State hoops: Wasilla girls get their crown

March 25, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE - For the last several years, the Wasilla Warriors have been the queens of the Northern Lights Conference. But when it came to the state tournament, the Warriors were always the bridesmaid and never the bride. That is, until Saturday night.

Wasilla walked down the aisle into the Sullivan Arena and scored a 51-48 win over Juneau-Douglas in the large-schools state title game, earning the Warriors their first state crown in 25 years.

Wasilla's sophomore sensation Jenna Johnson drained a pair of free throws with 2.3 seconds remaining to help Warrior head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax earn her first state championship as a coach in three tries, adding to what is already a historic coaching career at WHS.

The Warriors struggled from the free throw line in the second half, hitting only 50 percent of their 26 attempts. But Johnson hit the two that mattered.

&#8220She's phenomenal,” Hebert-Truax said. &#8220I don't think anything ever phases her.”

Johnson hit her free attempts just seconds after Juneau senior Talisa Rhea missed what would have been the game-tying free throw. That series of action was a virtual passing of the torch for Alaska girls' basketball.

Rhea, a two-time Alaska State Player of the Year who is headed to Division I Oregon State next fall, missed an opportunity to possibly send the game into overtime. But Johnson, who is widely regarded in the Alaska girls' basketball circle as the next great player to come out of the Last Frontier, extended her team's lead, and helped seal the victory.

&#8220I love her,” Wasilla senior Hillarie Putnam said after the win. &#8220She's going to be lighting up these scoreboards for the next couple of years she's in high school.”

With a possible title on the line, Johnson calmly stepped to the line and drained one after the other, with each shot absolutely electrifying a raucous Wasilla-laden Sullivan crowd.

&#8220I just tried to block out everything,” Johnson said. &#8220(I thought) this is our chance.”

It was only fitting the Warriors captured their first title in a quarter of a century against a Juneau team that has become a formidable rival of the Warriors in recent years. The two squads, undoubtedly the top 4A teams in the state this year, spilt a pair of regular season meetings. Winning the rubber match not only bounced the Warriors into a class of Alaska state champions, but it also avenged a loss to the Bears last season in the state tournament's third-place game.

&#8220The last time we played them, we weren't able to pull it out,” Johnson said.

Juneau also spoiled Wasilla's championship hopes during the Putnam's freshman season, a game she vividly recalled as she celebrated her victory. But Putnam, one of seven Wasilla seniors, was able to score the last chance to cheer.

&#8220It feels good. There are no other words to describe it,” Putnam said. &#8220We're on the top of the world.”

The Warriors used a ferocious defensive attack to force 10 Juneau turnovers in the first two quarters, and take a 13-point advantage into the intermission.

That tenacious defense, led by Putnam, Wasilla's senior stalwart, held Rhea to just seven points in the first half on 3-of-10 shooting.

&#8220Before our game, (Hillarie) said, ‘this is it, I'm just going to focus on defense,” Johnson said.

Rhea finished with a game-high 26 points, but had to work for every score.

&#8220Their defense disrupted us,” Rhea said. &#8220We knew they were going to put pressure on us.”

Wasilla is traditionally known for speed and defensive pressure, but the Warriors seemed to play fast for even their standards. Although Wasilla looked like they left it in fifth gear for most of the game, the Warriors were not afraid of tiring out.

&#8220Last night I dreamt of this game,” Putnam said. &#8220I knew we had to come out and play good defense. If we can stop them defensively, the offense will come.”

And the offense did come. Putnam - the 2006 NLC Player of the Year and a first-team all-conference selection this year - poured in 10 of her team-high 15 points in the first half, getting most of her buckets by slashing through the Crimson Bear defense to the bucket.

Hebert-Truax applauded the work of Putnam, but also did laud the play of her entire senior class.

Senior Ashley Cronk came off the bench to bury a deep three-pointer from the corner on her first attempt. That shot gave the Warriors a 10-point lead, with 30 seconds left in the half.

Senior forward Anne Wesser closed the half, posting a bucket and drawing the foul.

Senior Ayla Brown hit a key three pointer in the second half, and provided much pressure on the defensive end.

And seniors Jessica Carter, Courtnie Husmann and Makiah Podbielski came off the bench to log quality minutes.

The Warriors held a double-digit lead for virtually the entire third quarter, and extended that advantage to as many as 18 points. But the Bears used a 24-14 fourth-quarter run to claw back into the game.

Juneau guard Kayla Harrison hit three, three-pointers in the second half, and Rhea's lone trey of the contest cut the Warriors' lead to seven with 1:32 left.

With 1:05 left, Harrison hit her third long ball to bring the Bears within one possession, and Rhea followed with a driving lay-up to cut the score to 48-47.

&#8220It was stressful having them get back into it like that,” Wesser said.

But the Warriors did enough to stay ahead.

Putnam nailed 1-of-2 free throws with 29 seconds left, right before Rhea had the opportunity to tie the game.

While Putnam led the squad with 15 points, Wesser and Johnson each chipped in 11. Johnson also grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds.

The Warriors, in their third trip to the state tournament in six years, finally scored that state title that had been eluding them for the last few years.

&#8220The last couple?,” Putnam said with a smile. &#8220I started this basketball career sitting in those stands watching Hebert running around. We finally did it.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.