Wasilla boys, girls open Doc Larson tourney with wins

WASILLA — A freshman used a big debut to help his new team accomplish something it has not done since 2011.

Knock off an out-of-state squad in its holiday basketball tournament.

Freshman Daniel Headdings scored a game-high 17 points to lead Wasilla to a 62-43 victory over the Ambridge Bridgers during the opening day of the seventh annual Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic Thursday at Wasilla High School. Headdings hit 7 of his 13 attempts from the field and knocked down a pair of three-pointers to help Wasilla beat an out-of-state team in the tourney for the first time since knocking off the Golden, Colorado, Eagles in 2011.

Kobe Brown, Reilly Devine and Isaac Houck added 10 points each for the Warriors, who move forward to play Barrow Friday at 8:20 p.m. in the semifinals at Wasilla High School.

The Warriors used a 16-6 second-quarter run to take a 27-19 halftime lead. Wasilla shot 51 percent in the game, and held the Bridgers, a squad from Ambridge, Pennsylvania, to 21 percent shooting.

The win also completed a sweep for the Wasilla basketball teams on the first day of the tournament. Earlier in the day, the Wasilla girls beat Barrow 58-41.

Azlynn Brandenburg was 10 of 12 from the free throw line, and led Wasilla with a game-high 14 points. McKenna Dinkel added 10 points in the victory. Olivia Davies chipped in eight.

Kellie Lindeman led Wasilla with nine rebounds.

Wasilla continues round-robin play in the four-team girls’ field Friday at 6:40 p.m. against the Coronado Cougars of Henderson, Nevada.

In other action, defending 3A state champion Barrow earned the chance to play host Wasilla in the semifinals with its 67-57 victory over the Lincoln Cardinals of Portland, Oregon. Kamaka Hepa led Barrow with 26 points and Travis Adams added 20. The duo was a combined 26 of 35 from the free throw line.

Jonah Pemberton led Lincoln with 22 points.

Juneau-Douglas and Coronado of Henderson, Nevada, will meet in the other boys semifinal.

Juneau held on to knock off defending 4A state champion West 63-62 in the boys’ quarterfinals. Guy Bean led the Crimson Bears with 20 points. Kaleb Tompkins added 18 and Bryce Swofford chipped in 14.

Reigning 4A boys player of the year Da’zhon Wyche led West with 15 points. Darian Lawson, Sean Duffy and Hawken Wannemaker scored a dozen each.

Coronado rallied to beat the Colony Knights 80-72. Colony led by 10 midway through the third quarter, but Coronado came through with 23 fourth-quarter points to get the win.

Jake Desjardins led the Cougars with 21 points. Alex Nygard led Colony with 21.

See a related game story at frontiersman.com/sports.

In the other girls’ game, Coronado edged Lincoln 37-34. Payton Caci led the Cougars with 13 points. Reed Hazard scored a team-high 10 for the Cardinals.

Action Friday starts at noon with Colony meeting West Anchorage in the boys’ consolation semifinals. Ambridge plays Lincoln at 3:20 p.m. in the other boys’ consolation semifinal. In the boys’ semifinals, Juneau plays Coronado at 5 p.m., and Wasilla hosts Barrow at 8:20 p.m.

In the girls’ round-robin field, Lincoln plays Barrow at 1:40 p.m., and Wasilla hosts Coronado at 6:40 p.m.

Wasilla boys 62, Ambridge (Pa.) 43

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Thursday, Wasilla High School

Ambridge 8-6-14-15—43

Wasilla 11-16-14-19—62

Ambridge (43) — Shell 5 5-5 15, Campalong 2 1-3 5, Edmonds 0 1-2 1, King 0 4-5 4, Hilzendigger 3 6-8 13, Puppich 0 5-6 5; Totals: 10 22-29 43.

Wasilla (62) — Brown 4 2-5 10, Headdings 7 1-1 17, Devine 4 2-3 10, Houck 2 5-8 10, Milliron 2 2-2 6, Lee 3 1-4 7, McAnulty 1 0-0 2; Totals: 23 13-28 62.

Wasilla girls 58, Barrow 41

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Thursday, Wasilla High School

Barrow 8-16-11-6—41

Wasilla 11-16-18-13—58

Barrow (41) — Wolgemuth 4 0-4 8, Teifair 1 0-0 2, Nicely 0 5-7 5, Wright 1 0-0 2, Danner 6 2-4 14, Mongoyak 3 2-2 8; Totals: 15 11-22 41.

Wasilla (58) — Brandenburg 2 10-12 14, Kelly 0 1-2 1, Davies 2 4-6 8, Baham 2 0-0 4, Lindeman 2 2-2 6, Anderson 0 1-1 1, Dinkel 1 8-13 10, Green 3 1-2 7, DePriest 3 1-2 7; Totals: 15 28-40 58.

Coronado boys 80, Colony 72

Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic

Thursday, Wasilla High School

Colony 20-17-19-16—72

Coronado 16-18-23-23—80

Colony (72) — James 3 12- 7, Nygard 8 1-1 21, Neuner 1 3-4 5, Chamblee 6 1-2 16, Martin 0 4-6 4, Nicholson 1 3-4 5, Reed 1 2-2 4, Boyer 4 2-3 10; Totals: 24 17-24 72.

Coronado (80) — Hurlburt 3 2-6 10, Davis 0 4-4 4, Boman 5 0-0 10, Savoy 5 2-4 12, Desjardins 11 4-7 29, Koehler 6 1-4 15; Totals: 30 13-27 80.