Seniors lead Warriors to win over Knights

WASILLA — It was an appropriate night for Wasilla’s trio of senior captains to shine.

Connor Devine, Braydon Kuiper and Dillon Ferro combined to score 51 of Wasilla 66 points to lead the Warriors to a 66-55 win over rival Colony on the school’s senior night at Wasilla High.

“I’m proud of my seniors, couldn’t ask for anything more of my seniors,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said. “I love those seniors to death. They worked their tails off.”

Seniors Chris Capo and Tyler Hunt also earned spots in the starting lineup Friday, and the five-player class helped Wasilla jump to an early 8-0 lead. Devine notched yet another triple-double in the win, his eighth of the season, netting 23 points, 15 rebounds and an astounding 15 blocks. Kuiper and Ferro each added 14 points.

Wasilla capped a perfect Northern Lights Conference regular season with the win, finishing 10-0. While the Warriors claimed victory, the game was far from all Wasilla.

Despite trailing by eight points twice during the first half, Colony shot its way back into the game. The Knights, who finished with 11 three-pointers in the game, hit seven threes in the first half.

“They hit them early and they hit them often,” Engebretsen said.

Sophomore Damien Fulp, who hit five three-pointers as he helped lead the Knights to a 66-60 win over Palmer on Wednesday, continued his tear with four more three-pointers against Wasilla.

“Damien was still shooting the lights out tonight,” Engebretsen said. “They kept shooting it in, shooting it in.”

Five different Knights hit at least one three-pointer. Senior Jared Turner hit a trio of treys. Even a post, Nathan Umbarger, got in on the action and buried a pair of three-pointers.

Fulp’s third three of the first half gave the Knights the lead heading into the intermission. The sophomore buried a shot right before the buzzer to give Colony the 34-33 advantage.

Colony continued that trend in the third. Fulp, Turner and Umbarger each had three-pointers in the third quarter. Engebretsen said the Warriors simply needed to stay with the Knights while they were have such success behind the arc.

“We just had to keep chipping away, taking high-percentage shots,” Engebretsen said, “making sure we were scoring on possessions.”

Feeding the ball into Devine, Wasilla’s Division I-bound 6-foot-10 senior post, Devine scored 10 in the second quarter and added seven in the third.

Ferro made big shots in the third, including Wasilla’s lone three-pointer in the game. Kuiper scored eight of his 14 in the second half.

“As a group, we just got after it,” Engebretsen said. “Defended as a team, played as a team and got the win.”

Despite the loss, Colony clinched the No. 2 seed of the NLC North for the upcoming NLC Championships, which start Thursday at Wasilla High. The Knights finished 6-4 in conference play. Kodiak’s 68-50 over Palmer in Kodiak Friday night solidified the second seed for the Knights.

Wasilla boys 66, Colony 55

Friday, Wasilla

Colony 13-21-12-9—9—55

Wasilla 17-16-18-14—66

Colony (55) — Smith 3 5-5 12, Fulp 4 2-4 14, Turner 3 0-0 9, Umbarger 2 0-0 6, Peltier 2 1-2 5, Hightower 1 2-2 4, Eisenhower 3 0-0 7; Totals: 18 10-13 55.

Wasilla (66) — Capo 1 0-0 2, Ferro 5 3-3 14, B. Kuiper 7 0-0 14, D. Kuiper 1 2-6 4, McGregor 1 0-1 2, Devine 9 5-6 23, Roberts 3 1-2 7; Totals: 27 11-20 66.

Three-point field goals: Colony 11 (Fulp 4); Wasilla 1 (Ferro 1).