Soldotna rally kills Wasilla's hope for shot at title

ANCHORAGE — Soldotna used a 19-5 fourth quarter to take a come-from-behind 49-38 victory over Wasilla Friday night in the semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank Alaska boys class 4A state tournament at Sullivan Arena.

The win moved SoHi into its first state championship game appearance in school history and the first for a Kenai Peninsula school since Kenai Central lost to East in 1981. “We just didn't make plays down the stretch,” Wasilla coach Ryan Engebretsen said following the game.

The Warriors were trying to return to the title game since taking the state championship in 2007, but instead will play for third against Bartlett at 10:40 a.m. Saturday.

Soldotna will face Dimond for the title at 8 p.m. Saturday.

Wasilla went more than seven minutes without a field goal in the final quarter as the Stars took control down the stretch with second-chance opportunities and free throws. The Stars made 19 of 22 shots from the charity stripe, while the Warriors went 0-for-4.

The two teams had split their two previous match-ups, with the Stars taking a 53-46 win at Soldotna during the regular season and Wasilla winning 55-53 in the championship game of the Northern Lights Conference tournament in Kodiak two weeks ago.

Liam Andrus scored 14 points to lead Soldotna, while Dan Geller had 12 points and 10 rebounds.

“We wanted it more,” Andrus said following the game.

Adrese LaVern was the only Warrior in double figures with 10 points for the Warriors, who shot just 26 percent in the second half. Tillerman Kroon and Braydon Kuiper each added seven for Wasilla.

Kroon got the Warriors off on the right foot, slicing into the lane to score an acrobatic lay-up for the game's first points. Kuiper followed that up with a three-pointer as the Warriors opened the game on a 5-0 run.

Wasilla made a concerted effort to pressure Soldotna's guards and keep the Stars from getting loose on the outside as they did in their opening round win over Lathrop. The strategy worked, with both Kuiper and Adrese LaVern blocking Soldotna jump shot attempts to set the early tone as the Warriors built a 13-8 lead after the first.

LaVern opened the second with back-to-back jumpers to push the lead to nine points, and after a deep ball from Cole Schierman, the Warriors fond themselves up by double digits midway through the quarter.

SoHi tried to use Wasilla's aggressive man-to-man defense against the Warriors, pushing the ball inside and using pump fakes to get defenders into the air. The strategy worked somewhat, as the Stars were able to get to the foul line for a string of free throws the cut the lead to six, but the Warriors countered again with deep jumpers, including an unexpected three pointer from burly senior forward Tim Orr.

But the Stars hung tough, and when Geller picked up a pair of baskets in the paint near the end of the quarter, the Warriors found themselves clinging to a 25-20 halftime lead despite holding the Stars to just 22 percent shooting through two quarters of play, including an 0-for-7 showing from behind the three-point line.

The Stars opened the second half on a 6-0 run, keyed by two inside baskets by Andrus and a short jumper by Michael Bauder that gave SoHi its first lead of the evening at 26-25 midway through the third. The Warriors didn't fold, putting together a 6-0 run that included a highlight-reel lay-in by LaVern that put Wasilla up 33-30 entering the fourth.

Soldotna opened the pivotal final quarter much as they did the third, putting together a 6-2 run, grabbing a 36-35 lead on a difficult lay-up by Matt Grubb that rolled twice around the rim before falling through the net. Andrus stretched the lead to three with a pair of free throws, and Blaine Carver pushed the lead to five when he banked in a runner with just 90 seconds left to go.

That would be all she wrote for the Warriors, which could not answer down the stretch as they went more than seven minutes without a point in the fourth quarter until Kroon hit a three-pointer with less than 30 seconds left. Soldotna went 11-of-14 from the foul line in the final minutes to ice the game.

Soldotna 49, Wasilla 38

ASAA 4A state semifinals

Friday, Sullivan Arena

Wasilla 13-12-8-5—38

Soldotna 8-12-10-19—49

Wasilla (38) — Schierman 1 0-0 3, Kroon 3 0-2 7, Kuiper 3 0-0 7, LaVern 5 0-2 10, Orr 2 0-0 5, Pfeifer 2 0-0 4, Knowles 1 0-0 2; Totals: 17 0-4 38.

Soldotna (49) — Grubb 2 5-6 9, Carver 2 2-2 6, Aberkane 1 2-4 4, Gellar 3 6-6 12, Bauder 2 0-0 4, Andrus 5 4-4 14; Totals: 15 19-22 49.

Three-point field goals: Wasilla 4 (Schierman, Kroon, Kuiper, Orr 1), Soldotna 0; Rebounds: Wasilla 33 (Pfeifer 9), Soldotna 36 (Gellar 10); Total fouls: Wasilla 19, Soldotna 9.