Warrior girls continue to roll, remain undefeated

WASILLA — With Wasilla’s senior standout forward on the bench for most of the fourth quarter, a young point guard took the Warriors on her back and carried them to victory.

Sophomore Alexis Imoe scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the fourth quarter to lead Wasilla to a tough 41-30 win over the Colony Knights at Wasilla High School.

Imoe scored 11 of her 15 from the free-throw line, hitting 11 of 13 free throws in the second half, to help the Warriors imrprove to 10-0 overall and win for the third time in as many nights.

Wasilla beat defending 4A state champion Juneau-Douglas on Thursday and Valley rival Palmer on Friday.

On Saturday, Wasilla closed the game on a 21-10 run after Colony senior Kate Klapperich hit a three-pointer early in the third quarter to tie the game at 20. Klapperich scored a game-high 16 points for the Knights. Like Imoe, Klapperich cashed in often at the free throw line. The senior, who has committed to play basketball at Division II Regis University in Colorado, was 9-for-13 from the free-throw line.

Celeste Colegrove scored half of her 12 points in the first quarter to help the Warriors hold a narrow 12-11 lead after the first eight minutes of play. Wasilla also led by only one at halftime, and Colony held the Warriors to only four field goals during the second half. Wasilla was also forced to play the final seven minutes of the game without all-state forward Kelsey Cottle, who fouled out early in the quarter. But with 13 second-half points, Imoe was able to help the Warriors earn the victory.

On Friday, sparked by a late first-quarter run, the Wasilla Warriors cruised to a 59-26 win over the Palmer Moose.

Palmer’s Anna Koehn hit an early three-pointer to give the Moose the lead, and after a Wasilla seven-point run, Moose captain Erin LaMere used a rebound and put-back to cut the Wasilla advantage to 7-5. But that’s as close as the Moose would get.

Wasilla capped the quarter on a 12-3 run.

Imoe led the Warriors with 13 points in the game. Senior Kalli Johannes added eight, scoring a half-dozen in the first quarter.

Koehn hit a pair of three-pointers and led the Moose with a team-high eight points.

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

Wasilla 41, Colony 30

Saturday, Wasilla High School

Colony 11-6-5-8—30

Wasilla 12-6-8-15—41

Colony (30) — M. Klapperich 1 0-0 2, Nelson 2 0-0 5, K. Klapperich 3 9-11 16, Stefanski 1 0-0 2, Leigh 4 1-2 5, Forstner 0 0-4 0; 11 10-16 30.

Wasilla (41) — Hutchins 3 1-1 8, Apangolook 1 0-0 3, Imoe 2 11-13 15, Brown 1 0-0 3, Colegrove 5 2-2 12; Totals: 12 14-16 41.

Three-point field goals: Colony 2 (Nelson, K. Klapperich 1); Wasilla 2 (Hutchins, Apangolook 1).

Wasilla 59, Palmer 26

Friday, Wasilla High School

Palmer 8-9-3-6—26

Wasilla 19-13-19-8—59

Palmer (26) — VanHoomisen 0 3-4 3, Venzke 1 0-0 2, Houchen 2 2-4 4, Koehn 3 0-0 8, Blake 1 0-0 2, Whitfield 0 2-2 2, LaMere 2 1-4 4; Totals: 9 7-10 26.

Wasilla (59) — Hutchins 5 1-2 12, Apangolook 3 2-4 9, Imoe 5 2-3 13, Koso 1 0-0 2, Devine 1 0-0 2, Colegrove 2 0-0 4, Dinkel 2 0-1 4, Cottle 3 0-0 6, Johannes 3 2-2 8; Totals: 25 7-12 59.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 2 (Koehn 2), Wasilla 3 (3 with 1).