Wasilla boys grab another dramatic win against a Valley rival

WASILLA — It’s been quite the week for the Wasilla High boys basketball program.

Four days after senior Reilly Devine’s buzzer-beater gave the Warriors a win over Palmer, Wasilla notched another victory in dramatic fashion. Sophomore Levi Houck scored the final five points of the game and helped the Warriors rally to a 43-42 win over Colony Saturday at Wasilla High School.

Houck hit a deep three-pointer to cut Colony’s lead to a point with 2:10 to play and supplied the go-ahead basket with 18 seconds left to help the Warriors improve to 9-1 in Northern Lights Conference play.

“Huge confidence builder to hit that shot,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said of the Houck three. “That gave him the confidence to attack the rim.”

Wasilla trailed 42-38 with just more than two minutes to play. Houck, standing about a foot behind the arc, took the shot and knocked it down to cut the Knights advantage to 42-41.

“That’s my teammates. They found me,” Houck said. “They told me to be patient until I found the right one.”

With less than 20 seconds left, Houck held the ball at the top of the key, and drove to the basket to give Wasilla the 43-42 advantage, its first lead since the first quarter.

“The lane opened up and I saw it,” Houck said. “Coach told me to make a gutsy move, and I might it. It worked out.”

Houck also provided the exclamation point, with a block on a Colony three-point attempt just before the buzzer.

“That was huge,” Engebretsen said.

Houck said belief and determination helped the Warriors score back-to-back big victories over their biggest rivals.

“We have a lot of grit,” Houck said. “Being tough, sticking with it. Being true to who you are.”

Engebretsen also praised the work of senior Caden Dudley, who finished with eight points in the game. Dudley hit three jump shots, two in the third and another in the fourth, as the Warriors worked to cut into the Colony advantage.

“I could not have been prouder of Caden Dudley on senior night. Four big-time shots. When we needed him, he knocked down that 15-footer,” Engebretsen said. “He’s one of those seniors. He stuck with the process. Serious guts and grit. I’m super proud of that kid.”

Colony used early three-pointers to build a lead. Will Freeman, Colton Spencer and Parker Kizer each hit a three during he first quarter. Freeman knocked down three of Colony’s eight threes in the game. Sullivan Menard added a pair from beyond the arc in the third quarter. The Knights led by at least five during both the second and third quarters, and into the fourth. Engebretsen said it was key for his team to stay within two or three possessions.

“We knew we couldn’t let it extend, otherwise we knew we’d have a hard time fighting back against really good guards,” Engebretsen said.

Aeron Milliron also had a pair of big three-pointers in the third to help the Warriors stay within reach.

Houck and Daniel Headdings led Wasilla with nine points each. Dudley and Milliron added eight each. Menard led Colony with 13.

Colony and Wasilla finished the regular season tied at 9-1 at the top of the Northern Lights Conference standings. The Knights have the top seed in the NLC Champions, which starts Thursday at Wasilla High. Colony and Wasilla split a pair of conference meetings, but Colony beat Wasilla in the title game of the Doc Larson Roundball Classic in December. That ended up acting as the final tiebreaker. The Knights and Warriors both earned first-round byes in the tournament.

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

Wasilla 43, Colony 42

Saturday, Wasilla High

Colony 14-11-13-4—42

Wasilla 7-9-16-11—43

Colony (42) — Pomrenke 1 0-0 2, Freeman 3 0-0 9, Menard 4 2-3 13, Spencer 1 0-0 3, Wright 1 1-2 4, Kizer 1 2-2 5, Hersrud 2 3-3 7; Totals: 13 8-10 42.

Wasilla (43) — Knight 1 0-0 2, Houck 4 0-0 9, R. Devine 2 1-2 5, Dudley 4 0-0 8, Graham 1 0-0 2, Milliron 2 2-2 8; Totals: 14 3-4 43.