Lynx pounce for 2OT win over Warriors

WASILLA — Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen doesn’t hesitate to remind his players that their season is a journey. Regardless of where the Warriors are now, the ultimate goal is to be playing their best basketball in late March.

And even though the Warriors suffered a loss on Wednesday, Engebretsen saw his team take another step to reaching the goal

“The kids grew up quite a bit today,” Engebretsen said after a 53-50 double-overtime loss to Dimond during the final day of the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic at Wasilla High School. “They made some good decisions. We did some things that were terrific defensively. We keep improving on what we did today, and we’ll have a great year.”

Wasilla senior Wade Stahle hit a deep three-pointer during the final seconds of regulation to force overtime and junior Connor Devine used a rebound and put-back during the last seconds of overtime to send the game into a second extra period, but Dimond used seven Ryden Hines points during the final overtime to edge the Warriors.

“We rebounded the ball, got after it, played as a team, played as a family today,” Engebretsen said. “We just fell one possession short.”

Hines and Lynx guard Dylan Lauwers combined to score all 13 of Dimond’s points during the second overtime.

Hines — a 6-foot-8 post — opened the second overtime with a three-pointer to push the Lynx ahead. But Stahle, who scored 13, immediately answered with another trey of his own to tie the score.

Dimond led for much of the second overtime, but Wasilla continued to hit big shots to keep pace with the Lynx. Hines drew a foul after a rebound and putback, and hit the ensuing free throw to complete the three-point play and give the Lynx the 46-45 lead. But junior Braydon Kuiper followed with a pair of free throws to cut Dimond’s lead back to one point.

With just more than a minute left in the overtime, Lauwers hit a three-pointer to extend Dimond’s advantage to four points — the largest lead by any team in the entire game. Kuiper followed with the rebound and putback off a Stahle missed three.

Kuiper’s bucket sliced Dimond’s lead to 49-47.

During the final minute, Lauwers hit two more free throws to return Dimond’s lead to four. But once again, the Warriors came through with a big shot.

Senior Joel Quenga nailed a three-pointer with 25 seconds left to make it a 51-50 game.

“We sunk some big shots,” Engebretsen said.

Hines and Lauwers each hit single free throws during the final 20 seconds to give Dimond the 53-50 lead. Wasilla set up one final play, with 2.8 seconds left, but was unable to hit another long shot to send the game into a third overtime.

Wasilla trailed 27-25 entering the fourth quarter of a game that featured 11 ties, 11 lead changes and a lead no bigger than four points. Dimond took a 34-31 lead late in regulation, but Stahle hit a three-pointer from deep in the left corner during the final 10 seconds to force overtime. It was one of six three-pointers in a game in which the Warriors patiently worked the ball around the perimeter and had a tough time feeding the ball inside past Dimond’s tightly packed zone defense.

“They had to take the shots that were there. We looked inside a little bit when we could, but their zone was pretty packed in and tight,” Engebretsen said. “When we got looks inside, the bigs battled and fought hard.”

Just like the fourth quarter, Dimond took a lead late, but Wasilla found a way to tie the game. Devine hit a pair of free throws with 44 seconds left in the first overtime to cut Dimond’s advantage to 40-38 and tied the game with a rebound and putback with 12 seconds to go.

With the score tied at 40, Wasilla had one final chance in the first overtime. The Warriors set up a long inbound pass to Kuiper, who slashed through the zone to the backside of the basket, but Kuiper’s attempt rolled off the rim.

Kuiper led the Warriors with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Devine added eight rebounds and a game-high six blocks.

Hines posted game highs of 16 points and 11 rebounds.

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

Dimond 53, Wasilla 50 2OT

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Wednesday, Wasilla High School

Dimond 6-9-12-7-6-13—53

Wasilla 6-8-11-9-6-10—50

Dimond (53): Lauwers 2 3-6 8, Lasher 3 1-2 9, Hurst 5 0-0 13, Jack-Nixon 0 3-4 3, Carter 1 0-0 2, Adams 0 2-2 2, Hines 6 2-3 16; Totals: 17 11-19 53.

Wasilla (50): Schierman 1 0-0 3, Quenga 1 1-1 4, Derro 1 0-0 2, Kuiper 6 2-2 15, Stahle 4 2-2 13, Devine 4 5-7 13; Totals: 17 10-12 50.

Three-point field goals: Dimond 8 (Hurst 3), Wasilla 6 (Stahle 3); Total fouls: Dimond 15, Wasilla 17.

Fairview (Colo.) 49, Wasilla 39

WASILLA — Craig Saltarelli hit four three-pointers to lead the Fairview Knights to a 49-39 win over Wasilla in a battle of state runners-up during the second day of the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic Tuesday at Wasilla HIgh School.

Saltarelli scored 16 points for Fairview, a Boulder, Colo., program that advanced to Colorado’s Class 5A state title game last year. Wasilla was the Alaska 4A runner-up.

Senior Wade Stahle hit a pair of three-pointers, scored 14 points and shot 6-for-8 from the field to lead the Warriors. Junior Connor Devine posted six points and a game-high 11 rebounds for Wasilla.

Fairview 49, Wasilla 39

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Tuesday, Wasilla HIgh School

Fairview 12-16-13-8—49

Wasilla 6-16-7-10—39

Fairview (49): Cartwright 1 09-0 3, Dolan 1 4-4 6, Salterelli 6 0-1 16, Pykkonen 1 2-2 4, Lorentzen 1 0-1 1, O’Neil 3 2-2 9, Kileen 4 0-1 9; Totals: 17 8-11 49.

Wasilla (39): Schierman 1 0-0 2, Quenga 1 0-0 2, Ferro 1 4-4 7, Kuiper 4 0-0 8, Stahle 6 0-0 14, Devine 3 0-3 6; Totals: 16 4-7 39.

Three-point field: Fairview 7 (Salterelli 4), Wasilla 3 (Stahle 2); Total fouls: Fairview 16, Wasilla 17.