Post uses big night to lift Wasilla girls into championship

SOLDOTNA — The Wasilla girls brought their dancing shoes to the Northern Lights Conference basketball tournament at Skyview High School in Soldotna.

The Warriors waltzed into the state tournament with an easy 52-33 win over Kodiak in the semifinals Friday afternoon. The win guarantees the Warriors a berth at state and sets up a showdown with two-time defending NLC champion Colony, which beat Kenai in Friday’s other semifinal.

Junior center Kelsey Cottle led Wasilla with 22 points. Following the game, the Warriors star said that just reaching the NLC title game isn’t why the Warriors came to the Kenai Peninsula.

“We want that region title so bad,” Cottle said.

Cottle said the Warriors planned to celebrate Friday’s win for “about an hour,” before focusing on Saturday’s championship game.

“We’ve got to enjoy it a little bit,” she laughed.

As in Thursday’s blowout win over Skyview, the No. 1 seed from the North Division opened the game on a huge run and never looked back. The Warriors led 17-0 before Kodiak finally found the hoop with under a minute left in the frame. The Bears actually kept things fairly even after that, but the damage had been done.

Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said Cottle’s play inside was the difference, but credited the Warriors guards – particularly Skyler Nuss and Celeste Colegrove – for opening up the floor for her 6-foot-5 center.

“Skyler hit two 15-foot jump shots early, and our guards were making shots,” she said. “(Kodiak) had to account for that.”

Colegrove finished with 13 points, while Nuss had six of her 10 in the opening quarter.

Hebert-Truax said that her only complaint was that her team allowed the Bears to hang in the game after Wasilla’s big run.

“I would have liked to have built on that a little bit,” she said.

Still, Hebert-Truax said she’s not complaining about Wasilla’s relatively easy back-to-back wins.

“You know you’re in the big dance now, but there’s still getting that No. 1 seed at the state tournament, which is important,” she said.

WASILLA 52, KODIAK 33

NLC semifinals

Friday, Houston High School

Wasilla 19 6 15 12 – 52

Kodiak 4 8 12 9 – 33

WASILLA (52) – Imoe 1 2-4 4, Dinkel 2 0-0 2, Nuss 4 2-3 10, Colegrove 4 5-7 13, Troisi 0 1-2 1, Cottle 11 0-2 22. Totals – 21 10-18 52.

KODIAK (33) – Yamat 4 0-0 9, Garcia 2 2-3 7, Grupp 2 4-4 8, Gregory 1 0-0 2, Juble 2 2-2 7. Totals –11 8-10 33.

3-point field goals – Wasilla 0, Kodiak 3 (Yamat, Garcia, Juble). Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Wasilla 10, Kodiak 17.