Lynx get past Knights in 4A boys semifinals

ANCHORAGE — The Colony Knights and the Dimond Lynx met twice in December in the championship game of a pair of early season tournaments. The Knights and Lynx split those two meetings.

Call Friday night’s contest the rubber match, and Dimond found a way to bounce into the state final.

Dimond used a late push to score a 42-34 win over the Knights during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships semifinals Friday night at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

After a scoreless stalemate that lasted more than six total minutes of play in the second half, Dimond junior Isaiah Moses hit a three-pointer to give the Lynx a 33-30 lead.

Dimond would not trail again.

Moses and teammate Jaren Carle each hit three-pointers within a minute after both teams endured a lengthy scoring drought. Moses hit one of his five three-pointers at the 4:07 mark of the third to tie the score at 30. The game’s next basket, the Moses go-ahead three, came with 6:05 left in regulation. The Colony defense held Dimond scoreless for just more than six minutes. But the Colony offense didn’t score for nearly seven minutes in the second half. Patrick McMahon cut to the basket with about five minutes left in the third to give Colony a 30-27 lead. The Knights would not score again until a Sullivan Menard rebound and putback with just less than six minutes to play.

Dimond closed the game on a 15-4 run.

McMahon, a first-team all-state sophomore, led Colony with 16 points and seven rebounds. Moses led all scorers with 23.

With the loss, Colony, the No. 2 seed in the bracket, fell into the third-place match against Northern Lights Conference rival Soldotna.

The Colony loss to third-seeded Dimond was part of a wild first two days of the 4A boys tournament. During the opening round, eighth-seeded Ketchikan upset top-seeded East Anchorage. Fifth-seeded Soldotna edged fourth-seeded West Anchorage. Ketchikan beat SoHi in the other semifinal to also grab a spot in the finals.

“There’s a reason why these teams are here,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said after a quarterfinal win over West Valley Thursday. “It doesn’t matter what seed they are.”

In the quarters, West Valley, the Mid-Alaska Conference champs, tested Colony early. The Knights led by three after the first quarter and seven at halftime.

Colony stretched its lead with a 20-8 third-quarter run. Menard said Colony’s play on defense was the key to its third quarter.

“We played together and played with energy, and everyone feeds off that,” senior Sullivan Menard said.

Colony also used a big night behind the arc to push its way into the semifinals. The Knights shot 50 percent, 8 of 16, from three-point range. Colton Spencer was 4 of 8 from three. Even Colony’s post, Wyatt Baker got into the action, knocking down a pair of threes in the first half.

Menard was one of four Knights in double digits, scoring a team-high 16. Spencer and Jeremiah Hersrud added a dozen each. Baker chipped in 10. Hersrud enjoyed an all-around stellar night on the floor. He finished with seven of Colony’s nine assists. He also hit five of his six field goal attempts.

Warriors rebound

The Wasilla Warriors rebound from a quarterfinal loss, and grabbed a 55-48 victory over West Valley Friday morning in the consolation semifinals.

Senior Oliva Davies provided a stellar effort, with 20 points, 10 rebounds and six assists. Davies helped pull the Warriors into the fourth-place game against West Valley. Fellow senior Diondra Lawhead added 10.

Thursday, third-seeded Bartlett held on to edge Wasilla 52-48 during the 4A girls quarterfinals.

Davies ripped the ball away from a Bartlett player in the backcourt and used the steal and layup to cut Bartlett’s lead to 49-48 with 57 seconds left to play, but the Bears held the Warriors scoreless for the remainder of the game and came away with the win.

Bartlett, the CIC runner-up, jumped out to an early 7-1 lead and never trailed. Wasilla tied the game at three different points in the loss, but was never able to provide the go-ahead bucket.

Davies led Wasilla with 16 points in the loss. Freshman Bella Hays notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Lawhead added 10 points.

Moose finish 0-2

Palmer, the 2019 Northern Lights Conference champs, suffered a pair of close losses in the 4A state tournament. West Valley eliminated the Moose Friday with a 50-44 win over Palmer.

Ronny Marshall led the Moose with 17 points and nine rebounds.

Thursday, third-seeded Dimond got past Palmer, but the Moose didn’t make it easy.

Dimond moved forward with a 55-46 win over sixth-seeded Palmer in the 4A boys nightcap Thursday in Anchorage.

Palmer used 16 points in the fourth quarter to make things interesting against the Lynx, the 2017 state champion and 2018 runner-up.

Marshall posted game-highs with 20 points and seven rebounds. Jacob Titus hit a pair of threes and added 12.

Isaiah Moses led Dimond with 16, netting half his points from the free throw line. Evan Hoosier chipped in 13 points and seven rebounds.

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