Warriors complete Arby’s Classic run with consolation bracket win

BRISTOL, Tenn. — The Wasilla Warriors ended their stay at the 28th annual Arby’s Classic by earning consolation honors with a 50-45 win over Tabernacle Baptist from Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

The Warriors started slowly, but rallied from a three-point halftime deficit by outscoring the Falcons 13-4 in the decisive third quarter. Junior Connor Devine scored seven of Wasilla’s first nine points and finished with a team-high 13 points, a total matched by teammate Wade Stahle.

Dillon Ferro added seven points, Cole Schierman and Braydon Kuiper six each and Joel Quenga five as the Warriors won two of their three games in the tournament. Devine and Kuiper corralled the ample opportunities on the glass and hauled in eight rebounds each. Schierman added seven.

The Warriors weren’t particularly sharp from the field going just 13-for-36 and 1-for-6 from behind the arc, but made their living at the free throw line by converting on 23-of-29 free tosses.

But Tabernacle was even worse, a trend that continued throughout the tournament. The Falcons finished their three games shooting 41-for-157 (26.1 percent) and 7-for-60 from three-point range (11.7 percent).

“It wasn’t pretty, but the guys grinded it out and they did what we needed them to do against a good team,” said Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen.

It’s been Engebretsen’s plan to visit some of the top tournaments in the country and use the experience for his own recently started event in Wasilla. The Warriors originally left home Dec. 16, spending last week at the Isle of Palms Tournament in South Florida before heading to east Tennessee.

“It’s been a really long trip, but we’ve learned a lot about our team and it’s been great,” Engebretsen said.

Wasilla had the longest break of any team still in the draw, having not played since a win Tuesday over Greeneville, Tenn. As a result, Engebretsen and his team made sure to take in some local attractions, including a tour of Bristol Motor Speedway’s Speedway in Lights Holiday Spectacular and a basketball game at the University of Tennessee’s Thompson-Boling Arena.

“We’ve tried to build something that the kids can remember that includes more than just playing basketball games,” Engebretsen said. “We’re trying to build memories from this trip and have bonding teams can only get by doing something like this.”

Wasilla’s win over Tabernacle was the first game on the final day of action. Host Tennessee High School took sixth place with a win over another local school, Dobyns-Bennett of Kingsport, Tenn., 45-41. Fifth place went to Hunter Huss High School of Gastonia, N.C., a 59-49 winner over Mill Creek, Ga. Mentor, Ohio, defeated Memphis Southwind 96-87 for third place while Columbia, Ga., won the title with a 52-36 drubbing of Urspring, Germany.

Two Warriors participated in Saturday’s three-point shooting contest. Stahle finished in a tie for 10th with 13 points in the NBA-style event. Seth Dinkel finished with nine points. Brandon Piks of Mentor won the event comfortably, tallying 27 points with his nearest competitor at 18. Piks made 19-of-25 shots during the one-minute clock.

Wasilla 50, Tabernacle Baptist 45

Arby’s Classic, Bristol, Tenn.

Tabernacle Baptist 8-18-4-15—45

Wasilla 9-14-13-14—50

TABERNACLE BAPTIST (45) – Nathan Baine 6-21 0-0 15, Latrell Poitier 3-11 0-0 10, Travis Wildgoose 1-5 5-5 7, Rashard Russell 3-7 1-1 7, Astin Lewis 2-8 0-0 5, Krishan Penn 2-5 0-0 4, Vida Hepburn 0-5 0-0 0, Trent Cox 0-2 0-0 0, Totals 17-64 6-7 45.

WASILLA (50) – Connor Devine 5-13 3-6 13, Wade Stahle 2-9 8-9 13, Dillon Ferro 1-2 5-6 7, Cole Schierman 2-3 2-2 6, Braydon Kuiper 3-9 0-0 6, Joel Quenga 0-0 5-6 5, Seth Dinkel 0-0 0-0 0, Tyler Anderson 0-0 0-0 0, Totals 13-36 23-29 50.

3-Points: Tabernacle 5-32 (Bain 3-14, Poitier 1-7, Wildgoose 0-1, Russell 0-1, Lewis 1-6, Hepburn 0-3), Wasilla 1-6 (Devine 0-1, Stahle 1-4, Kuiper 0-1). Rebounds: Tabernacle 33 (Bain 9), Wasilla 32 (Devine 8, Kuiper 8). Assists: Tabernacle 10 (Wildgoose 3, Lewis 3), Wasilla 11 (Schierman 4). Steals: Tabernacle 11 (Poitier 4, Wildgoose 4), Wasilla 4 (Devine, Schierman, Kuiper, Dinkel). Blocks: Tabernacle 0, Wasilla 1 (Devine). Turnovers: Tabernacle Baptist 14, Wasilla 19. Total Fouls: Tabernacle Baptist 20, Wasilla 8.

Fouled Out – Lewis (Tabernacle).