Saved: Close call, but Wasilla girls keep winning streak in tact

March 4, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - When the final buzzer sounded Saturday night, the Wasilla Warriors collectively took one giant sigh of relief.

And then they celebrated.

Wasilla erased a double-digit deficit in a 43-39 come-from-behind victory over the Colony Knights at Colony High School.

With the win, Wasilla improved to 10-0 in Northern Lights Conference play. But more importantly, the victory kept Wasilla's conference winning streak - which now stands at 86 games - in tact.

Senior Jessica Carter scored seven of her 11 points in the fourth quarter to help the Warriors save a streak that stands as undoubtedly one of the most impressive runs in all of Alaska high school sports.

Carter hit a couple of fourth-quarter jump shots during the Warrior comeback, but her most pivotal moments came on the foul line. In the final 24 seconds, Carter was 3-for-4 from the free-throw line, and turned a one-point game into a four-point advantage for the Warriors.

Carter said not much was going through her mind when she first stepped to the line with 24 seconds left, other than, &#8220I knew that I needed to make them.”

&#8220It was all on my shoulders, but I knew that I could make them,” Carter said. &#8220I knew our team could pull through.”

Carter stepped to the line for her first two attempts as the Warriors held a slim 40-39 lead, and the Warrior post hit both tries.

While the Warriors didn't see Carter as the main target to draw the foul, assistant coach Karissa Wick said Wasilla was fortunate to see Carter step to the line.

&#8220I didn't specifically say to get it in (Jessica's) hands,” said Wick, who took the reigns on the Warrior bench this weekend in the absence of longtime Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax who was honored as an NCAA Legend by the Atlantic Coast Conference on Saturday. &#8220But the girls know that Jessica, even being a post, is one of our best free-throw shooters.”

After Colony missed a shot with 14 seconds left, Carter was fouled once again.

The senior hit another free throw with six seconds left. That shot gave Wasilla the important two-possession lead.

After Wasilla took an early 7-0 lead in the game, the Knights held the Warriors scoreless for the final four minutes of the first quarter, and nearly the first two minutes of the second.

Meanwhile, Colony went on a 16-0 run.

Junior Hayley Hotchkiss hit three, three-pointers during that stretch, and sophomore Maria Bowker hit another three-pointer late in the half to give Colony a 10-point lead.

Hotchkiss scored all 11 of her points in the first half.

&#8220We were giving them open shots, and unfortunately they were making a good percentage of them,” Wasilla senior Anne Wesser said.

Colony led by 10 at the half, and Bowker hit another three-pointer early in the third to stretch the Knights' lead to 12.

Down by double digits in a region contest, unfamiliar territory for the Warriors, Wick said she feels her team did not panic.

&#8220I think they felt pressured the ball wasn't going in the basket for them,” Wick said. &#8220But I think the best thing I can say about this group of girls, with seven of them seniors, they're over that panicky mode.”

Wasilla found more opportunities on offense, outscoring Colony 28-14 in the final two quarters.

&#8220We were really trying to read the mismatches and get the ball inside,” Wick said. &#8220The nice thing about this group of girls is they're so versatile. Five of them on the court, and four of them can play the post if we wanted them too.”

Senior Hillarie Putnam had success driving the baseline, and scored all of her six points that way in the second half.

Sophomore Jenna Johnson hit a big three-pointer with 2:25 left in the third to cut Colony's lead to 27-26, and she was 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter.

And the Warriors played tough on the defensive end.

&#8220We were playing our game in the first half. In the second half they put a lot of pressure on our guards, and kind of disrupted what we were trying to do,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said. &#8220When (Wasilla is) playing well, they're as good as anyone we've seen in a while.”

Down by three points with 14 seconds left, Colony sophomore Allie Grazulis fought of the Wasilla defense, and took a jump shot to try to pull the Knights within one. The shot bounced off the front of the rim.

&#8220I wanted to get the ball in Allie's hands,” Witzel said. &#8220I told them I wasn't worried about the three-point shot, just get the ball in and attack the basket, and possibly get the foul and the shot. If we score we could try to get the quick foul and go from there.”

Wasilla was able to snag the rebound of the miss.

Colony was without its top shooter for much of the second half. After a collision with Johnson, Hotchkiss hit the floor. Witzel said she hit her head on the floor, and was dizzy after the contact.

Under the watch of Hebert-Truax, Wasilla has won six straight conference titles and has not lost to a Northern Lights opponent since 2000. On Saturday, Hebert-Truax - a former University of Miami, Fla., standout and a member of the Hurricane Sports Hall of Fame - was in Greensboro, N.C., as a part of the ACC Women's Basketball Legends ceremony.

If Colony was to snap Wasilla's impressive run, who would get to tell Hebert-Truax?

&#8220I bet ya she already knows. Yesterday she was already on the phone by the end of the game,” Wick said with a laugh.

Most of the Warriors say they try not to talk about the streak, but it's hard not think about it.

&#8220Mainly we don't want to be the team that breaks it,” Wesser said. &#8220And that kind of motivates us.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.