It will be the all-Valley finals in the NLC Championships

SOLDOTNA – Even though the Northern Lights Conference Championships title games will be played in a Kenai Peninsula gym, there will be a distinct Mat-Su Valley flavor.

Valley rivals Colony and Wasilla will face off in both the boys’ and girls’ title contests. The two-time defending NLC champion Knights will meet Wasilla in the girls’ title game at 6 p.m., while the defending conference champion Warriors will see Colony in the boys’ title contest at 8 p.m.

In possibly the most exciting game of the NLC tournament thus far, the Colony boys survived a furious Soldotna second-half surge, using clutch free-throw shooting in overtime to eke out a 59-54 NLC semifinal win in front of a packed house at Skyview High in Soldotna.

“We kept our composure,” said Colony coach Jeff Bowker, whose team hit 12 of 14 free throws in overtime to seal that championship date with the Warriors.

Colony's senior leadership stepped up in overtime. Senior guard John Palmer and senior forward Scott Herman scored all 14 of Colony's points in the frame. Palmer scored eight points in the extra four minutes – making all six free throws – while Herman added six on 6-of-8 shooting from the line. Palmer finished with a game-high 21 points, while Herman added 18 and Hayden Summers chipped-in seven.

Wasilla overcame a sluggish opening half to run away from the Kenai Central Kardinals in the second half and into the title game. The Warriors outscored Kenai 29-12 after the half. Kenai actually led 16-14 late in the first on a bucket by Bo Reilly. But after that it was all Wasilla as the Warriors closed the game on a monster 38-16 run. “We just stuck with our game plan,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said. Cody Pfeifer was nearly perfect in the game, scoring 23 points and nailing 9-of-10 free throws. Pfeifer's only real mistake came late in the third quarter, when the 6-foot-3 senior guard missed a fast-break dunk attempt that would have put an exclamation point on Wasilla's big win. Connor Devine added 16 points for the Warriors.

In girls’ action, Colony outscored Kenai Central 13-2 in the fourth quarter to key a tense 35-26 win in the semis. The victory advanced the Knights to the state tournament for the 16th time in 17 seasons.

Meanwhile, The Warriors waltzed into the state tournament with an easy 52-33 win over Kodiak in the semifinals Friday afternoon.

Junior center Kelsey Cottle led Wasilla with 22 points. Following the game, the Warriors star said that just reaching the NLC title game isn't why the Warriors came to the Kenai Peninsula. “We want that region title so bad,” Cottle said.

Both teams from Colony and Wasilla earned state tourney berths with the semifinal victories. Both the Palmer teams are still alive also after bouncing back from first-round losses.

For more on all of the NLC action, see the Frontiersman sports ticker at www.frontiersman.com/sports. Click on the score for a full report.