Warriors top Malemutes

The Wasilla Warriors girls' basketball team met a stiff challenge from the Lathrop Malemutes Friday at Wasilla High School.

The Warriors overcame a cold scoring streak early in the game to pull away from the Malemutes and take a 51-33 victory.

"We struggled offensively early and didn't have the defensive intensity to make up for it," said Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert. "We played ugly tonight, that's probably the best way to put it."

Wasilla spotted the Malemutes an early 4-0 lead but hustled for turnovers to quickly charge to an 8-4 lead.

The tandem of Brittney Kroon and Marsha Schirack owned the paint early to score inside and dominate the Warriors' rebounding game on both ends of the court. At the end of the first quarter, they had paced Wasilla to a 14-9 lead.

The Malamutes began hitting shots in the second quarter, effectively moving the ball inside against the Warriors to gain ground.

Wasilla's offense turned cold in the second quarter, scoring an uncharacteristic seven points, with turnovers plaguing the Warriors offensive drive.

Lathrop came back to tie the game at 18-18 late in quarter, but the Warriors Kelly Tompkins buried a three-pointer with seven seconds left to give Wasilla the 21-18 halftime lead.

"We tried to get the ball inside even though they were flooding the inside with players," said Hebert. "We have good outside shooters; I told them to take the shots."

In the third quarter, the Warrior guards did just that. Tonya James displayed the hot hand by knocking down a three-pointer to start the quarter and followed it up with three successive two-point baskets.

James' nine unanswered points quickly moved the Warriors to a 30-18 lead midway through the third quarter and put the Warriors in control of the game.

Chandice Cronk buried a three-pointer, which was followed by another James two-pointer to give the Warriors a 35-26 lead at the end of the third quarter.

The successful outside shooting of the Warriors forced the Malemutes to come out of the middle and defend against the outside shot.

This strategy played right into the hands of the Warriors in the fourth quarter as Kroon took control of the game, dominating the inside to score seven of her 13 points in the game.

Wasilla patiently moved the ball around to find open shooters inside and out. A two-point basket followed by a three-pointer from Tompkins iced the game and gave Wasilla the 51-33 victory.

"Kroon was our workhorse tonight," said Hebert. "She worked hard, getting most of her points from offensive rebounds."

James led all scorers with 14 points, followed by Kroon's 13.

The Warriors' next game will be against Bartlett Jan. 19 at Bartlett High School.

Houston bests Lathrop

The Houston girls' basketball team took its turn at Lathrop Saturday, defeating the Malemutes 41-38 at Houston High School.

Linnea Pudwill scored 13 points for the Hawks and pulled in eight rebounds.

Brandi Harvey scored 11 points with 10 rebounds in the game.