WARRIORS WALTZ

SOLDOTNA — The Wasilla girls got more done before 9 a.m. Thursday morning than many teams did all day in the opening game of the Northern Lights Conference basketball tournament at Skyview High School in Soldotna.

The Warriors outscored Homer 34-2 in the first half of the 8 a.m. contest, rolling to a 62-15 victory over a turnover-plagued Mariners squad.

Junior guard Carlee Naczi scored 10 of her game-high 14 points in the first quarter as the Warriors converted numerous fast-break opportunities.

“We used our press to get a lot of baskets at the beginning,” Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said.

Alecia Stafford led Homer with four points.

The No. 1 seed from the North Division was able to put the No. 4 South team away early, then continued to cruise with backups getting significant playing time down the stretch.

Junior forward Kelsey Cottle scored 11 points for Wasilla, which also got 10 off the bench from freshman forward Kyla Dinkel.

“I wanted to get my starters a lead and then rest them,” Hebert-Truax said. “I was able to get a lot of time for the second-stringers, and they continued to pull away.”

Eleven different players scored for the Warriors.

Following the easy win, most of the Wasilla players elected to take the rest of the morning off.

“They’re napping now,” Hebert-Truax said.

Wasilla will face Kodiak in Friday’s 3 p.m. semifinal. The Bears defeated Soldotna 44-26 on Thursday.

WARRIORS 62, MARINERS 15

Homer 0 2 7 6 – 15

Wasilla 16 18 16 12 – 62

WASILLA (62) – Apangalook 3 0-0 6, Imoe 1 0-0 2, Dinkel 5 0-2 10, Nuss 2 1-2 5, Naczi 7 0-0 14, Brown 1 0-0 2, Bialka 2 0-0 4, Colegrove 1 0-0 2, Cottle 6 1-6 11, Burke 1 0-0 2. Totals – 30 2-10 62.

HOMER (15) – Oliver 1 0-1 2, Kettelle 1 0-0 2, Edens 0 1-2 1, Stafford 2 0-0 4, Hutt 1 0-3 2, Cordova 1 0-0 2, Wood 0 2-2 2. Totals – 6 3-8 15.

Three-point field goals – none. Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Wasilla 15, Homer 10.

Warriors roll to

first-round win

SOLDOTNA — This one was a Wasilla whitewash.

The top-seeded Warriors wasted little time putting away Skyview, running out to a 43-11 halftime lead en route to a 79-22 thrashing of the host Panthers in the final game of the opening round of the NLC tournament in Soldotna. Sophomore forward Connor Devine led the way for Wasilla with 24 points, while senior guard Cody Pfeifer added 17 to help call for the running clock in the fourth quarter.

Wasilla made 34 field goals in the game to easily cruise into today’s semifinal round match-up against Kenai, the No. 2 seed from the South Division.

Senior center Chad Oakes scored eight points to pace the Panthers.

WASILLA 79, SKYVIEW 22

Wasilla 19 24 25 11 – 79

Skyview 6 5 8 3 – 22

WASILLA (79) – Schierman 0 0-4 0, Quenga 1 2-2 4, Mock 2 2-3 6, Kuiper 2 0-0 4, Bydlon 3 1-1 8, Pfeifer 8 1-1 17, Devine 11 2-4 24, Ford 4 0-0 9, Green 3 1-3 7. Totals – 34 9-18 79.

SKYVIEW (22) – McNamara 1 0-0 3, Symonds 1 0-0 2, White 1 0-0 2, Malatesta 0 1-2 1, Harvey 2 0-2 6, Oakes 4 0-0 8. Totals – 9 1-4 22.

3-point field goals – Wasilla 2 (Ford, Bydlon), Skyview 3 (Harvey 2, McNamara). Fouled out – none. Total fouls – Wasilla 9, Skyview 18.