champions to the win over the 2009-10 runner-up.

Bookert scored eight points during the second quarter, and another eight during West’s 18-6 third-quarter run.

Led by junior Braydon Kuiper, Wasilla was able to chew deep into West leads in the second quarter. Kuiper hit a shot to cut the West advantage to 17-5 early in the second. Late in the second, junior Connor Devine slashed to the basket and scored to slice the West lead to 30-25. But each time, West used a run to build another cushion.

“We’d get it to two or five, and we’d settle in,” Engebretsen said.

Devine led the Warriors with a team-high 17 points. Kuiper added 16 points and senior Wade Stahle chipped in eight.

Despite the loss, Engebretsen said the game presented an excellent opportunity to top competition very early in the year.

“We want these tough games to see where we’re at,” Engebretsen said. “We want to put ourselves in tough situations so our kids know they can play, believe they can play against the best teams in Anchorage. We try to always set ourselves up with the toughest schedule possible to make us better in March.”

West Anchorage boys 69, Wasilla 43

West Anchorage (69) — Panoam 2 0-0 5, Garrett-Queen 3 4-6 13, Bookert 9 0-0 18, Hernandez 6 2-5 15, Sharp 1 0-0 3, Brown 6 0-0 15; Totals 28 6-11 69.

Wasilla (43) — Quenga 1 0-0 2, Kuiper 8 0-0 16, Stahle 3 1-2 7, Devine 7 3-4 17; Totals: 19 4-6 43.