NLC basketball: Wasilla, Colony advance to championship game

Entering February of the 2023-24 season, Mountain City Christian (formerly known as Anchorage Christian School) had a streak of 133 wins against in-state competition and had not dropped a game against a team from Alaska since 2018.

Wasilla snapped that streak with a 47-32 victory over MCC on Feb. 2. The Warriors are now 3-0 against Mountain City in the last five weeks.

Wasilla used a third-quarter surge to score 68-55 win over Mountain City during the girls semifinal round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships Friday at Soldotna High School.

Layla Hays erupted for 34 points in the victory. The junior scored 19 of Wasilla;s 27 points in the first half.

The Warriors trailed 31-27 at halftime, but took over the game with 27 points in the third quarter. Wasilla tied the score at 34 with 5:42 left in the third and Hays went to the basket to give Wasilla the 36-34 lead. Mylee Anderson followed with another bucket on Wasilla’s next possession.

Mielee Merchant hit a trio of threes in the third. Merchant hit one from the left corner and another from the right side to push Wasilla’s lead to 10 points. The run also included an Anderson steal and layup.

Anderson added 18 points in the win.

Wasilla was the second seed and MCC was seeded third.

Top-seeded Colony stormed into the title game with a 72-30 victory over Palmer in the other semifinal.

Hallie Clark scored a game-high 22 points for the Knights. Tonya Karpow had 16 points and Morgan Ainsworth finished with a dozen. Colony opened with 46 points in the first half and added 20 in the third quarter.

Larkin Christiansen led Palmer with 11.

Wasilla and Colony advance to the NLC title game, slated for Saturday at 5 p.m., and both teams earn automatic bids to the state tournament.

Colony, Wasilla and MCC all entered the NLC tourney 8-2 in NLC play. Colony was 2-0 against Wasilla in the regular season and 0-2 against MCC. Wasilla was 2-0 against MCC.

Palmer, the No. 4 seed, will face MCC Saturday at 10 a.m. in the third-place game.

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