Wasilla boys, girls get past Moose

WASILLA — Earlier this month, Wasilla hosted a pair of top-5 ranked teams from the Interior, West Valley and Lathrop. The Warriors held second-half leads in both games, but ended up with losses against both teams. Failure to close games late plagued Wasilla last season, and it’s a trend the Warriors don’t want to repeat this year.

But after securing wins in three straight close games after the losses to West Valley and Lathrop, the Warriors hope that things are different. Tuesday, Palmer rallied late, but the Warriors held on to grab a 46-43 win over the Moose at Wasilla High School.

“Last year we had games in the middle of the year, we couldn’t put them away. We kind of saw that a couple of weeks ago with the Fairbanks teams, but we’re turning a corner and finally starting to win these games,” Wasilla senior captain Cash McGregor said after the win over the Moose. “I think we’re finally taking a step forward.”

Junior Alex Baham went 1 for 2 at the free throw line with 21 seconds left and freshman Koby Burns hit a pair of free throws during the final seconds to help preserve the win and help Wasilla improve to 6-2 in the Northern Lights Conference.

The victory comes on the heels of back-to-back overtime wins during a two-game road trip to the Kenai Peninsula. Wasilla used extra time to score road wins over Soldotna and Kenai.

“We found out that weekend against the Fairbanks teams we really needed to focus on our two-minute drills and our execution in crunch time,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said. “And it’s paid off the last three games.”

Wasilla held a 39-28 lead in the fourth quarter, but Palmer used a 12-3 run to bring the Moose within a possession. Brady Southwick, who scored a team-high 14 for the Moose, sparked Palmer with a key three-pointer during the run.

“Southwick just heated up,” McGregor said. “He hit everything.”

Palmer senior James Nisbett also scored eight of his 10 points in the fourth. Nisbett knocked down a late three-pointer and was 5 of 5 from the free throw line. Three of those free throws pulled the Moose within a possession. With Wasilla leading by five points, Nisbett was fouled on a three-point attempt with 38 seconds left in regulation. Nisbett hit all three attempts to cut Wasilla’s lead to 42-40.

Nisbett’s three-pointer, which made the score 44-43, came with only 2.8 seconds left.

Adam Ramoth added 13 points for the Moose in the loss.

Overall, Engebretsen was thrilled with the play of his defense.

“They worked their butts off defensively,” Engebretsen said of his players. “They were so good defensively. We gave up one or two easy buckets, but other than that, possession after possession, they worked their tales off.”

Baham led the Warriors with 17 points in the win. McGregor and Burns added eight points each.

With the Wasilla win over Palmer, a three-way race continues for the top seed in the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships tournament. Colony (7-2), Kodiak (6-2) and Wasilla (6-2) could all finish with the top seed. Colony hosts Palmer Friday at 7 p.m. Wasilla hosts Kodiak in a two-game series that begins Friday at 7 p.m. and continues Saturday at 1 p.m.

Palmer dropped to 3-6 in NLC play.

Warriors get past

Moose girls

Wasilla senior Shayla Johnson scored a game-high 26 points to lead the Warriors to a 43-23 win over Palmer. Johnson, who drained six three-pointers in the game, scored 16 of her team’s 18 first-half points.

Kalei DePriest led Palmer with 10 points. Leya DePriest finished with a game-high 14 rebounds.

Wasilla boys 46, Palmer 43

Tuesday, Wasilla High

Palmer 4-11-13-15—43

Wasilla 8-13-12-13—46

Palmer (43) — Ramoth 1 8-11 11, Southwick 5 0-0 14, Wells 2 2-4 6, Nisbett 3 5-5 12; Totals: 11 15-20 43.

Wasilla (46) — Carney 1 0-0 2, Krueger 2 1-2 6, Baham 5 7-11 17, Garnett 2 1-3 5, McGregor 4 0-0 8, Burns 2 4-10 8; Totals: 16 13-26 46.

3-point field goals: Palmer 6 (Southwick 4), Wasilla 1 (Krueger 1); Total fouls: Palmer 23, Wasilla 17.

Wasilla girls 43,

Palmer 23

Tuesday, Wasilla

Palmer 4-5-10-4—23