Warriors use tenacious defense to dim Stars

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors were not going to let Boomer Blossom burn them.

The Warriors started by pinning the tenacious Corey Mock on Blossom, Soldotna’s senior standout who torched Kenai with 38 points during a recent win over the Kards, but later opted to peg the more versatile Cody Pfeifer to shadow the Stars’ top shooter.

Not only did Pfeifer help hold Blossom to only eight points, but the senior helped spark a Warrior rally during a 57-43 Northern Lights Conference win over the Stars Saturday at Wasilla High School.

“We changed up the way we were matched with them and it ended up working out,” said Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen, who watched his team cap the regular season at 10-0 in conference play with the victory.

In addition to helping hold the dangerous Blossom to just three field goals, Pfeifer snagged a game-high 17 rebounds.

“He was absolutely terrific,” Engebretsen said of Pfeifer who is averaging a double-double this season. “He stepped up and rebounded the ball like a man-child.”

Engebretsen said Pfeifer’s ability to rebound the ball sparks his team.

“When he rebounds the ball, we can up the floor, our space is a little better,” Engebretsen said. “The confidence we play with when he’s rebounding the ball and playing terrific defensively put us a step above where we are every other day.”

While Pfeifer was leading the rally at the defensive end, Wasilla sophomore Connor Devine supplied a game-high 22 points to help the Warriors score the come-from-behind win. Devine finished with 11 field goals, all inside the paint, and scored a dozen of his game-high total in the second half.

“Connor Devine’s terrific in the post, you have to acknowledge that,” Engebretsen said.

Devine gave Wasilla its first lead of the game when he snagged an offensive rebound and tucked in the put-back with 3:57 left in the third quarter. That basket gave the Warriors the 31-29 advantage. But before that, Soldotna led for the first 20 minutes of the game.

Devine scored six fourth-quarter points and junior Wade Stahle delivered all eight of his points in the fourth as Wasilla sealed the win with a 24-point fourth quarter.

After entering the final quarter with the score tied at 33, Wasilla opened the fourth with a 12-1 run. A Blaine Carver free throw was Soldonta’s point of the fourth until Blossom hit a deep three-pointer with 3:32 left in regulation. Following that Blossom shot, Wasilla closed the game on a 12-6 run.

“We valued each possession a little more,” Engebretsen said of his team’s fourth-quarter effort. “We passed the ball well. We did the fundamental things really well in the second half.”

The same could be said for Soldotna’s success early in the game.

The Stars opened the game on an 8-2 run and held the Warriors scoreless until Devine found the basket with 5:30 left in the first. Blossom scored five of his eight points during the first eight minutes.

“They were very patient on the offensive end and we lacked a little intensity defensively,” Engebretsen said.

Pfeifer added 11 points to his 17 boards and Stahle scored eight.

Evan Withrow, who drained a trio of three-pointers, led the Stars with nine points. Carver, Blossom and Dylan Story each scored eight for Soldotna.

Wasilla boys 57, Soldotna 43

Saturday, Soldotna High School

Soldotna 13-9-12-10—43

Wasilla 11-10-12-24—57

Soldotna (43) — Hahn 0 0-1 0, Story 2 2-2 8, Blossom 3 0-1 8, Jackson 2 0-0 4, Carver 3 2-4 8, Withrow 3 0-0 9, Barnes 2 0-0 5; Totals: 15 4-8 43.

Wasilla (57) — Mock 1 0-0 2, Stahle 3 0-0 8, Pfeifer 5 1-2 11, Devine 11 0-0 22, Ford 0 2-2 2, Green 1 0-0 2; Totals: 213-5 57.

Warrior girls coast after early lead

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors opened with a 19-2 run a cruised to a 56-34 win over the Soldotna Stars at Wasilla High School on Saturday.

Wasilla, which improved to 8-2 in NLC play, didn’t allow a Soldotna bucket until Soldotna freshman Kaillee Skjold hit a short jumper with 1:18 remaing in the first.

Junior Celeste Colegrove led Wasilla with a game-high 16, while senior forward Jillian Troisi added nine.

Skjold led the Stars with 14.

Wasilla 56, Soldotna 34

Saturday, Soldotna High School

Soldotna 2-10-14-10—43

Wasilla 19-13-14-10—56

Soldotna (43) — Senette 3 2-4 8, Duke 1 0-1 2, Hardy 2 5-10 8, Skjold 7 0-4 14.

Wasilla (56) — Frizzelle 1 0-2 2, Imoe 3 0-0 7, Dinkel 1 2-3 4, Nuss 1 2-2 4, Naczi 1 0-0 2, Brown 1 0-0 2, Bialka 0 2-4 2, Colegrove 8 0-4 1, Troisi 4 1-2 9, Cottle 3 0-2 6.