Warriors edge Knights in 4A girls state title game

ANCHORAGE — During their 69-46 win over the Colony Knights in the Northern Lights Conference championship game, the third quarter was the key for the Wasilla Warriors. Wasilla outscored the Knights 22-8 during the first eight minutes of the conference title game and held on to win the region title.

When the Valley rivals met again, this time for a state championship, the Knights appeared to have the upper hand in the third frame. Colony opened the second half on an 11-0 run, but Wasilla found a way to claw its way back. Wasilla outscored the Knights 16-3 during the final 11 minutes of play and edged Colony 35-32 during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A Girls State Basketball Championships final Saturday evening at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

“We don’t quit. We have that fight in us,” Wasilla junior Layla Hays said after the win.

Hays, an all-state standout who has received offers from numerous Division I women’s basketball programs across the country, was held to eight points in the win. But the 6-foot-5 forward was crucial on the offensive end during the final minutes of the third quarter.

Hays gave the Warriors their first points in the second half, hitting a pair of free throws with 2:48 left in the third. She added a layup less than a minute later, and had the assist on Mylee Anderson basket late in the third.

That stretch cut Colony’s lead to four points.

Hays was blanked by multiple defenders throughout the state tournament weekend. And that was no surprise.

“That’s usually how it goes,” Hays said. “But it opens everything up for my teammates.”

And that’s exactly what happened again on Saturday.

Anderson scored 12 of her game-high 21 points during the final nine minutes of play, including all 10 of Wasilla’s points in the fourth quarter.

“When it really mattered she hit some shots for us,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said after the win.

Anderson opened the fourth quarter with a jumper to cut Colony’s lead to two and used a steal at midcourt and layup to tie the score at 29. After Colony’s Ashlyn Waggoner gave the Knights the lead again, Anderson hit a jumper to tie the game at 31. Anderson hit another long jumper to push Wasilla’s advantage to 33-31, and the Warriors would not trail again.

Anderson, who is also a junior, finished with 68 total points during three games in the tourney. The point guard tallied 20 against Bartlett, 27 against Mountain City Christian in the semifinals and 21 in the title game.

“She’s been our MVP this week,” Hebert-Truax said of Anderson. “We’ve got Layla in the center, and she’s gonna have a good career in front of her. But I think Mylee’s been our glue that’s held us together.”

While Anderson handled the bulk of the offense, Hays was huge defensively and on the glass. Hays finished with 11 rebounds and five blocks against Colony.

“It shows it’s not all about points. It’s about rebounds. It’s about being a great teammate. Helping each other, telling our guards to shoot,” Anderson said.

And that helps take some of the pressure off the guards, Anderson said.

“We know all the focus is going to be on her,” Anderson said. “It gives us openings.”

Hebert-Truax also praised the work of senior guard Livia Breshears, who was instrumental in slowing down arguably the state’s top scorer at the 4A girls level, Colony junior Hallie Clark.

“We came up big defensively,” Hebert-Truax said. “Hallie is just a remarkable basketball player.”

Junior forward Tonya Karpow helped spark Colony’s early third-quarter run with five of Colony’s 11 points during the stretch. Karpow opened the second half with a bucket to give the Knights a 20-19 lead and knocked down a three to push it to 28-19. Morgan Ainswoth and Alycia Shelley also made baskets during the run.

Karpow led Colony with nine points in the loss. Freshman Jericho Wiestenberg added seven and a team-high 11 rebounds.

The game marked the fifth meeting of the year between the Valley rivals separated by only about 10 minutes of travel on Bogard Road. Colony was 3-0 against Wasilla during the regular season, with a victory in the Doc Larson Roundball Classic and a pair of NLC wins. Wasilla finished with victories over the Knights in the conference and state title games.

“Colony is a great team. I have so much respect for them,” Anderson said. “It’s definitely a very mental game over a physical game. Colony, they’re our rivals. It’s a mental thing. We’ve got to stay level.”

Wasilla’s win Saturday night marked the seventh state title in the Jeannie Hebert-Truax era that spans 29 years, and the eighth crown in school history. The Warriors last won it all in 2017, with a win over Dimond. Hebert-Truax has also led the Warriors to a state championship in 2007, 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2016.

Hebert-Truax has led Wasilla to the 4A state title game 13 times since 2002.

Colony’s last state championship came in 2008 in the Don Witzel era, and last appeared in a state title game in 2014.

Colony head coach Chandice Kelly was a standout for Wasilla and Hebert-Truax during her prep days. Kelly (Chandice Cronk), who went on to play at Division I Santa Clara, helped lead Wasilla to the 2003 title game and was named 4A all-state tournament twice.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.