Patriots battle, but Warriors have steam at the end

WASILLA — For a good chunk of play Saturday, Wasilla held the comfortable lead. But all the sudden, late in the fourth quarter, the Warriors found themselves up by just one.

Wasilla survived a late North Pole rally to hold on to a 63-60 win over the Patriots Saturday at Wasilla High School.

Wasilla used 24 first-quarter points to build an early double-digit lead, and kept that advantage heading into the fourth. Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said his team simply needed to continue playing aggressive with the double-digit advantage.

“We got a little too hesitant a little too early,” Engebretsen said. “But they found a way to pull it out.”

Senior Joel Quenga scored four key fourth-quarter points and junior Braydon Kuiper hit two free throws with 22 seconds remaining to give Wasilla just enough to hold onto the win.

Trailing 51-35 heading into the final period, North Pole started the fourth quarter with a 7-0 run. Wade Stahle gave Wasilla its first score of the final frame, a jumper midway through the period. Once the Warriors took a 56-48 lead, North Pole used an 8-1 run to cut Wasilla’s lead to just one point with two minutes left in regulation.

“We need to do a better job in the fourth quarter of attacking,” Engebretsen said. “When we break pressure, we’ve got to go attack with some aggression.”

Wasilla did consistently break the North Pole press in the fourth, but also tried to run time off the clock.

“You want to use the clock, but you can’t sit on it too early,” Engebretsen said.

North Pole senior Jesse Ward hit a key three-pointer during his team’s late run. Eli Sponseller hit a short floater, and Kody Broderick had a rebound and put-back that pulled the Patriots within one.

The bucket of the game for the Warriors may have come with just more than a minute left. Quenga hit a short baseline jumper to push Wasilla’s lead back to three points. He followed with a pair of free throws with 59 seconds to go to give Wasilla the five-point lead.

Even with less than a minute to go and down by five, North Pole was not done. Sponseller hit a pair of free throws and AJ Scott hit a wide-open layup to put the Pats back within one.

Kuiper sealed the game with his free throws.

Connor Devine led the Warriors with a game-high 22 points. Stahle added 13 and Kuiper chipped in 12. Ward led North Pole with 20.

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

Wasilla 63, North Pole 60

Saturday, Wasilla High

North Pole 13-11-11-21—60

Wasilla 24-13-14-12—63

North Pole (60) — Scott 5 2-4 12, Hale 2 2-2 6, Mulcare 3 1-2 7, Ward 9 0-0 20, Broderick 2 3-6 5.

Wasilla (63) — Schierman 3 0-1 6, Quenga 12 2-2 6, Ferro 1 0-0 3, Kuiper 2 8-8 12, Stahle 4 4-4 13, Anderson 0 1-2 1, Devine 7 5-10 22.