Wasilla bounced from tourney

ANCHORAGE - The Wasilla Warriors entered the ASAA/First National Bank State Basketball Championships with the goal of at least advancing to the championship game. Instead, the Wasilla boys team dropped two games and settled for seventh place.

The Warriors were upset 58-54 by Juneau in the first round of the playoffs Thursday night at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage. Then, in the consolation bracket, the Lathrop Malemutes eliminated Wasilla 58-50.

We missed our shots, said senior Mark Nunley. We couldnt get anything to fall at all.

In both games, second-half struggles plagued the Warriors. Juneau outscored Wasilla by six points in the second half, while Lathrop outscored the Warriors by 14 during the final 16 minutes of action.

Thursday, Ben Luer shouldered much of the scoring load for the Warriors.

He scored 24 points, but Juneaus Evan Tromble upstaged Luer in the fourth quarter.

With less than a minute remaining, Tromble drilled a three-pointer and hit two foul shots to give the Crimson Bears a two-point lead. Needing a basket to tie, with 15 seconds left the Warriors brought the ball up the court.

The Bears tipped the ball out of bounds under the Wasilla basket with three second to play.

Luer tried to inbound the ball, but Juneaus stifling defense did not allow any Warrior to get open.

Without the benefit of a timeout, Luer was forced to throw the ball up into a crowd, and Tromble came down with it.

He was immediately fouled, and with one second left, hit two shots to give his team the four-point victory.

Justin Buzby had nine points and nine rebounds for the Warriors, while Justin Sinor added eight points.

Tromble led the Crimson Bears with 22 points and 10 rebounds.

They beat us twice in Juneau, and we wanted a little revenge, Tromble said. We won the one that mattered most.

Relegated to the consolation bracket, the Warriors season ended Friday when the Malemutes scorched the nets in the second half.

Lathrops player-of-the-year candidate, Kyle Bailey, scored a game-high 25 points as the Malemutes took advantage of Wasillas 6-27 (22 percent) shooting in the second half.

The Warriors seized a 30-24 lead at halftime, but the lead was erased by the end of the third quarter as the Malemutes outscored Wasilla 18-11 after the break.

In the fourth quarter, Lathrop limited Wasilla to only nine points and put the game away.

Justin Buzby led the Warriors in scoring with 14 points, and his brother, Nick Buzby, led the Warriors in rebounding with 11, including six on the offensive end.

Sinor had eight points and five rebounds, and led the Warriors in shooting percentage at 40 percent.

The East Anchorage T-Birds beat Dimond for the state title Saturday night in front of a packed house in the Sullivan Arena.

In the first round, Dimond beat Lathrop on a basket at the buzzer.

The loss sent the Malemutes to the consolation bracket, where they beat Wasilla Friday before losing to Chugiak for fourth place in the tournament.

Region III representative Kodiak took third place in the tournament by beating Juneau Saturday morning.

Kodiak beat Chugiak in the first round, but fell to eventual-champion East in the semifinals.Photo: Warrior Ben Luer lays up a soft finger roll in the first round against Juneau Friday. Luer led the team in scoring, but the Crimson Bears rallied in the second half to send the Warriors to the consolation bracket, where they lost to Lathrop.Photo by CASEY RESSLER.