Warriors, Knights sweep Peninsula foes

WASILLA — The Kenai Kardinals held the lead once. And it didn’t last long.

Avery Heiber buried a three-pointer with early in the second half to give the Kards the 32-31 advantage. But Wasilla’s Isaac Houck answered with a three of his own on the next possession. That sparked a 12-point Wasilla run, and the Warriors pulled away with a 67-51 victory over the Kardinals Thursday night at Wasilla High School.

After trailing by four at halftime, the Kards used a Nick Beeson baseline jumper and the Heiber three to start the third quarter with a five-point run. But after Heiber’s shot at the 6:54 mark, Wasilla held Kenai to just a pair of Tristan Landry three-pointers for the remainder of the quarter.

Following the Heiber three, Wasilla went on a 12-point run to take a 43-32 advantage. After Landry’s first three of the quarter, Wasilla closed the quarter on an 11-3 run.

Wasilla outscored Kenai 23-11 in the third quarter.

Houck led Wasilla with 21 points in the game. Daniel Headdings added 13, Aeron Milliron chipped in 11 and Reilly Devine finished with 10.

Wasilla improved to 8-0 in NLC play with the win.

Landry led Kenai with 15, and Luke Beiser added 14 for the Kards. Kenai dropped to 1-6 in NLC play.

Earlier in the day, McKenna Dinkel scored 22 points to lead Wasilla to a 58-32 girls’ win over Kenai. Azlynn Brandenburg added nine and Catherine Baham chipped in eight.

Wasilla improved to 8-0 in NLC play. Brooke Satathite led Kenai with 15.

Knights sweep SoHi

The Colony Knights spent a lot of time at the free throw line Thursday night. And it proved to be the difference.

Getting more than half of its points from the stripe, Colony scored a 42-33 Northern Lights Conference win over the Soldotna Stars Thursday at Colony High School.

Colony finished 23 of 26 from the free throw line en route to improving to 4-3 in NLC play. Sullivan Menard was 10 of 14 from the free throw line. Nolan Martin was 5 for 8. Martin led the Knights with 14 points. Martin added 11.

Derek Evans scored 11 points to lead the Stars.

In girls’ action, Colony jumped to a 20-8 lead in the first quarter, and scored a 47-29 win over the Stars. Amanda Smith hit a pair of three-pointers, and scored 13 for the Knights. Alex Carlton added 11.

Colony improved to 7-1 in the NLC.

Wasilla boys 67, Kenai 51

Thursday, Wasilla High

Kenai 10-17-11-13—51

Wasilla 17-14-23-13—67

Kenai (51) — Daniels 5 0-0 10, Beeson 4 1-2 9, Heiber 1 0-0 3, Beiser 6 2-4 14, Landry 6 0-0 15; Totals: 22 3-6 51.

Wasilla (67) — Brown 3 1-2 8, Headdings 4 2-2 13, Devine 3 4-4 10, Edwards 1 0-0 2, Fife 1 0-0 2, I. Houck 9 1-1 21, Milliron 5 0-0 11; Totals: 26 8-9 67.

Wasilla girls 58, Kenai 32

Thursday, Wasilla High

Kenai 8-15-6-5—32

Wasilla 15-13-10-20—58

Kenai (32) — Calvert 2 0-2 5, Miller 1 0-0 2, Creighton 1 2-2 4, Carrasco 1 0-0 2, Satathite 7 1-2 15, Beck 1 2-4 4; Totals: 13 5-10 32.

Wasilla (58) — Vasquez 1 1-2 3, Obremski 3 0-0 7, Baham 3 0-0 8, Kelly 1 2-2 4, Brandenberg 4 1-3 9, Dinkel 7 6-6 22, Green 1 0-1 2, Titus 1 1-1 3; Totals: 32 11-15.

Colony boys 42, Soldotna 33

Thursday, Colony High School

Soldotna 5-12-5-11—33

Colony 9-9-8-16—42

Soldotna (33) — Spence 2 3-4 7 Sheridan 0 3-4 3, Tuisaula 2 1-2 5, Evans 3 5-10 11, McElroy 1 1-2 3, Michael 1 0-0 2; Totals: 9 13-22 33.

Colony (42) — N. Pead 0 1-2 1, Neuner 4 3-6 12, Menard 1 10-14 12, Spencer 0 1-2 1, Martin 3 5-8 11, Villastrigo 1 1-2 3, Oathout 0 2-2 2; Totals: 9 23-26 42.

3-point field goals: Colony 1 (Neuner 1), Soldotna 0; Total fouls: Soldotna 23, Colony 16.

Soldotna 8-9-2-10—29

Colony 20-12-6-9—47

Soldotna (29) — Miller 2 0-0 6, Blossom 2 0-0 6, A. Schmidt 2 4-4 8, Tuisaula 1 1-5 3, Kruse 1 0-0 2, D. Schmidt 2 0-0 4; Totals: 10 509 29.

Colony (47) — Duguid 3 0-0 2, A. Smith 5 1-1 13, Clary 1 0-1 2, Bull 2 1-2 6, Steiner 2 1-2 6, Carlton 3 0-0 7, E. Smith 3 0-0 6; Totals: 19 3-6 47.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 4 (Miller, Blossom 2), Colony 6 (A. Smith 2); Total fouls: Soldotna 13, Colony 5.