State tourney brackets set

MAT-SU — The state tournament brackets are set, and of the four Mat-Su Valley teams in the 4A field, one is the top seed and another drew the top team during the first round of play.

Fresh off a victory in the Northern Lights Conference Championships title game in Kodiak last weekend, the Colony Knights have earned the top seed on the girls’ bracket and will face the Kodiak Bears in the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships March 19 at 5:15 p.m at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

On the boys’ side, the Wasilla Warriors also won a conference title, but will enter the state tourney as the No. 8 seed. That distinction puts the Warriors up against the top-seeded West Anchorage Eagles at 8:45 p.m. on March 19.

Coaches from both programs were not surprised by their spots in the field.

“It is what it is. It’s just a numbers game with the WPI,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said, referring to the Winning Percentage Index, the formula ASAA uses to seed the 4A qualifiers.

The WPI takes three factors into account — the team’s winning percentage against 4A opponents, the winning percentage of a team’s 4A opponents and the winning percentage of the 4A opponents’ 4A opponents’ — and assigns a mathematical value to each squad.

Engebretsen said the Warriors could dwell on mid-season losses that could have dinged the team’s WPI, but would rather focus on the need to beat the top teams in order to reach the squad’s ultimate goals.

“We’ve got to beat the best to cut down the nets anyway,” Engebretsen said. “It doesn’t matter when you play them.”

Wasilla finished 13-7 overall and 7-3 in the NLC during the regular season, and was a perfect 3-0 en route to the NLC title.

West, which edged Dimond in double-overtime to win the Cook Inlet Conference Championships last week, finished the regular season 19-1 and 9-1 in the CIC.

Colony, the third team out of the NLC, is the seventh seed in the 4A tourney. The Knights (15-6, 8-2) will face Dimond (20-2, 9-1) at 1:15 p.m. on March 19.

Fourth-seeded Lathrop and fifth-seeded Soldotna are on Wasilla’s side of the bracket and meet at 7 p.m. March 19. Third-seeded Juneau-Douglas and sixth-seeded Bartlett are on Colony’s side and play at 11:30 a.m. March 19.

On the girls’ side, defending state champion Colony spent most of the year as the state’s top team according to the WPI and owns the No. 1 seed on the girls’ bracket.

Colony head coach Don Witzel said he isn’t shocked that the Knights will see a conference rival in the first round.

“Looking at the WPI, it was inevitable,” Witzel said.

The Knights may have expected an all-NLC match in the first round, but Kodiak was certainly not a favorite to advance to the state tourney. The Bears — who had not advanced to state tourney in more than 20 years — finished just 9-11 overall and 2-8 in NLC play, but scored back-to-back upsets over Palmer and Soldotna on the third day of the conference tournament to sneak into state.

“Kodiak played very well,” Witzel said. “They were played very good basketball. It’s going to be a challenge.”

Witzel also noted the strength of the bracket, which includes Wasilla, the NLC runner-up.

Wasilla (13-7, 7-3) is the fifth seed in the tourney and will face fourth-seeded Dimond (15-4, 7-3) at 3:30 p.m. on March 19.

The Warriors and Lynx met twice this season, splitting a pair of games. Wasilla ran past Dimond 76-54 in an ASAA endowment game early in the year, and Dimond edged Wasilla 55-51 in the championship of the Lady Lynx Tournament.

On the other half of the bracket, third-seeded Ketchikan faces sixth-seeded West Valley in a matchup of conference champions at 8 a.m. on March 19. Ketchikan won the Southeast Conference and West Valley is the Mid-Alaska Conference champion.

Second-seeded Chugiak, the CIC champion, meets seventh-seeded West Anchorage at 9:45 a.m. March 19.

“It will be a very competitive tournament,” Witzel said. “There’s no gimmies.”

Valley athletes earn top awards

KODIAK — A pair of Mat-Su athletes each earned NLC Player of the Year awards following the NLC Championships Saturday in Kodiak.

Wasilla senior Jenna Johnson earned the girls’ award for the second straight year and Colony junior John Palmer was named the POY for the boys.

The NLC champion Colony Knights netted three first-team All-Northern Lights Conference selections. Seniors Kara Larson, Allie Grazulis and Alex Coon were all named to the first team. Palmer seniors Mikaela Bolling and Kelsey Campbell were also named first-team.

Palmer’s Jaimi Cox, Colony’s Tara Garrod and Wasilla’s Celeste Colegrove were named to the second-team.

Palmer and Wasilla each have two representatives on the boys’ first team. Seniors Mitch Swetzof and Jake Hillis were both recognized for Palmer, while seniors Tillerman Kroon and Adrese LaVern were selected for Wasilla.

Colony’s Bryce Jacobson was also named first-team.

Colony’s Chris Scott, Palmer’s Sean Niekamp and Wasilla’s Braydon Kuiper and John Knowles were both named second-team.

All-Northern Lights Conference

GIRLS

Coach of the Year — Ken Felchle, Kenai

MVP — Jenna Johnson, Wasilla

First team

Mikaela Bolling, Palmer; Jesse Stenga, Soldtona; Kara Larson, Colony; Lindsay Layland, Homer; Allie Grazulis, Colony; Lacie Wortham, Kenai; Kelsey Campbell, Palmer; Alex Coon, Colony; Rachel Norton, Kodiak.

Second team

Jaimi Cox, Palmer; Melissa Massey, Skyview; Tara Garrod, Colony; Celeste Colegrove, Wasilla; Sammy Hull, Kenai; April Heffner, Soldotna; Brittany Meyer, Skyview; Piper Daugharty, Homer.

Boys

Coach of the Year — Matthew Johnson, Soldotna

MVP — John Palmer, Colony

First team

Tillerman Kroon, Wasilla; Liam Andrus, Soldotna; Mitch Swetzof, Palmer; Josh Lazaro, Kenai; Bryce Jacobson, Colony; Matt Grubb, Soldotna; Jake Hillis, Palmer; Andrese LaVern, Wasilla; Raphael Matautia, Kodiak.

Second team

Chris Scott, Colony; Sean Niekamp, Palmer; Dean DeVaney, Homer; Thomas Conley, Skyview; Braydon Kuiper, Wasilla; Daniel Geller, Soldotna; Josh Gilbert, Homer; John Knowles, Wasilla; Erwin Domingo, Kodiak.