NLC honors WHS seniors

March 13, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

KENAI - After receiving their medals for winning the Northern Lights Conference basketball tournament Saturday at Kenai Central High School, the Wasilla boys basketball team posed for a team picture.

Smiling players huddled together and mugged for the camera, but one player held back, preferring to let his teammates be front and center. Jesse Bean had already garnered more than enough recognition for one night.

Earlier in the evening, Bean hit the winning shot in overtime to beat crosstown rival Colony, then followed that up by being named the Northern Lights Conference Player of the Year for the second consecutive year.

But ask Bean if he feels like he deserves any more accolades than his Wasilla teammates, and he's quick to deflect any such notion.

&#8220My team's what matters,” he said following the tournament. &#8220That's all I care about.”

Bean's modest persona stands in stark contrast to his on-the-court presence, which is all business. He averaged 17 points in three tournament games to lead Wasilla while handling much of the point guard duties.

And it's not just scoring. In the semifinals against Kenai, Bean was ice cold from the field, yet still managed to score 10 points and pull down nine rebounds in the Warriors' come-from-behind win.

&#8220He's just a special player,” Wasilla coach Jason Marvel said. &#8220I'm glad I've had the privilege of coaching him all his four years.”

Like Bean, Wasilla forward Anne Wesser would prefer to let her game do the talking. After absolutely dominating the opposition in three tournament games over the weekend, Wesser said she was a little taken aback when her name was called as the conference's top girls player.

&#8220I was kinda surprised,” she said.

And although she acknowledged winning the individual award was nice, she said it would mean very little had the Warriors not brought home a team title.

&#8220It wouldn't have meant as much if we hadn't won,” she said.

In the championship game against Soldotna, Wesser scored 16 points despite playing limited minutes in the fourth quarter. She didn't really need to, as the Warriors built a massive lead through the first three quarters.

At only 5-feet-10-inches, Wesser doesn't intimidate like some post players, but uses a variety of quick moves on the block to befuddle opposing defenders. Wesser was often outsized in the tournament, yet always seemed to come down with key rebounds or hit clutch shots when Wasilla needed them.

Against SoHi, she scored more than a third of her team's points in the first 24 minutes to help Wasilla put the game away long before the final buzzer sounded.

&#8220Anne had a great game inside,” coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said.

But like her fellow player of the year, Wesser said she'd be nothing without the support of her talented Wasilla teammates.

&#8220I can't score without a good pass,” she said. &#8220They're everything. I'd be nothing without my team.”

In addition to sweeping the awards for having the top players, Wasilla's coaches were also recognized for their achievements during the season. Both the boys and girls teams went undefeated in conference play, earning Hebert-Truax and Marvel Coach of the Year honors.

Marvel shared the award - his second straight - with Kenai's Jim Beeson. After leading the Warriors to the title over Colony Saturday night, Marvel said the award really is just recognition for the play of his team.

&#8220Players make the plays,” he said. &#8220Once the game starts there's not a whole lot I can do out there.”

For Hebert-Truax, it was the fourth time she's been honored by her NLC peers as the top coach. She's led Wasilla to seven consecutive conference titles and 88 straight NLC wins. She also won the statewide coaching award in 2001.

Also named to the all-conference teams announced Saturday night was Bean's backcourt mate and co-captain senior Jeremiah Collins. Bean and Collins were among five Mat-Su boys players named to the team. Other first-team players named were Palmer forward Nate Svedin, Colony junior forward Grant Niver, Colony junior guard Doug Gray.

As Wasilla's defensive captain, Collins was often tasked with stopping the opposing team's best offensive player.

Svedin's inside presence against Kenai Central and Kodiak helped lead Palmer to an unexpected berth in the state tournament, while Niver and Gray could be counted on to hit clutch shots for the Knights both during the regular season and at the NLC tourney.

They joined Kenai's Cory Toombs and Nate Saltzgiver, Soldotna's Brook Carver and Tony Besse and Kodiak's Curtis Catt on the first team.

Along with Wesser, the girls first-team included Wasilla senior guard Hillarie Putnam, Wasilla sophomore forward Jenna Johnson, Colony sophomore forward Allie Grazulis and Palmer junior guard Matti Cox.

Putnam was often the catalyst for Wasilla's up-tempo offense throughout the season and also one of the conference's best defenders. The athletic Johnson cemented herself as one of the state's top players this season with her ability to score inside, outside or on the fast break.

Cox was the primary ballhandler for Palmer, which finished third in the NLC tournament and nearly knocked off top-seeded Wasilla in the second round.

A dynamic 5-foot-10-inch forward, Grazulis led Colony in scoring this season in just her second season with the Knights.

Also named to the first team were Clair Siekaniec and Reba Temple of Homer, Melissa Fay of Skyview, Paige Blackburn and Christa Kennedy of Soldotna, and Alyson Horn of Kodiak.

Mat-Su players named to the second team included Palmer senior forward Quentin Fiscus, Colony senior forward Ryan Coffman, Wasilla junior guard/forward Dexter Pearce and Wasilla senior center Logan Williams.

Valley girls named to the second team were Colony junior guard Haylee Hotchkiss and a pair of Palmer forwards - senior Stephanie Houser and junior Ashley Swetzof.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com