Warriors ascend to title game

ANCHORAGE -- As the girls' high school state basketball tournament whittled down to the final two teams at Sullivan Arena, the only thing standing between the Wasilla Warriors and the state championship Saturday was the undefeated and reigning two-time state champion East Thunderbirds.

The Herculean effort by the Warriors to dethrone the Thunderbirds was not enough as East held on for a 50-47 win and its third straight state championship.

"The kids came out and played a great game," said Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert. "We had too many turnovers in the game though. You can't do that against a team like this."

The East defense slowed down Wasilla's perimeter shooting, but couldn't slow the powerful inside game from Brittney Kroon. Kroon dominated under the basket to score 24 points and keep Wasilla in the game.

"We knew that we could take them inside as long as we were being patient to get our shots," Kroon said.

After a tough battle with neither team relinquishing anything, East held a 44-43 lead with three minutes left in the game. At the three-minute mark, the Thunderbirds stalled to take time off the clock and force Wasilla to foul.

With seven seconds remaining and the score 50-47, the Warriors had one last opportunity with the length of the court to travel, but the inbound pass to center court was knocked away and intercepted by East to preserve the victory.

"We went 26-2 this year and had a great season," Hebert said. "We didn't meet our goals but the seniors can hold their head high and the rest of the team will come back and make another run at it."

In what should be remembered as a great championship game between two evenly matched teams, the East players added a black mark to the game by passing an envelope to a Wasilla player following the game. The envelope contained a poem exclaiming Thunderbird pride and newspaper clippings of Wasilla games with the words "Thanks for the motivation" written over the articles and signed by East players.

"Athletes should be motivated by themselves, not something like this," Hebert said. "If they don't want to have class, we will have it for them."

Marsha Schirack, Tonya James and Kroon were selected to the all-tournament team.

The Colony girls entered the tournament as the fourth seed, advancing to the semifinals after defeating Kenai 60-53 in the first round Thursday.

The Knights fell to East 82-51 Friday, knocking them to the third-place game.

Colony met Chugiak Saturday for third place, playing a strong inside and outside game to stay close to the Mustangs before losing 45-44 on a Chugiak basket with two seconds remaining.

Colony had fought back from a 41-35 deficit in the fourth quarter to take a 44-43 lead with two seconds remaining. After a timeout that gave both teams the opportunity to set up for the last play, the Knights couldn't break up Chugiak's inbound pass from half court to Erica Putnam under the basket, who put in the shot just before the buzzer to give the Mustangs the win and third place. The loss gave Colony fifth place.

"We were set up to defend the long pass to the post, but they made a great move to get open and the pass to get it," said Colony coach Don Witzel. "I'm pleased with the way we played in this tournament though. I'm encouraged by the play of the young kids and the experience they gained from this tournament."

Colony was selected as the academic all-tournament team with a 3.57 grade point average. Kelly Quinn was selected to the all-tournament team.

The Nikiski Bulldogs defeated Monroe 60-33 to take the girls' 3A state championship.

Thursday's results

COLONY 60, KENAI 53

COLONY (60) -- Colberg 1 3-4 5; Williams 0 0-0 0; Quinn 4 6-8 17; Menard 1 2-2 5; Thaggard 4 2-3 10; Beckman 2 0-0 4; Locke 0 3-4 3; Klapperich 2 12-16 16. Totals 14 28-37 60.

KENAI (53) -- Saltzgiver 0 0-0 0; Knudsen 5 2-4 12; Baldwin 4 2-2 10; Montgomery 3 2-4 8; Goggia 1 0-0 2; Popp 0 0-0 0; Edwards 2 1-2 5; McLeod 1 0-0 2; Hall 1 0-0 2; Smith 4 4-6 12; Hampton 0 0-0 0. Totals

21 11-18 53.

Total fouls -- Colony 14, Kenai 24. Fouled out -- Edwards. Three-point goals -- Quinn 3, Menard.

WASILLA 61, BARTLETT 36

WASILLA (61) -- Bulawa 0 0-0 0, James 4 2-2 12, Tompkins 3 0-0 7, Schirack 5 2-2 12, Cronk 3 0-0 7, Lund 0 0-0 0, Hayes 2 0-0 4, Egger 0 0-0 0, Kroon 7 5-8 19, Mayse 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 9-12 61.

