Knights steal victory from 4A girls defending state champs

Tuesday marked another memorable night in the recent history of the Colony-Wasilla girls basketball rivalry,

The Knights enjoyed a huge third-quarter run and held on late to steal a 39-38 victory over the defending state champion Warriors at Colony High School.

Trailing 26-23 late in the third quarter, Colony grabbed four steals in the final 52 seconds to fuel a 9-0 run. Each of the steals set up scoring, and Colony’s final none points of the quarter were scored by senior Hallie Clark.

Clark grabbed the first two steals of the stretch, setting up a pair of free throws and a layup to give Colony a 27-26 lead. The Knights extended their lead with another steal and Clark layup. Clark capped the quarter with a buzzer-beating three after a steal off an inbound pass.

The rivals were tied at the half, but Colony took a 10-point lead into the final quarter.

Wasilla’s Meilee Merchant hit a pair of threes and Mylee Anderson knocked down another to pull the Warriors back in the game, but the Knights were able to hold on.

Anderson hit her three at about the halfway mark of the fourth to give Wasilla the 37-35 lead, but Clark grabbed it back with a three-pointer of her own with 3:38 to go.

The rivals combined for only two free throws following the Clark three.

Clark led Colony with a game-high 21, including four shots from behind the arc. Ally Shelley added nine.

Layla Hays led Wasilla with 10. Anderson added seven.

Colony jumped to a 15-8 lead in the game, but Wasilla used a 10-3 run to tie the score at halftime.

In boys action, the Wasilla boys used a late push to post a 63-52 victory over the Knights. The Warriors led 46-44 after three quarters, and closed the game on a 17-8 run.

Noah Kroon led Wasilla with 17 points. Tristan Horton added 14 and Barak Wagle chipped in a dozen.

Layton Lockard scored 16 for the Knights, and Mylz Mongeau had 12.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.