Johnson leads Warrior girls to another win

SOLDOTNA – Jenna Johnson just makes it look easy.

“She hits every shot she’s supposed to hit,” Soldotna girls coach Mark Tutor said after watching the Wasilla senior put on a clinic in the Warriors’ 63-47 Northern Lights Conference win Saturday at Soldotna High School.

Johnson, a 5-foot-9 guard, scored 36 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked three shots for the Warriors, which handed SoHi its NLC loss of the season.

Shelby Dykstra led a balanced Soldotna scoring attack with 12 points in the loss.

Johnson said Wasilla expected a tough challenge from the Stars, and entered the game expecting a fight.

“They’re a good team, so this win gives us a bit more confidence,” Johnson said.

Wasilla wasted little time getting going Saturday. Johnson scored eight of the game’s first 15 points as the Warriors jumped out to an early 12-3 lead.

“We just wanted to come out with a lot of intensity and play like we need to play,” she said.

Soldotna fought back to cut the lead to 14-8 on a Becca Satathite three-pointer, but could never find any rhythm from the field. The Stars made just two threes in the game, despite firing up 17 shots from behind the arc.

The Warriors pushed their lead to 31-20 at the half, and held a 43-33 advantage after three.

Wasilla pulled away in the fourth, as Johnson opened the quarter on a 7-0 run of her own to give Wasilla its biggest lead of the game. The Utah State-bound Johnson scored 13 points in the final quarter, despite getting pulled from the game early to an ovation from fans of both teams.

“I just love to play basketball,” she said.

Celeste Colegrove had eight points for the Warriors, while Jillian Troisi added six, Carlee Naczi had five, Kelsey Cottle had four, Davis had two and Skyler Nuss and Hilary Apangolook added one each

Soldotna got eight points from Satathite, seven from April Heffner, six each from Jessi Stenga and Megan Hardy, five from Jessica Duke and three from Katrina Truesdell.

Matt Tunseth is a freelance writer from Kenai.

WARRIORS 63, STARS 47

Wasilla 14 17 12 20 — 63

Soldotna 8 12 13 14 — 47

WASILLA (63) – Apangolook 0 1-2 1, Nuss 0 1-2 1, Naczi 2 0-0 5, Johnson 14 7-10 36, Davis 1 0-0 2, Coegrove 4 0-0 8, Troisi 2 2-3 6, Cottle 2 0-1 4. Totals – 25 11-18 63.

SOLDOTNA (47) – Stenga 3 0-0 6, Dykstra 6 0-0 12, Heffner 2 3-4 7, Duke 3 0-2 6, Truesdell 1 1-3 3, Satathite 2 3-4 8. Totals – 18 9-15 47.

Three-point field goals – Wasilla 2 (Johnson, Naczi), Soldotna 2 (Satathite, Duke). Fouls – Wasilla 16, Soldotna 19. Fouled out – Hardy. Technical fouls – Coach Tutor.

Second-quarter run sparks Warriors’ win

WASILLA — After a quiet first quarter, Wasilla used a 16-2 second-quarter run to cruise to a 50-28 Northern Lights Conference win over the Kodiak Bears on Thursday at Wasilla High School.

Senior Jenna Johnson scored six of her game-high 18 points in the second quarter to help the Warriors break open the game. Wasilla and Kodiak were tied 5-5 after the first eight minutes of play.

Junior Carlee Naczi, who fired a trio of three-pointers in the win, added nine points for Wasilla.

Rachel Norton and Emily Horn scored seven each for Kodiak.

Wasilla 50, Kodiak 28

Thursday, Wasilla High School

Kodiak 5-2-5-16—28

Wasilla 5-16-15-14—28

Kodiak (28) — Yamat 2 0-0 4, Norton 1 5-8 7, Garner 1 1-2 3, McCarty 1 0-0 2, Horn 2 3-4 7, Gregory 2 0-2 4, Timpke 0 1-2 1; Totals: 9 10-19 28.

Wasilla (50) — Frizzelle 2 2-7 6, Apanagolook 0 2-4 2, Ziter 1 1-1 3, Nczi 3 0-0 9, Johnson 5 7-9 18, Colegrove 2 1-2 5, Troisi 1 0-2 2, Cottle 1 2-5 3, Johannes 0 2-2 2; Totals: 15 16-32 50.

Three-point field goals: Kodiak 0, Wasilla 4 (Naczi 3); Total fouls: Kodiak 22, Wasilla 19; Fouled out: Kodiak- Gregory, Timpke; Wasilla- Johnson, Troisi