Warrior girls steady in hoops poll

After defeating crosstown rival Colony 61-48 on Tuesday, the Wasilla girls held strong to their third place position in the 4A state basketball poll.

The Warriors earned 20 points this week, placing them nine shy of second-place Lathrop. Wasilla improved to 5-2 with wins over Colony and fifth-place Juneau-Douglas in the last week.

The Warrior girls are the only Valley squad ranked in the top five of the second poll of the new year.

The Colony girls had an up and down week with key wins over unranked Palmer and second-ranked Lathrop, but suffered tough losses to third-ranked Wasilla and fifth-ranked Juneau-Douglas. Colony earned three points, essentially ranking the Knights seventh in the state.

The Wasilla boys scored key wins over Juneau-Douglas and Colony, but got little love in the poll, earning just one point.

Matanuska Christian also received a point in the 2A girls poll.

The Alaska prep media poll is tabulated by the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. Sportswriters from across the state vote in the poll. Points are awarded on a 5-4-3-2-1 basis. For the complete poll, see page A9.