Knights break zone, move forward

ANCHORAGE — Kodiak made its first appearance in the state tournament in 22 years on Thursday, and the Bears brought something else teams typically don’t see in the state tourney — a zone defense.

Despite scoring just 12 first-half points against the active Kodiak zone, the defending state champion Colony Knights rebounded to post a 41-22 win over the Bears during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena.

Colony senior Allie Grazulis scored 14 of her game-high 17 points in the second half as the Knights turned a 12-6 halftime lead into a 19-point victory.

“We knew in the second half we needed to turn up the pressure,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said of his squad, which turned a handful of Kodiak turnovers into easy points during an early third-quarter run.

Grazulis scored seven straight points for the Knights early in the third to create the double-digit lead and help Colony move into a semifinal matchup with Valley rival Wasilla.

“We got some turnovers there and got some points inside,” Witzel said.

Alex Coon, who added eight in the win, hit a short jumper on Colony’s first possession of the third quarter. After Betsie McCarty took the ball to the basket and posted Kodiak’s only bucket of the third, Grazulis went on a seven-point run by herself.

Grazulis hit Colony’s only three-pointer of the game to give the Knights the 19-8 lead, and followed with a pair of lay-ups.

Colony was held to just six points in each of the first two quarters, facing a defense Witzel said the Knights hardly ever see. The Knights played Kodiak twice during the regular season, but Witzel said West Valley — another state tourney team — is the only other opponent that has used the zone against Colony.

“We’re used to seeing man-to-man, but we’ve been working on it,”: Grazulis said of the zone defense.

Grazulis said the Knights knew they had to be patient on the court and simply break down the Kodiak zone.

Colony used its deep bench to wear down Kodiak in the second half. Nine players on the Knights roster played at least 10 minutes in the game, and all 12 in uniform saw action.

“We were able to bring in fresh bodies,” Witzel said.

Colony’s victory set up a semifinal bout with Valley rival Wasilla, which scored a double-digit win over Dimond in the quarterfinals.

“It’s four fourth-time playing them. It’ll be intense,” Grazulis said.

Colony is 3-0 against Wasilla this season, with the Knights’ last win coming over the Warriors during the Northern Lights Conference title game. The contest is also a match between the last two 4A state champions. Colony won it all last year and Wasilla captured the crown in 2007. The teams have also combined to win the last 16 NLC titles.

Colony and Wasilla meet today at 5:15 at the Sullivan. Ketchikan and West Valley play in the other semifinal at 3:30 p.m.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 41, Kodiak 22

ASAA 4A quarterfinals

Thursday, Sullivan Arena

Kodiak 2-4-2-14—22

Colony 6-6-13-16—41

Kodiak (22) -— Garcia 0 2-2 2, Garner 1 4-4 7, McCarty 1 1-3 3, Jones 1 1-1 3, Horn 0 1-2 1, Timpke 2 0-0 4; Totals: 6 9-12 22.

Colony (41) — Hamann 0 2-2 2, Garrod 2 0-0 4, Klapperich 2 2-3 6, Ma. Bowker 1 2-2 4, Grazulis 8 0-0 17, Coon 2 2-2 8; Totals: 16 8-9 41.

Three-point field goals: Kodiak 1 (Garner 1), Colony 1 (Grazulis 1); Rebounds: Kodiak 23 (Garner 4), Colony 23 (Coon 5); Total fouls: Kodiak 10, Colony 17; Fouled out: none.