Warriors rally to win third-straight state title

ANCHORAGE — The Wasilla Warriors have driven through the 2012-13 season like a machine. But even a well-oiled machine has an occasional rough start.

Saturday, the Warriors were not ready to let that rough start come between the team and perfection — or a third-straight state title.

With a spark from their catalyst, senior Alexis Imoe, the Warriors fired on all eight cylinders and used a strong second half to power to a 43-27 win over the Dimond Lynx during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships title game at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

Imoe, making her fourth career start in a state championship game, scored 28 points to help the Warriors erase a six-point halftime deficit, cap the season with a perfect 30-0 record and notch the three-peat.

“We didn’t let it get us down,” an elated Imoe said after the win, Wasilla’s 42nd straight. “The last time we played Dimond we were down at halftime. We thought, ‘hey we can do this. It’s just six points.’”

In similar fashion to their last meeting with the Lynx — the Lady Lynx Prep Shootout championship game earlier this year — the Warriors found themselves trailing after the first two quarters. That night, Wasilla used a 34-point second half to score a 49-43 win. Saturday, Wasilla only needed 29 second-half points to best Dimond.

Wasilla also only allowed seven Dimond points during the final 16 minutes Saturday.

“It’s not the best first half we’ve ever had,” senior Alysha Devine said of her team’s first 16 minutes of the championship game. “At halftime, we said we’ve got to slow it down, play our game.”

Neither squad was stellar in the first half. Wasilla shot 23 percent from the floor, missed five free throws and turned the ball over 11 times during the first two quarters.

Dimond wasn’t much better, committing eight turnovers and sporting 33-percent shooting.

The difference during the first two quarters was four Dimond three-pointers, including a shot from NBA range at the halftime buzzer.

“The shots weren’t falling, we had like (11) turnovers. We weren’t playing a good, solid game,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said of the first half. “A lot of that is probably attributed to Dimond. They were getting us out of our game a little bit. We had to survive until halftime, which we did.”

Hebert-Truax, who now has four Alaska state championships as a head coach and two as a player, said her players had the opportunity to switch gears at halftime.

“We settled our kids down. They had to make a decision. To me they were playing scared a little bit. Or, were they going to go out there and win?” Hebert-Truax said. “It took about one-and-a-half minutes for them to figure out they were going to win.”

The Warriors opened the third quarter with a four-point run (two free throws from senior Jenna Ford and a Devine bucket) and didn’t allow a Dimond point for more than three minutes to open the third.

Wasilla, which trailed for nearly three full quarters, finally got its first lead late in the third quarter when Imoe found senior Kyla Dinkel underneath the basket. Dinkel’s field goal gave the Warriors the 23-22 advantage with 1:52 left in the third.

Wasilla wouldn’t trail again, thanks in part to the big play of Imoe.

With less than a minute remaining in the third, Imoe chased down a loose ball deep in the corner near the Wasilla bench. The senior set her feet and fired a three-pointer to give the Warriors the 26-22 lead.

With the final seconds ticking off the third-quarter clock, Imoe lifted a deep shot before the buzzer, and drained a three-pointer to extend Wasilla’s lead to seven.

“I didn’t believe it went in. I kind of chucked it,” Imoe said. “It was a great feeling, a shot like that, everyone jumping up and down.”

Hebert-Truax said she felt like Imoe’s shot was a game-changer.

“It definitely was. Anytime you get a last-second buzzer-beater — whether it’s the first, second, third, fourth quarter — it always gives that team the adrenaline rush,” Hebert-Truax said.

As the Warriors grabbed the momentum in the second half, Imoe helped her team keep hold of it, scoring 20 of her game-high 28 points during the final two quarters.

“She’s just focused,” Devine said of Imoe. “If she focuses, she can do anything. I always know she’s going to do the job. She’s just an awesome player and awesome teammate.”

Imoe shot nearly 50 percent from behind the arc (5 of 11) and was 11 of 12 from the free-throw line in the game.

“She’s going to be missed,” Hebert-Truax said of Imoe, a four-year Wasilla varsity starter. “She comes to perform in big games. She had a big one last year against West Valley [in the state championship game]. This year, she finally settled down, scored 28 points. She really stepped up her game after being pretty much frustrated during the first quarter. She’s going to be highly, highly missed.”

Imoe is one of five seniors starters who will be missed — a group that also includes Devine, Dinkel, Ford and Savanna Burke.

“It’s bittersweet,” Imoe said of capping her high school career Saturday, alongside her four senior teammates. “It’s a great way to finish high school, but the rest of the seniors, these girls, I’ve been playing with for so long. It’s really sad that all of us are going to be going to so many different places next year. We’re going to be spread throughout the country. It was really great to end our last game together.”

Devine described the emotion of the experience just moments after the Warriors cleared the court to celebrate with their fans, which made up a sea of red in the middle of the Sullivan Arena stands.

“It feels so much better than I could have imagined. I’m so happy it ended for my team that way,” Devine said. “I don’t think many people have had the opportunity we’ve had. I’m so blessed, blessed to have coaches like that, teammates like that. I’m so blessed.”

With the victory, Wasilla became only the second 4A girls program in state history to win three straight state titles, matching East Anchorage’s run from 2000-02.

“It is pretty awesome. I really don’t have too many words for it,” Hebert-Truax said. “This is pretty special. Five seniors who have been with me, I’m so proud of them.”

Hebert-Truax also took time to pay tribute to the Warrior faithful who flooded the Anchorage arena.

“I really want to thank our fans, because we definitely had a sixth man in the gym with us,” she said.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him @matsu_sports.

Wasilla 43, Dimond 27

ASAA 4A state title game

Saturday, Sullivan Arena

Dimond 10-10-2-5—27

Wasilla 7-7-15-14—43

Dimond (27) — Thompson 3 2-2 11, Cole 2 1-2 5, Afoa 3 0-0 7, Huss 1 0-0 2, Tosi 0 2-2 2; Totals: 9 5-6 27.

Wasilla (43) — Ford 0 3-8 3, Imoe 6 11-12 28, Devine 2 0-2 4, Dinkel 3 1-2 7, Burke 0 1-3 1; Totals: 11 16-27 43.

Three-point field goals: Dimond 4 (Thompson 3), Wasilla 5 (Imoe 5); Total fouls: Dimond 21, Wasilla 7.