Knights survive overtime scare, move onto semifinals

ANCHORAGE — It’s hard to say what came first after Colony’s 56-52 overtime win — celebration or a giant sigh of relief.

The seventh-seeded Dimond Lynx used a 10-0 fourth quarter run to erase a double-digit deficit and come within reach of knocking off the Northern Lights Conference champions, during quarterfinal play of the ASAA First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at West Anchorage High School on Thursday.

“Dimond did a good job of battling back,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said after the win. “We got a little tentative there, and turned the ball over.

Colony, the No. 2 team in the 4A girls’ bracket, scored nine of its 13 points in the extra period at the free-throw line. Senior Hayley Hotchkiss drained 5-of-8 attempts from the line in overtime, and junior Kara Larson was 4-of-6 from the stripe in the extra period.

“Hayley stepped up, made her free throws down the stretch,” Witzel said. “Kara made a couple. That was pretty big.”

What made Dimond’s upset bid more interesting is the fact the Knights were originally slated to face Lathrop in the first round. After the original brackets were released by ASAA, it came to the organization’s attention that Lathrop’s WPI rating — the formula used to seed the 4A tournaments — did not include a Malemute early-season loss to Wasilla. Once that contest was included, Lathrop’s WPI fell behind Dimond’s and the Lynx leap-frogged the Malemutes for the seventh spot.

Hotchkiss said the change really didn’t concern the Knights.

“We found out so early, we didn’t really care,” Hotchkiss said. “In the state tournament, everybody’s good.”

The nonconfernece foes went into the match somewhat blind, not having seen each other during regular season. Dimond — a small, guard-oriented team — has been known to launch the three. But what sparked Dimond’s comeback attempt was point guard Keiahanna Engel’s drives to the basket.

“It did surprise us,” Hotchkiss said. “We thought they’re guards would shoot a lot, and they actually had their little point guard drive a lot and dish.”

Engel scored a game-high 20 in the game, but Dimond’s shooters were held without a three-pointer in eight attempts from beyond the arc.

“[Engel} I knew, that’s her game,” Witzel said.

Engel did much of the damage during Dimond’s 10-point fourth-quarter run that put the Lynx back in contention. Engel drove to the basket and hit the layup twice during that stretch. She also tied the game with a pair of free throws with 41 seconds left in regulation.

Dimond post Taylor Adams scored all six of her points during that 10-point run.

“I was a little surprised they got that much out of their posts,” Witzel said. “I thought we would defend the posts better than we did. But part of that is we were helping on drives.”

Both teams had a chance to steal victory in the final seconds of the contest. With less than 30 seconds left, Colony tried to work it into the post before missing a shot from near the free throw line. On Dimond’s ensuing possession, Engel lofted a half-court shot up several seconds premature.

Colony built the early lead, thanks in part to the inside presence of junior Alex Coon. The Knights’ power in the paint posted a team-high 18 points and game-high nine rebounds.

“We were looking to try to get it inside as much as possible,” Witzel said.

Coon scored 11 of her team’s 15 points in the first quarter.

With the win, Colony moves into the semifinal round to face Valley rival Palmer. It’ll mark the fourth meeting of the season for the Mat-Su foes. Colony beat Palmer in the East Thunderbird Classic early in the season, and split a pair of NLC games.

Tip-off is slated for 3:30 p.m. today at the Sullivan Arena.

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

Colony 56, Dimond 52 OT

4A state quarterfinals

Thursday, West Anchorage High School

Dimond 10-9-10-14-9—52

Colony 15-12-12-4-13—56

Dimond (52) — D. DeGuzman 0 0-1 0, J. DeGuzman 3 0-2 6, Engel 7 6-10 20, Adams 3 0-2 6, McAdoo 3 2-2 8, Bagsby 0 2-2 2, Joseph 4 2-5 10; Totals: 20 12-24 52.

Colony (56) — Hotchkiss 3 7-10 15, Ma. Bowker 1 0-1 2, Grazulis 5 2-4 12, Coon 7 4-16 18, Eisenhower 1 1-1 3, Larson 1 4-8 6; Totals: 18 18-30 56.

Three-point field goals: Dimond 0, Colony 2 (Hotchkiss 2); Rebounding: Dimond 41 (Engel 8), Colony 42 (Coon 9); Assists: Dimond 10 (Engel 5), Colony 2 (Larson 5); Steals: Dimond 15 (J. DeGuzman 5); Colony 14 (Hamann, Larson 4); Total fouls: Dimond 22, Colony 20; Fouled out: Dimond- J. DeGuzman, Colony- Grazulis.