Warriors roll into regions

WASILLA — In recent seasons, Homer and Skyview —Wasilla’s opponents during the final two days of the regular season — have typically owned the bottom two spots in the Northern Lights Conference South Division. Even though the Mariners and Panthers have had their fair share of struggles, Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen knows the two-time defending Northern Lights Conference champion Warriors have to be prepared regardless of opponent.

“Do what we need to do, and we’ll take care of business,” Engebretsen said after Wasilla’s 77-33 win over Skyview on Saturday at Wasilla High School. “Play the game we’re capable of playing. We have to play Wasilla basketball against whoever you’re playing.”

Wasilla used Connor Devine’s 27-point effort to score the lopsided win over the Panthers and clinch the top seed from the NLC North with its 9-1 mark. Now, the Warriors will open NLC tourney play Thursday at Homer High against this same Skyview squad.

Wasilla led 14-5 after the first and 29-11 at halftime. In games like this, Engebretsen said it’s key to stay mentally focused.

“We go into halftime pretty confident we’ll get the ‘W’,” Engebretsen said. “At the same time, I had to make sure we’re mentally focused going into next weekend.”

Skyview scored as many points in the third, 11, as it did during the first two quarters. But Engebretsen said he saw improvement on the defensive end.

“We came out with more defensive intensity in that third quarter,” Engebretsen said.

Junior Braydon Kuiper scored 14 points in the win, and Wade Stahle added 13. Eight Warriors scored for Wasilla, but the bulk of the damage came courtesy of Devine.

Devine hit nine shots from the floor and was also a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line. Thirteen of his game-high total came during Wasilla’s 15-point second quarter.

Homer, fresh off a win over Soldotna, played Wasilla tough early in Friday’s game. Wasilla bounced back from an early 13-12 first-quarter deficit and scored the 65-34 win.

“They came ready to play,” Engebretsen said of the Mariners.

Stahle scored a game-high 15 points, and Devine and Cole Schierman each added 12.

Homer took a 13-12 lead into the second quarter.

“They had some wide-open looks,” Engebretsen said. “Defensively, we just weren’t getting after it.”

Schierman scored eight of his points during Wasilla’s 21-point second.

Wasilla 77, Skyview 33

Saturday, Wasilla High School

Skyview 5-6-11-11—33

Wasilla 14-15-23-20—72

Skyview (33) — McNamara 1 1-2 3, Symonds 3 0-0 7, White 6 0-0 13, Penrod 1 0-0 2, Diaz 3 0-2 6.

Wasilla (72) — Schierman 2 0-0 4, Quenga 1 0-0 2, Ferro 1 2-3 4, Kuiper 5 3-7 14, Stahle 6 1-2 13, Anderson 3 0-0 6, Devine 9 9-9 27, Pennington 1 0-1 2.

Wasilla 65, Homer 34

Friday, Wasilla High School

Homer 1-6-11-4—34

Wasilla 12-21-11-21—65

Homer (34) — Reutor 2 0-0 4, Johnson 2 0-2 4, Cotney 1 1-2 3, Reinert 0 1-2 1, Jester 3 0-0 7, Daugherty 0 0-2 0, Glossen 2 0-0 5, Wood 0 0-3 0, Kennelty 3 2-4 8, Moyer 0 0-1 0, Kalke 1 0-0 2.

Wasilla (65) — Schierman 3 6-6 12, Quenga 1 3-6 5, Derro 1 3-4 5, Kuiper 4 1-4 9, Stahle 3 7-10 15, Fielder 3 1-2 7, Devine 4 4-7 12.

Wasilla girls cap

perfect NLC season

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors finished the NLC regular season 10-0 with back-to-back big wins over Homer and Skyview.

Senior Lesil Brown scored 15 points to lead the Warriors to the 65-15 win over Skyview. Brown scored six points early to help Wasilla jump to a 23-6 lead. She poured in 11 first-half points.

Sophomore Alysha Devine added 10 points for the Warriors.

On Friday, junior Alyssa Hutchins scored 26 points to lead Wasilla to a 69-13 win over Homer. Hutchins scored 15 in the first quarter. Senior Celeste Colegrove added 10.

Wasilla 65, Skyview 15

Saturday, Wasilla High

Skyview 4-1-4-6—15

Wasilla 23-20-14-8—65

Skyview (15) — Halverson 1 0-0 2, Hauptman 3 2-2 8, Marang 1 0-0 2, Hill 0 0-1 1, Mercier 2 0-0 2.

Wasilla (65) — Al. Hutchins 1 0-0 2, Apangolook 1 3-4 6, Imoe 2 2-2 7, Devine 5 0-0 10, Brown 7 0-1 15, Colegrove 2 4-4 8, Dinkel 2 1-2 5, Cottle 1 3-4 5, Johannes 0 7-9 7.

Wasilla 69, Homer 13

Friday, Wasilla High

Homer 6-0-2-5—13

Wasilla 23-19-8-19—69

Homer (13) — Oliver 1 0-0 2, Edens 0 0-1 0, Needham 2 0-0 4, Edens 1 2-2 4, Hutt 1 0-1 2, Mastolier 0 1-3 1.

Wasilla (69) — Ford 1 2-2 4, Hutchins 10 4-8 26, Devine 2 1-1 6, Brown 2 1-2 5, Colegrove 3 4-6 10, Dinkel 2 0-0 4, Cottle 3 0-0 6, Johannes 2 2-2 6.