Wasilla boys fall

SOLDOTNA — Wasilla center John Knowles may have been the biggest player on the floor Saturday at Soldotna High School, but it was the Stars’ crafty Liam Andrus who stood tall in Soldotna’s 53-46 Northern Lights Conference win.

Despite giving away four inches to Wasilla’s big junior, the Soldotna senior scored a game-high 15 points and hauled in eight rebounds to keep the Stars perfect in conference play.

“Liam worked very hard out there tonight,” SoHi coach Matt Johnson said following the game.

Boomer Blossom also scored 15 for the Stars, while Dan Geller added eight.

In addition to leading the Stars on the offensive end, Andrus was key in neutralizing Knowles, who had to work hard for all 12 of his points down low. Adrese LaVern led the Warriors with 15 points, including 12 in the second half.

The game was tight throughout, with Soldotna taking a 17-13 lead after one quarter behind a pair of Blossom three-pointers.

The Warriors fought back in a low-scoring second quarter to tie the game at 24-24 going into the locker room.

Things started to get tense as the second half wore on, with neither team seizing the advantage.

Wasilla took its first lead of the game with two minutes left in the third quarter on a nice driving lay-up from Tillerman Kroon off a feed in the lane from Tim Orr.

The Warriors had a chance to extend the lead further as the quarter wore down, but LaVern’s three-pointer was errant. On SoHi’s ensuing possession, Gellar scored down low to put the Stars back in front.

They never trailed again.

Knowles opened the fourth quarter by scoring five quick points, but his efforts were negated by three SoHi free throws and a big hit from downtown by Andrus, whose stroke from the top of the key gave Soldotna a 43-39 lead.

“We’re very comfortable with him shooting that shot,” Johnson said of Andrus, a 6-foot-4 forward who scored on jumpers, drives to the basket and post-up moves.

Soldotna did its best to kill the clock, but a big three-point play by LaVern with 1:49 pulled the Warriors to within two points. Wasilla then had a chance to tie following an errant Blossom three, but Soldotna’s clamp-down defense proved to be too much.

“Defensively, our guys had some big, big stops,” Johnson said.

A Blossom lay-up put Soldotna back in front by four before LaVern again cut the lead to two with a nifty backdoor cut off an inbounds pass.

But that was all Wasilla could muster, as the Stars hit four of five free-throws to ice the game down the stretch.

“They just made plays down the stretch,” Wasilla coach Ryan Engebretzen said following the game.

Tillerman Kroon added eight points and four steals for the Warriors in the loss, Tim Orr had five, Cody Pfeifer added four and David Green had two.

Gellar finished with eight for Soldotna, which got points from all nine players who entered the game. Matt Grubb had five points, Michael Bauder added four, Blaine Carver had three, Zayan Aberkane scored two and Jake Jansen had one.

The victory kept the Stars perfect in NLC play and was the first victory over Wasilla for any of Soldotna’s current crop of players.

“I think the big thing is it gives us a lot of confidence,” Johnson said.

Matt Tunseth is a freelance writer from Kenai.

STARS 53, WARRIORS 46

Wasilla 13 11 12 10 — 46

Soldotna 17 7 14 15 — 53

Wasilla (46) – Kroon 3 1-2 8, LaVern 6 3-3 15, Orr 2 1-2 5, Pfeifer 1 2-2 4, Mock 0 0-2 0, Knowles 4 2-4 12, Green 1 0-0 2. Totals – 18 9-15 46.

Soldotna (53) – Blossom 5 3-4 15, Grubb 2 1-4 5, Carver 1 1-2 3, Aberkane 0 2-5 2, Geller 3 2-2 8, Bauder 1 2-2 4, Jansen 0 1-3, Andrus 5 4-4 15. Totals – 17 16-26 53.

Three-point field goals – Wasilla 1 (LaVern), Soldotna 3 (Blossom 2, Andrus). Fouls – Wasilla 21, Soldotna 15. Fouled out – Knowles.

Seward boys 63, Wasilla 61

The host Seahawks knocked off the Warriors in a nonconference contest on

Thursday.

Robert Perea dumped in 18 points to lead the Seahawks, while Dylan Beck and Andrew Buchanan had 14 points apiece. The game was tight the whole way as neither team led by more than two points at the end of a quarter.

Seahawks 63, Warriors 61

Wasilla 17 11 15 18 —61

Seward 16 12 16 19 —63

WASILLA (61) — Kroon 2 0-2 10, Kuiper 3 0-0 6, LaVern 3 1-1 8, Orr 7 2-3 19,

Pfiefer 0 2-2 2, Mock 2 1-5 5, Knowles 4 1-2 9, Green 1 0-0 2. Totals — 14

7-15 61.

SEWARD (63) —Prochazka 3 0-0 8, Price 1 3-4 5, Beck 7 0-1 14, Hatch 0 0-0 0,

Perea 8 1-1 18, Buchanan 3 5-6 14, Olsen 0 1-4 1, Fleming 1 0-0 3. Totals —

23 10-16 63.

3-point goals — Wasilla 6 (Orr 3, Kroon 2, LaVern 1), Seward 7 (Buchanan 3,

Prochazka 2, Perea 1, Fleming 1). Team fouls — Wasilla 19, Seward 13. Fouled

out — Orr, Prochazka.