Knights net win, No. 2 seed in NLC tourney

PALMER — The Colony Knights earned the No. 2 seed and a first-round bye in the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships. And the Knights needed to get through their top to rivals to do it.

A night after posting a 56-43 victory over Palmer, Colony grabbed a 59-50 over Wasilla Saturday night at Colony High School.

“It’s not the easiest road. There’s nothing easy about it,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of playing the Moose and the Warriors on consecutive nights at the end of the regular season. “I’m super proud of my crew. I think we’re playing our best basketball right now.”

For the second straight night, Colony used a big finish to improve to 7-3 in conference play and lock up the second seed in the NLC tourney, which starts Thursday in Kodiak.

“It was a huge goal for us,” Colony senior Isaiah Neuner said of getting the first-round bye. “We knew we didn’t want to play on Thursday night, and wanted to get extra rest.”

Colony jumped Kodiak (6-4) in the standings with the win.

The Knights capped the victory on a 13-1 run, using the stretch to overcome a late Wasilla rally. Wasilla sophomore Daniel Headdings hit his second three of the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 49-46 lead with 2:20 left in the fourth. Colony answered right back with a Parker Kizer three-pointer that tied the score at 49.

“That was definitely one of our biggest plays of the season,” Neuner said. “None of us put our heads down after Daniel hit that three.”

Colony sophomore Sullivan Menard followed a steal at midcourt with the go-ahead basket at the 1:40 mark.

“We kept our heads up, played smart defense,” Neuner said of his squad late in the fourth.

After watching his team lead for most of the game, Berg was not at all surprised to see Wasilla rally.

“They’re not going away. They’re the No. 1 team in the WPI,” Berg said of the Warriors’ top spot ASAA’s Winning Percentage Index, which ranks 4A teams. “That team’s well-coached. They’ve got good players, good guys. That team’s not going away.”

Menard led Colony with a game-high 24 points in the win.

“Sullivan Menard came up big. I’m proud of him,” Neuner said.

Menard scored nine of Colony’s 16 in the second quarter, and added seven in the fourth.

Nolan Martin added a dozen. The senior sparked the Knights early with a trio of three-pointers in the first quarter. Kizer chipped in 10.

Headdings led Wasilla with 14 in the loss. Aeron Milliron scored 13.

Wasilla, 9-1 in the NLC, had locked up the No. 1 seed in the tournament and a first-round bye prior to the matchup.

Warrior girls stop Colony

Colony’s Amanda Smith hit a pair of three-pointers early. And then came the defensive stand.

Wasilla held the Knights to only one field goal and four total points in the second and third quarters, and posted a 42-19 victory over the Knights Saturday at Colony High School.

Smith scored 11 of Colony’s 19 points in the loss, and hit four of Colony’s six field goals.

Catherine Baham led the Warriors with 13 points in the win. Olivia Davies chipped in nine, and Mallory Wheeler added eight.

Wasilla improved to 10-0 in the NLC, and will be the top seed in the conference tournament. Colony, 8-2, is the No. 2 seed. Both squads earned first-round byes.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony boys 59, Wasilla 50

Saturday, Colony High

Wasilla 9-14-13-12—50

Colony 11-16-11—21—59

Wasilla (50) — Brown 1 6-7 8, Headdings 5 2-4 14, Devine 2 3-4 7, Fife 3 0-2 8, Milliron 5 3-4 13; Totals: 16 13-21 59.

Colony (59) — Kizer 2 4-6 10, N. Pead 1 4-6 6, Neuner 1 3-4 5, Menard 9 3-5 24, Martin 3 3-6 12, Villistrigo 1 0-0 2; Totals: 17 17-27 59.

Wasilla girls 42, Colony 19

Saturday, Colony High

Wasilla 15-6-10-11—42

Colony 6-2-2-9—19

Wasilla (42) — Davies 2 3-4 9, Baham 6 0-0 13, Wheeler 4 0-1 8, Dinkel 2 2-2 6, Green 2 0-0 4; Totals: 16 5-7 40.

Colony (19) a— A. Smith 4 0-0 11, Clary 0 0-2 0, Steiner 0 1-2 1, Carlton 2 2-2 7; Totals: 6 3-6 19.

3-point field goals: Wasilla 3 (Davies 2), Colony 3 (A. Smith 3); Total fouls: Wasilla 9, Colony 10.