State basketball: Slow start doesn't stop Wasilla boys

ANCHORAGE — Ryan Engebretsen saw something from his squad Thursday he had not seen before.

His Wasilla Warriors were tentative.

But after a sluggish start and a Lathrop 6-0 run, the Warriors used a 24-point second quarter to club the Malemutes 60-45 during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

“That’s the first time I’ve seen us tight,” Engebretsen said after the win, which pushed Wasilla into a semifinal showdown with Service, slated for Friday at 6:45 p.m.

Lathrop controlled the first three minutes, and Wasilla didn’t see its first field goal until freshman Dane Kuiper used a rebound and putback to cut Lathrop’s lead to 6-3 nearly halfway through the period.

Lathrop led 10-6 after the first quarter, and Wasilla didn’t own its first lead until senior Braydon Kuiper went to the basket to give the Warriors a 15-14 advantage with just less than six minutes left in the second quarter.

Once Wasilla finally secured the lead, the Warriors didn’t let it go, capping the first half with a 14-6 run.

“We were a little tight. It was a different venue, but we battled through,” Engebretsen said. “You can’t win them all pretty. We’ll take the ‘W’ and go on to the next day.”

Wasilla senior Connor Devine, the 2011-12 4A state player of the year, also started out slow. With about five minutes left in the first quarter, Devine pulled the Division I South Dakota State recruit aside.

“It was a matter of reminding him it’s not about Friday and Saturday if we don’t work hard enough tonight,” Engebretsen said. “It’s not about Friday and Saturday right now.”

Devine did rebound and helped ensure that the Warriors will play in the Friday semifinals and still have a shot at the Saturday night championship game.

Devine swatted blocks on back-to-back Lathrop possessions midway through the first quarter and pulled his team within one early in the second quarter with his first points in the game.

Devine, who collected eight triple-doubles during the regular season, fell one rebound short of another, finishing with 18 points, 12 blocks and nine rebounds. All were game-highs.

Braydon Kuiper was key in Wasilla’s first-half rally, scoring 10 of his 14 points in the second quarter.

“He was huge in the second quarter. He got us going,” Engebretsen said. “A lot of that is that senior will he has. He got us going, got us some momentum.”

Kuiper added eight rebounds, six assists and two steals in the win.

Dane Kuiper finished with 14 points.

Tremon Washington led Lathrop with nine points.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Wasilla 60, Lathrop 45

4A boys quarterfinals

Thursday, Sullivan Arena

Lathrop 10-10-10-15—45

Wasilla 6-24-13-17—60

Lathrop (45) — Washington 4 0-0 9, Cunningham 2 0-0 4, Green 2 0-0 4, Carlson 4 0-2 8, Graham-Taylor 2 0-0 4, Gladden 2 2-4 6, Holland 2 0-0 4, Odutola 1 0-0 2, Harris 2 0-0 4; Totals: 21 2-6 45.

Wasilla (60) — Ferro 1 2-2 4, B. Kuiper 5 3-6 14, D. Kuiper 6 4-7 16, McGregor 1 0-0 2, Devine 8 2-5 18, Roberts 2 1-2 6; Totals: 23 12-22 60.

Three-point field goals: Lathrop 1 (Washington 1), Wasilla 2 (B. Kuiper, Roberts 1); Total fouls: Lathrop 16, Wasilla 10.