Success is contagious

WASILLA — Coaches will always say good team defense often leads to success on the offensive end. The same goes for individuals.

Wasilla junior Braydon Kuiper used solid play at both ends of the floor and scored a game-high 33 points to lead the Warriors to a 65-45 win over the Banning Pilots during the first day of the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic Monday at Wasilla High School.

“His defense completely led to how he was doing on offense,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said of Kuiper, a first-team All-Northern Lights Conference selection last year. “He was working hard, got (five) rebounds, did a great job contesting shots today.”

And Kuiper was clutch at the offensive end, scoring 14 in the first half and 17 during the final two quarters against the Wilmington, Calif., school.

“I was definitely getting set up from my teammates,” Kuiper said after the win. “Lots of good screening from our big guy, Connor (Devine). Joel (Quenga) and Wade (Stahle) were finding me.”

Kuiper finished 14-for-21 from the floor, and hit 3-of-4 attempts from beyond the arc. Kuiper was particularly deadly with his baseline jumper.

“He found a shot where he was hitting and found himself in that spot time and time again,” Engebretsen said. “His teammates did a great job finding him in that spot.”

Kuiper completed a key three-point play that helped thwart a Banning rally. Pilots guard Michael Alexander drained his second of three, three-pointers during the third quarter to cut Wasilla’s lead to five.

But as Banning closed the margin to a pair of possessions, Kuiper drove hard to the basket and drew the foul. His free throw pushed Wasilla back up to an eight-point lead.

Moments later, Conner Devine took an inbound pass underneath his own basket and scored two of his 16 points to extend Wasilla’s lead to double digits.

“We just didn’t panic when they got close,” Kuiper said. “We knew we had them once we got up. Everyone’s going to make a run. You’ve just got to weather it and get back into the game.”

Wasilla jumped out to an early 19-11 lead behind Devine’s seven first-quarter points and led 32-21 at the half.

Devine led the Warriors with nine rebounds and two blocked shots.

Wasilla continues Roundball play today against Fairview High School at 4:40 p.m. Fairview — of Boulder, Colo. — was the Colorado Class 5A runner-up last season. Wasilla (1-1) was the Alaska 4A runner-up.

In other first-day action, Fairview edged Dimond 58-52 and North Pole beat Colony 64-57.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Wasilla 65, Banning (Calif.) 45

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Monday, Wasilla High School

Banning 11-10-14-10—45

Wasilla 19-13-17-16—65

Banning (45): K. Reyes 4 4-6 14, O. Reyes 1 1-4 4, Alexander 4 2-4 14, Jones 1 0-0 3, Preston 1 1-2 3, Peria 2 0-0 4, Montoya 1 0-0 3; Totals: 14 8-16 45.

Wasilla (65): Schierman 1 0-0 2, Quenga 0 1-2 1, Ferro 1 1-2 1, Kuiper 14 2-3 33, Stahle 2 2-3 8, Anderson 1 0-0 2, Devine 6 4-7 16, McGregor 1 0-0 2; Totals: 25 10-17 65.

Three-point field goals: Banning 9 (Alexander 4); Wasilla 5 (Kuiper 3).

Fairview (Colo.) 58, Dimond 53

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Monday, Wasilla High School

Fairview 15-15-14-14—58

Dimond 14-17-10-11—52

Fairview (58): Dolan 0 2-2 2, Saltarelli 5 4-5 16, Pykkonen 3 0-0 7, Lorentzen 1 0-0 2, O’Neill 7 8-11 24, Grant 1 0-0 2, Killeen 1 0-0 3, Hill 1 0-0 2; Totals: 19 14-18 58.

Dimond (52): Lauwers 2 1-2 5, Lasher 3 1-2 8, Hurst 0 2-5 2, Jack-Nixon 2 1-4 5, Carter 1 0-0 2, Adams 2 3-4 7, Hines 11 1-2 23; Totals: 21 9-19 52.