Warrior squads fall short

ANCHORAGE -- The Wasilla Warriors led Bartlett for nearly three and a half quarters of the boysâ 4A state championship game at the Sullivan Arena on Saturday. Unfortunately for the Warriors, Wasilla led for the first three and a half quarters of the contest and not the last.

Bartlett came from behind to defeat the Warriors 38-28 and win their second consecutive 4A state championship.

After Wasilla led for most of the first 20 minutes of the game, Bartlett's Mario Chalmers drove through the Warrior defense and hit a layup to tie the score at 26-26 with 4:20 left in regulation. Bartlett followed with a bucket from Zack Bowman to take the 28-26 lead. It was the first lead for the Golden Bears since the opening basket of the game.

The final four minutes of the contest saw Bartlett peak and Wasilla slump as the Golden Bears capped off a 18-5 fourth quarter with an 16-2 run on the Warriors.

Bowman scored eight of his 10 points during the final stretch of the game and Chalmers scored eight of his game-high 16 in the final frame.

Bowman and Chalmers were also among a group of Bartlett defenders that kept the Warrior guards absolutely bewildered. Bartlett forced 21 Wasilla turnovers, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

The abundance of Warrior turnovers not only gave Bartlett additional possessions down the stretch, but prevented the Wasilla guards from getting the ball to 7-foot center and Region III MVP Ray Schafer under the basket. Schafer did not register a bucket after the 6:28 mark of the fourth quarter, where he tallied a massive dunk over the head of Bartlett's Josh Mitchell.

Aside from scoring, Schafer hardly touched the ball in the final minutes of the game.

"We had crucial turnovers ,and we were not getting the ball into Ray," Wasilla head coach Jason Marvel said.

Bartlett was not the only defense to shine Saturday. For most of the game, the Warriors kept the Golden Bears high-powered offense in check. The Golden Bears, who averaged an astonishing 76 points per game coming into the contest, were held to under 30 for most of the game. Wasilla held Bartlett to just six field goals and 30 percent shooting from the field in the first half. Bartlett hit just two three-pointers in the first two quarters.

"We were able to control the tempo for most of the game and not allow them to run," Marvel said.

The Warriors were able to take the edge in the defensive battle early. Ray Schafer and younger brother Luke combined for Wasilla's first six points of the game as the Warriors led 6-2 for most of the first quarter. Chalmers hit one of Bartlett's two first-half three-pointers with 6.9 seconds left in the first quarter to cut the Warrior lead to 6-5.

Buddy Bailey, who struggled for the Warriors throughout the game, registered his only two buckets in the first minute of the second quarter to give Wasilla a 10-7 lead. Bailey was pressed constantly by Bartlett's lightning-quick guards, each time he touched the ball. Bailey shot just 2-13 from the field and registered a team-high nine turnovers.

"They caused a lot of problems," Marvel said of Bartlett," They are very athletic on both offense and defense."

The Warriors outscored Bartlett 12-10 in the second quarter and owned an 18-15 advantage at the half. The Warriors did shoot over 50 percent from the field in the first half, even though they were 0-5 from three-point range.

Wasilla's inability to hit the long shot continued in the second half. Greg Grey registered the only Warrior three-pointer in the game. Wasilla finished the contest shooting 1-13 from beyond the arc.

That shot came with 3:30 left in the third quarter and gave Wasilla a 23-17 lead. The three-pointer capped a six-point run for Wasilla, the Warriors longest run of the second half.

Following Grey's trey, Wasilla would go 0-5 from three-point range to end the game.

Wasilla did have a positive note in the loss. That positive news is the play of Luke Schafer. The 6-7 sophomore has blossomed in the latter portion of the season. Schafer scored seven points, grabbed four rebounds and was 3 of 3 from the field in the contest. Schafer was named player of the game for Wasilla, following the championship.

"Luke is a big and tough kid," Marvel said. "He seems to be the one that has stepped up the most. He is very physical and tough-minded. We are going to be okay next year,"

With the impending losses of Bailey, Ray Schafer, Mason Heibel and Cody Schierman, Luke Schafer is the early favorite to be Wasilla's leader on the hardwood next season.

Despite the loss in the state championship game, Wasilla enjoyed one of their finest seasons in the history of the program. The Warriors end the season with just one loss to an opponent from Alaska. Wasilla finished the season undefeated in conference play and won the Region III title. The Warriors owned the top spot of the boys 4A poll every week during the season.

Random shots … Wasilla was looking to become just the second Region III team to win the 4A state championship … Bartlett has now one the 4A boys basketball and football state titles this year.