Not pretty, but a win for the Warriors

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Sports Editor

WASILLA - Action- packed basketball doesn't always feature a ton of scoring. Just ask the Wasilla Warriors, who earned a key Region III win with a 47-39 win in a beautifully sloppy contest at Wasilla High School on Tuesday.

The Warriors, 2-7 overall and 1-0 in Region III play, fought through an adrenaline-filled defensive battle to earn their first victory of the season on Alaska soil.

In a clash of styles - Wasilla's half-court against the Colony press - the Warriors used the shot of junior guard Brad Hobbs in the first half and the open looks of their post players in the second half to survive against the Knights.

"They did a good job of pressuring us, but somehow we managed to get through the pressure and come out on top," Wasilla head coach Jason Marvel said. "It's a win, I don't think is pretty."

Colony (3-5 overall, 1-1 in Region III play), who used an 18-4 first quarter run to sprint past Palmer 56-36 last week, is building a reputation as arguably the fastest and most athletic team in Region III and the Warriors knew the Knights were bringing that up-tempo pressure style to the Wasilla gym.

"(We knew) they were going to press the whole game," Wasilla co-captain Robbie Champion said. "If they controlled the tempo, they were going to win the game."

"We just want to try to slow it down and run our game," Wasilla senior Matt Crane said. "Run the half-court."

Hobbs helped the Warriors control the tempo of the game, scoring 14 of his game-high 18 points in the first quarter.

"Brad Hobbs has to come out and has to be a guard that contributes a lot on the offensive end, and the defensive end," Marvel said. "I am very, very proud of what he did tonight. Here's a kid - he's got a few injuries, he's playing through injuries - a tough kid."

Hobbs scored eight points, including two key three-pointers, in the first quarter. He scored six in the second, hitting a key shot off the dribble and sliced through the key to give the Warriors a 17-11 lead.

Crane said a problem for the Warriors in their 54-41 loss to Service last week was the lack of shooting from the outside, but on Tuesday Hobbs was able to provide that perimeter scoring.

"If (Brad is) hitting his shots, they are going to have to respect that and that will open up the post plays," Crane said.

And the play of Hobbs did open up opportunities for the Warrior post players in the second half.

"Every game, we always talk about building with our presence in the post, after we got some outside shooting with Brad, it was a lot easier to go into the post," Champion said.

In the second half, with the combination of the established outside presence of Hobbs and the sometimes over-aggressive Colony defense, the Wasilla guards were able to find the Warrior post players with open looks underneath the basket.

Center Luke Schafer connected on four of five shots from the field in the second half, all coming on open looks right at the glass.

"Our guards have a hard time handling that pressure. At times I didn't know what the heck we were running on the offensive end, but our guys played through it," Marvel said. "We got a few layups on that fast break, we had a couple 3-on-2s. We ended up making some passes and getting some baskets."

Justin Schwartzbauer led the Knights with 12 points. The junior wing led a mini-Knights comeback early in the third quarter. Colony opened the second half on a 6-2 run, but Schafer notched a pair of quick baskets late in the third period to bring Wasilla's lead back to nine.

Wasilla's win over Colony was just its first over competition from within Alaska this season. The Warriors went 1-2 in a holiday tournament in Midland, Texas, and prior to Tuesday night, were winless within the state of Alaska. Their brutal early-season schedule has included the last two 4A state champions, Bartlett and West, as well as

Service.

"I don't care what my record looks like. I'll go in and play the Bartletts and the Wests. I want to gear up for region play, I want to gear up for that state tournament, gear up for getting far in that state tournament," Marvel said.

Colony's loss snapped a three-game winning streak. The Knights put together a string of wins over South, Palmer and Chugiak.