State hoops: Wasilla girls reach state title game

March 23, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH

Frontiersman

ANCHORAGE -Wasilla rolled into the state championship game with a masterful performance against Soldotna.

The Warriors outscored SoHi 36-19 in the second half en route to a 56-35 victory Friday at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

The Warriors now face Juneau-Douglas at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Sullivan Arena.

Sophomore guard Jenna Johnson was electric for the Warriors, scoring 21 points on 10-of-11 shooting. Senior forward Anne Wesser scored nine points and pulled down eight rebounds, while senior forward Jessica Carter added eight points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Jessie Stenga led Soldotna with seven points, while Christa Kennedy had four points and 12 rebounds.

Wasilla's defensive pressure was relentless in the first quarter, forcing 11 Soldotna turnovers as the Warriors raced out to a 12-5 lead. The Warriors forced 30 Soldotna turnovers on the game to stifle the Stars' offensive attack.

The Warriors collected 21 steals, including seven by Johnson and five by Ayla Brown.

&#8220That's what they do to you,” Soldotna coach Mark Tuter said after the game.

Soldotna hung tough through the first half, mainly behind strong free-throw shooting. The Stars made just four field goals in the half, yet trailed just 20-16 by going 8-of-11 from the charity stripe.

Wasilla took control of the game in the second half with an 11-0 run to start the third - and a 12-0 run to finish it. Johnson keyed the Warriors with 10 points, including eight straight to finish out the quarter. Putnam also came alive, netting seven points after going scoreless in the first half.

Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said she told her team it needed to be more aggressive coming out of the locker room.

&#8220I pretty much told them they had to attack the basket,” Hebert-Truax said.

The halftime talk evidently worked, as the Warriors left little doubt as to which team was in command. By the time it was over, all nine Wasilla players who entered the game had scored at least two points.

&#8220That was the big difference,” she said.

The win left Wasilla just one win away from its first state title since 1982. In order to get that win, Johnson said Wasilla would have to continue playing it's particular brand of up-tempo, pressure basketball.

&#8220We have to play like Warriors,” she said.