Wasilla girls 3rd, Knights 5th at Dimond tourney

WASILLA — A pair of Valley rivals found themselves locked in an unexpected nonconference match in a regular season tournament.

Wasilla scored a 33-24 win over rival Colony in the third-place game of the gold bracket of the Dimond Lady Lynx Classic Saturday at Dimond High in Anchorage.

Wasilla used an 11-2 third-quarter run to earn its second win over the Knights this season. Wasilla earned a Northern Lights Conference win over the Knights in January at Wasilla High.

McKenna Dinkel led Wasilla with 11 points and seven rebounds. Cheyenne Green added eight points and a game-high 11 boards for the Warriors.

Alex Carlton led Colony with 11.

Both Wasilla and Colony dropped into the third-place games with semifinal losses the previous night. Chugiak upset Wasilla, the defending state champion, 65-48. After trailing at halftime, the Mustangs outscored Wasilla 35-17 in the second half. Dinkel led Wasilla with 16 points. Olivia Davies added 13.

In the other semifinal, host Dimond beat Colony 60-41. The Lynx held the Knights to only 14 points in the second half. Haylee Duguid led Colony with a dozen.

Wasilla opened gold bracket play with a 64-25 victory over Bartlett. McKenna Dinkel led Wasilla with 19 points.

Colony beat Lathrop 49-45 in the quarterfinals. Carlton scored 23 points in the win.

Palmer was also among the 16 teams in the field. The Moose capped their weekend with a 57-26 victory over Thunder Mountain in the maroon bracket’s seventh-place game. Abriana Busbey scored 17 to lead the Moose. Lorna Suaava added 11.

Wasilla boys win at West

The Wasilla Warriors used a quick start and big finish to score a boys basketball win at West Anchorage Saturday night.

Wasilla closed with a 19-9 fourth-quarter run in the 57-48 nonconference victory over the Eagles. The Warriors also opened with an 18-8 lead. Daniel Headdings led Wasilla with 28 points in the victory. Headings buried four three-pointers, and was 6 of 7 at the free throw line in the fourth quarter.