Top-ranked Warriors survive scare from Bartlett

ANCHORAGE — Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax calls senior Leisl Brown her sparkplug off the bench. On Thursday, Brown was sparking the Warriors in the starting lineup.

Filling the void for injured Alyssa Hutchins, Brown made a seven-point run of her own to help Wasilla grab a 55-40 win over the Bartlett Golden Bears during the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

Brown scored all seven of her points during an early 11-0 game-opening run for the Warriors, who move on to face fourth-seeded Dimond today at 3:15 p.m. in the state semifinals.

“She sparked us offensively, and defensively she did a really good job,” Hebert-Truax said after the win.

The Brown-led run was key for the Warriors, considering Bartlett’s second-half rally. The top-ranked Warriors survived a scare from the eighth-seed Golden Bears to place themselves just a win from advancing to their second straight 4A title game and fifth in 10 years.

Wasilla led 20-4 at the end of the first, but the Bears hacked into Wasilla’s lead with an 18-point effort in the second.

In the third, the Bears were golden, outscoring Wasilla 11-2 during the first five minutes of the quarter.

“Bartlett kept playing, and they started scoring,” Hebert-Truax said. “I think everyone was hitting shots (for them) for a little bit.”

Wasilla senior Kelsey Cottle, who led the Warriors with a team-high 18 points and game-high 12 rebounds, used a layup on one of the first possessions of the second half to give the Warriors the 33-22 lead. But that would be the Wasilla’s lone field goal in the quarter until Cottle was able to find the basket at the end of the third.

The Bears held Wasilla to a pair of free throws for about seven minutes worth of the third. At the other end, Bartlett was hitting shots.

Tiara Turner hit a shot to spark the Bears and soon hit a three-pointer to score Bartlett’s first five points during a 9-0 run.

Bobbi Britti, who led the Bears with a game-high 19 points, went coast-to-coast to cut the Wasilla lead to a possession at the halfway mark of the third. Tiffani Pollard’s short baseline jumper with 3:31 left in the period made it a one-point game.

Despite Bartlett’s push, that’s as close as the Bears would get. After Pollard made it 34-33, the Warriors capped the quarter with a short four-point run.

The Bears challenged again in the fourth. Britti went to the basket, drew the foul and hit the free-throw to complete the three-point play to cut Wasilla’s lead back to 42-40. But once again, the Warriors were able to put together a run.

Sophomore Kyla Dinkel came off the bench and scored eight of her nine points during the final five minutes of regulation to help Wasilla hold the advantage.

“She actually made our separation,” Hebert-Truax said of Dinkel.

Dinkel hit a pair of free throws to push Wasilla’s lead to 44-40. On the ensuing position, Brown grabbed one of her four steals in the game, and that led to an easy Dinkel layup. Brown assisted on another Dinkel layup that gave the Warriors the 48-40 advantage.

Hebert-Truax said the game wasn’t the best performance she’s seen from this group, but her team was able to prevail.

“This is our first game without Alyssa,” Hebert-Truax said.

Hutchins, a junior first-team All-Northern Lights Conference guard was lost for the season with a broken hand she suffered during a loss to Colony in the NLC title game earlier this month.

“We we’re trying to get used to different people playing,” Hebert-Truax said.

Today’s Wasilla-Dimond semifinal is a rematch of a 2010 semifinal. The Warriors used an overtime win to advance to the title game last season.