Wasilla and Colony girls to meet in first round of state tourney

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors and Colony Knights can’t find a way to stay away from each other.

The Valley girls’ basketball rivals met in the Northern Lights Conference championship game March 12, with the Warriors grabbing a 49-35 win. That marked the third meeting of the season between the Warriors and the Knights.

Apparently that’s not enough.

Wasilla and Colony with clash for the fourth time this season, in the first round of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships, slated for March 24 at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

But this is not anything new for either team. The exact thing happened last year. The Warriors and Knights drew each other in the first round of the 2015 state tourney, after meeting in the NLC title game.

“I wasn’t really surprised,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said of when she learned the Knights would be her team’s opponent in the first round.

Wasilla is the top-ranked team in the 4A girls’ bracket, according to the Winning Percentage Index, the formula ASAA uses to seed its 3A and 4A state tournaments. Colony is seeded eighth.

“That’s where we were in the WPI when we looked at it (last) Wednesday, and there were no upsets or anything that went on,” Hebert-Traux said. “It is what it is. You can’t get away from it.”

Hebert-Truax said it’s difficult to play a rival so often, and the Wasilla coaches will have to motivate a group of Warriors that beat the Knights by double digits in each of the last two meetings.

But Hebert-Truax knows the scenario didn’t play out in Wasilla’s favor last year. After beating Colony in the 2015 NLC title game, the Knights stunned the Warriors 45-42, with a buzzer-beating three-pointer by former Knights standout Faith Farris, in the first round last year.

“Let’s hope that’s one thing that motivates them. The goal is to not let that happen again,” Hebert-Truax said.

Wasilla used a 20-2 record during the regular season, and a 2-0 mark in the NLC tournament, to draw the top seed in the tournament. Colony, which starts four sophomores and a senior, was 14-8 during the regular season and 8-2 in the NLC. Colony’s only losses in NLC play came to Wasilla.

The Warriors and Knights play March 24 at 11:45 a.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center, located on the UAA campus.

The Warriors and Knights share the top seed of the bracket with fourth-seeded East Anchorage and fifth-seeded West Valley, who play March 24 at 1:30 p.m.

The bottom side of the bracket features second-seeded Dimond against seventh-seeded Lathrop at 7:15 p.m. and third-seeded Ketchikan against sixth-seeded Chugiak at 9 p.m.

Two Valley teams in boys bracket

Palmer, one of two Valley teams in the 4A boys bracket, is making its first appearance in the state tournament since 2013. The sixth-seeded Moose open tournament play against third-seeded Dimond March 24 at 5:15 p.m.

“I don’t have any problem with the bracket,” Palmer head coach Chuck Martin said. “Some years you might care who you play, but this year it’s pretty wide open.”

Dimond finished third in the CIC. Palmer, which finished 18-5 during the regular season, won the NLC with a 55-47 win over Wasilla in the conference title game March 12. The title marked Palmer’s first since 2013 and third since 2004.

Wasilla drew the fourth seed in the tournament, and will face fifth-seeded Ketchikan March 24 at 8 a.m. in the first round. Wasilla finished 14-7 overall and 9-1 in the NLC during the regular season.

Top-seeded Juneau-Douglas and eighth-seeded Bartlett share the top half of the bracket with Wasilla and Ketchikan.

The bottom half, along with Dimond and Palmer, also features second-seeded East Anchorage against seventh-seeded West Valley.

Both the girls and boys 4A brackets feature the top two teams from the NLC and Cook Inlet Conference, the Southeast Conference and Mid-Alaska Conference champions, and two at-large bids. The at-large bids, based on WPI rankings went to Dimond and Ketchikan on the boys’ bracket, and Chugiak and Lathrop on the girls’ bracket.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.