BARTLETT (36) -- Scroggins 0 0-0 0, Lassiter 1 0-0 2, Castillo 2 1-3 5, Hunsaker 2 0-0 4, Moss 3 0-0 6, Driver 1 0-0 2, Sumpter 0 2-2 2, Squartsoff 2 0-0 6, Watson 4 1-2 9. Totals 15 4-7 36.

Total fouls -- Wasilla 10, Bartlett 15. Fouled out -- none. Three-point goals -- James 2, Tompkins, Cronk, Squartsoff 2.

Friday's results

EAST 82, COLONY 51

COLONY (51) -- Colberg 1 0-0 2; Williams 1 0-0 3; Quinn 4 0-0 10; Menard 0 0-0 0; Thaggard 5 2-2 12; Beckman 0 2-3 2; Johnson 0 0-0 0; Locke 0 0-0 0; Morris 0 0-0 0; Klapperich 5 4-7 14; Dault 3 2-4 8. Totals 19 10-16 51.

EAST (82) -- Wilson 2 1-2 5; Ailey-Brown 1 0-2 2; Webb 5 0-0 11; McCauley-Johnson 1 0-1 2; Jones 8 1-1 19; Macon 7 1-1 15; Mickens 9 3-3 21; Robinson 3 1-2 7. Totals 36 7-12 82.

Total fouls -- Colony 14, East 18. Fouled out -- None. Three-point goals -- Williams, Quinn 2, Webb, Jones 2.

WASILLA 45, CHUGIAK 35

WASILLA (45) -- James 0 3-4 3; Tompkins 0 0-0 0; Schirack 4 10-10 18; Cronk 2 7-8 13; Lund 0 0-0 0; Hayes 0 1-2 1; Kroon 4 2-3 10. Totals 10 23-27 45.

CHUGIAK (35) -- Waters 0 0-0 0; Sacks 0 0-0 0; Hight 0 0-0 0; Hartman 6 0-0 14; Hedum 1 0-0 2; Wasson 0 0-0 0; Deisher 0 0-0 0; Bjornstad 0 0-0 0; Adams 3 0-0 6; Starbard 1 0-0 2; Ducharme 0 0-0 0; Putnam 5 1-2 11. Totals 16 1-2 35.

Total fouls -- Wasilla 9, Chugiak 22. Fouled out -- None. Three-point goals -- Cronk 2, Hartman 2.

Saturday's third-place game results

CHUGIAK 45, COLONY 44

CHUGIAK (45) -- Waters 1 0-0 2; Sacks 0 1-2 1; Hight 0 0-0 0; Hartman 8 0-2 18; Hedum 2 0-0 4; Wasson 1 0-1 2; Deisher 0 0-0 0; Bjornstad 0 0-0 0; Adams 2 0-0 4; Starbard 0 0-0 0; Ducharme 0 0-0 0; Putnam 7 0-0 14. Totals 21 1-5 45.

COLONY (44) -- Colberg 1 0-0 3; Williams 0 0-0 0; Quinn 3 2-4 9; Menard 0 0-0 0; Thaggard 5 1-2 12; Beckman 3 0-0 6; Locke 1 0-1 3; Klapperich 4 3-4 11; Dault 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-11 44.

Total fouls -- Chugiak 10, Colony 12. Fouled out -- None. Three-point goals -- Hartman 2, Colberg, Quinn, Thaggard, Locke.

Saturday's state championship game

EAST 50, WASILLA 47

WASILLA (47) -- James 2 0-0 6; Tompkins 0 0-0 0; Schirack 2 0-0 4; Cronk 3 3-4 10; Lund 0 0-0 0; Hayes 1 0-0 3; Kroon 12 0-1 24. Totals 20 3-5 47.

EAST (50) -- Wilson 1 5-6 7; Webb 2 0-0 5; McCauley-Johnson 2 0-0 4; Jones 2 3-4 8; Macon 6 0-0 12; Mickens 4 4-4 12; Robinson 0 2-2 2. Totals 17 14-16 50.

Total fouls -- Wasilla 17, East 11. Fouled out -- None. Three-point goals -- James 2, Cronk, Hayes, Webb, Jones.