Warriors' junior varsity holds Malemute surge

The Wasilla Warriors junior varsity boys' basketball squad provided a nail-biting finish in its game against the Lathrop Malemutes to open Wednesday's matchup between the schools' varsity and junior varsity teams at Wasilla High School.

After enjoying a comfortable lead of its own for much of the game, the junior varsity Warriors were forced to stave off a fourth-quarter charge by the Malemutes to preserve a 40-34 victory.

The Warriors improved on a 10-6 first quarter lead to widen the gap in the second quarter and go into halftime with a 21-10 lead.

Wasilla's hustling defense rotated well to the ball, covering gaps and denying Lathrop inside penetration.

The offense showed good poise by moving the ball well around the perimeter to find the open shooter or to get inside penetration for the score.

The Warriors kept the momentum in the third quarter, with Luke Schafer scoring seven of the Warriors' third-quarter points to pace Wasilla to a 31-19 lead going into the final quarter.

The Malemutes came alive in the fourth quarter, reeling off seven straight points in their charge to close the gap to within four points with just less than four minutes remaining in the game.

A three-point play from a made basket and following foul shot by Sam Widmer put Wasilla up 36-29 with 2:56 left in the game and squelched the momentum of Lathrop for the remainder of the game.

The basket by Widmer was the only field goal scored by the Warriors, but eight points on clutch free throws in the final quarter sealed the 40-34 victory for Wasilla.

Schafer led all scorers in the game with 13 points off four field goals and five points from the line.

Adrian Furman contributed 10 points in the game.

Widmer added seven pointsin the game and Aaron Roth scored six.