Warriors snap skid, help head coach hit milestone

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors snapped a losing streak and helped their head coach hit a career milestone.

Wasilla scored a 50-48 nonconference girls basketball victory over Chugiak Monday at Wasilla High School. The win marked the 500th for Warriors head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax.

Bella Hays led Wasilla with 16 points and nine rebounds in the victory. Harmony McSorley added 15 points, four rebounds and four assists. Sheridan Green chipped in 11 points. Cheyenne Green added nine rebounds.

The win snapped a three-game losing skid.

Hebert-Truax is the first head coach in Alaska high school girls’ basketball history to notch 500 wins in a career. She was also the first, and still only , Alaska girls head coach to hit 400 wins. Hebert-Truax is now nearly 200 wins ahead of the next coach on the list, former Colony mentor Don Witzel, who finished his stellar career with 308 wins in 15 seasons. Former East Anchorage head coach Dorena Bingham won 280 games in 15 seasons.

Hebert-Truax is in her 24th season as head coach of the Warriors. Her illustrious career has included six state titles and a 100-game winning streak in Northern Lights Conference play. Hebert-Truax led Wasilla to a state title game for the first time in 2002. After runner-up finishes in 2002 and 2003, the Warriors earned their first state title in the Hebert-Truax era in 2011. That was the first of three-straight titles. Wasilla also won back-to-back titles in 2016 and 2017.

Aside her position as Alaska’s greatest girls basketball coach ever, Hebert-Truax also stands as one of the most recognized athletes from Alaska. Hebert-Truax played in four state title games in girls basketball as an athlete at North Pole and Monroe Catholic, and won it all as a junior and senior with the Rams. She also was part of a state championship team in volleyball.

Hebert-Truax played college basketball at Division I Miami (Florida) and finished her career ranked second in program history in assists (694), third in scoring (1,766 points) and fourth in steals (237). She also helped the Hurricanes earn their first berth into the NCAA tournament in 1989.

Hebert-Truax is a member of the Alaska Sports Hall of Fame, the ASAA Hall of Fame, the University of Miami Hall of Fame and was named an all-time Legend by the Atlantic Coast Conference.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.