Stars steal Warriors' shot at title game

ANCHORAGE — The Soldotna Stars used a late rally to score a 49-38 win over the Wasilla Warriors during the semifinal round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Friday.

With the victory, Soldotna moves into the 4A state title game and becomes the first team from the Kenai Peninsula to play for a state championship since 1981. The Stars will face Dimond Saturday at 8 p.m. at the Sullivan. Wasilla, meanwhile, is pushed into the tourney's third-place game, and will face Bartlett at 10:40 a.m. on Saturday.

Wasilla held a five-point lead at the half, but the Stars held the Warriors to just five in the fourth quarter. Soldotna used a 19-5 run to get by the Warriors, a team that had beaten Soldotna in the Northern Lights Conference title game two weeks ago.

Senior Adrese LaVern led the Warriors with 10 points. Junior Cody Pfeifer grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Senior Liam Andrus scored a game-high 14 for Soldotna, and fellow forward Daniel Gellar notched the double-double with 12 points and 10 boards.