Senior’s 31 leads Wasilla boys past Stars

WASILLA — You’ll have to forgive Braydon Kuiper if he woke up with a backache Saturday; he spent much of Friday’s 64-55 win over Soldotna carrying his team.

The 6-foot-6 senior forward scored 21 of his game-high 31 points for Wasilla in a hard-fought win over a scrappy SoHi squad. He was part of a potent one-two punch with 6-10 senior post Connor Devine, who added 16, including two decisive layups late in the fourth quarter to help seal the win.

Especially in the first half, Kuiper established good position under the basket and exploited a Stars defense that was slow to adjust, SoHi head coach Matt Johnson said.

“He killed us, just killed us,” Johnson said. “Our defensive rotation was not good. We know Braydon’s good in the post and he did a really good job of posting hard.”

That senior savvy was crucial for a Warrior squad that came out a little sluggish a day after suffering its first in-state loss of the season to Bartlett, Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said.

“He just took that senior will and got us a huge win today,” he said. “He put us on his back in that second quarter.”

The game started a little slow for both squads, but Kuiper and Devine combined to score all of the Warriors’ points to take a narrow 19-14 lead into the second quarter. But the Stars came out firing in the second, cutting the lead to a bucket 19-17 on a Colton Young three-pointer, and took the lead halfway through the quarter, 26-25.

It would prove the last lead for SoHi. Wasilla quickly recovered the lead on a Kuiper bucket from under the basket, and the teams maintained their respective paces with WHS maintaining its five-point lead going into the halftime break, 35-30.

The third quarter was another low-scoring slug-fest as the teams saved their energy for a pair of fourth-quarter flurries. Leading 45-41 going into the final quarter, Wasilla seemed primed to put the Stars away, opening the fourth, scoring the first five points and opening up what would prove to be the largest lead of the game at nine points, 50-41.

That’s when the Stars, behind the sharp shooting of Evan Winthrow and Cory Carver, mounted a late surge to tie the game at 53 with 3:25 left to play.

That’s when Devine, on the bench most of the quarter in foul trouble, came in. With Soldotna post Barrett Bosick having fouled out, the senior had easy looks for two quick layups. Kuiper capped a 6-0 mini run to seal the win.

“In the back of their minds, we knew we couldn’t make a shot from outside, and we knew where our strengths were (in the post), so we gave it to Connor inside, and he finished,” Engebretsen said.

Coming off the loss to Bartlett, the Warriors didn’t look especially sharp Friday, but winning ugly is still a win, he said.

“SoHi’s scrappy and they’re quick,” he said. “Their guards are good, they can shoot a little bit, so you have to guard the three-ball, and they’re quick enough to go around you and make you pay for it. There were a couple times we fell asleep and let them score easy buckets.”

The loss was disappointing, Johnson said, but also shows the Stars can compete with some of the state’s best teams.

“Our kids worked hard, I just thought we didn’t execute defensively the way we needed to to win the game,” he said. “That team’s a handful. We’ve played a couple of the top teams in the state and taken them down to the wire. Our kids aren’t afraid to battle. You would have a hard time convincing them they don’t belong with a team like Wasilla. That’s the attitude you have to compete.”

Wasilla 59, Kenai 45

Devine and freshman Dane Kuiper helped the Warriors rebound from Friday’s tough game, each scoring 20 points in a 59-46 win over Kenai on Saturday.

Braydon Kuiper added 10 for Wasilla, while Patton Hayes led the way for Kenai with 17 points.

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.

Wasilla 64, Soldotna 55

Friday, Wasilla High School

Soldotna 14-16-11-14—55

Wasilla 19-16-10-19—64

Soldotna (55) — Winthrow 5 4-4 16, Carver 4 1-1 10, Bosick 4 2-3 10, T. Fowler 3 2-3 9, Young 3 0-0 8, Darrow 1 0-0 2; Totals: 20 9-11 55.

Wasilla (64) — B Kuiper 10 11-11 31, Devine 7 2-2 16, D. Kuiper 2 4-6 8, Roberts 2 2-3 6, Capo 1 0-0 2, Ferro 0 1-2 1; Totals: 22 20-24 64.

Three-point field goals: Soldotna 6 (Young 2, Winthrow 2); Total fouls: Soldotna 16, Wasilla 12.

Wasilla 59, Kenai 45

Saturday, Wasilla High School

Kenai 6-15-15-9—45

Wasilla 20-14-17-8—59

Kenai (45) — Hayes 6 4-6 17, Spalding 5 1-4 11, Hull 1 3-7 5, Sandahl 2 0-0 5, Fitt 2 0-0 4, Reilly 1 0-0 3; Totals: 17 8-17 45.

Wasilla (59) — Devine 7 6-7 20, D. Kuiper 9 0-0 20, B. Kuiper 4 2-3 10, Roberts 2 0-1 5, Ferro 2 0-0 4; Totals: 24 8-11 59.

Three-point field goals: Kenai 3 (Sandahl, Reilly, Hayes), Wasilla 3 (D. Kuiper 2); Total fouls: Kenai 12, Wasilla 16.