Warriors get past rival Colony, advance to 4A girls title game

The Wasilla Warriors advanced to their 14th trip to the 4A girls state championship game in school history.

Wasilla punched its ticket with a 48-40 win over rival Colony during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships semifinals Friday evening at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

The win sets up a rematch with Northern Lights Conference rival Anchorage Christian School, which stormed past West Anchorage 81-34 in the other semifinal. They will play Saturday at 5:30 p.m.

ACS earned its fifth straight state title with a win over the Warriors in the 2022 state championship game. The Lions won four straight as a 3A program before jumping to the 4A level prior to last season.

Wasilla led Colony by only a possession with less than two minutes in the game. Lalaine Suaava scored to cut Wasilla’s lead to 43-40 with 56 seconds left. A pair of Wasilla underclassmen added to their lead. Freshman Mielee Merchant hit a pair of free throws to extend the lead to 45-40. Sophomore Mylee Anderson added three from the stripe down the stretch. Livia Breshears also had a key steal for the Warriors in the final moments.

With the win, Wasilla rebounds from a loss to Colony in the NLC semifinals earlier this month. The Valley rivals are now 2-2 against each other this year.

“Coach Kelly over there is doing a great job with those kids.They’re only going to lose about three seniors. We’ve always got to be on our “A” game when we play them, both defensively and offensively. Every possession,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax told the NFHS Network after the win.

Chandice Kelly is a former Wasilla girls basketball standout and played for Hebert-Truax.

Anderson led Wasilla with a game-high 22 points. Layla Hays finished with 10 points and a game-best 15 rebounds.

Wasilla is in its 11th title game (2002, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023) with the guidance of longtime head coach Hebert-Truax, who has won six state titles as a mentor. The Warriors were also 1-2 in three title games during the 1980's.

Hallie Clark led Colony with 17 points.

Colony was in search of its 10th trip to the 4A state girls title game and first since 2014.

In other 4A action, Juneau-Douglas eliminated Colony 73-64 in the 4A boys consolation semifinals. Jayce Underwood led Colony with 23.

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