Wasilla girls back in title game for third straight year

ANCHORAGE — After Wasilla won its fourth straight Northern Lights Conference title earlier this month, senior Azlynn Brandenburg, a four-year starter, said the Warriors faced more adversity than any other season in her high school career. Friday night, as Brandenburg and the Warriors celebrated their third straight trip to the 4A girls’ state title game, the senior said the experience of the work to overcome a season’s worth of obstacles helped propel the Warriors during a 43-37 win over East Anchorage in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships girls semifinals at the Alaska Airlines Center in Anchorage.

“I 100 percent believe that’s what prepared us for these types of games mentally,” Brandenburg said of the obstacles, which included illness and injuries endured by several of Wasilla’s key players on the squad. “I feel like we have such an edge over the competitor mentally, if not physically, just because I know our team can fight.”

And Wasilla had to fight a tough East Anchorage squad, seeded second in the tournament, for 32 minutes.

“They’re really tough,” Wasilla junior Olivia Davies said of the T-Birds. “They’re strong, feisty. The go after everything. They’re a great opponent.”

Wasilla, the two-time defending state champions, used a defensive stand to return to the title game. The Warriors allowed only 14 second-half points, and just three in the fourth quarter.

“It was definitely a defensive battle,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said. “We knew they were going to go to Azaria (Robinson). We knew Skye Miller could shoot the ball. We knew Daisy (Page) could post us up. Between those three right there, we knew it was going to be a tough battle. We had to bear down and go after it.”

Page scored East’s lone field goal of the fourth quarter, a layup with 3:20 left to play. Aside from that, East’s only other point of the fourth came from a Miller free throw early in the final quarter.

Brandenburg and junior Cheyenne Green hit big shots in the fourth to keep Wasilla in the lead. Green knocked down a key jumper early in the fourth. Brandenburg drained a three with 5:21 left to give Wasilla the 42-35 advantage. Green and senior Maclaren Obremski both hit a free throw in the final 30 seconds to keep it a two-possession game.

Brandenburg supplied a game-high 15 points in the victory. Davies added 14 points, seven rebounds, five steals, four blocks and four assists. Both Brandenburg and Davies shot 3 of 6 from the field, and were a combined 14 of 14 at the free throw line. Green added eight points and six rebounds.

With the win, Wasilla will face Dimond, the top seed in the 2018 tournament, in the state final for the third straight year. Tipoff is scheduled for Saturday at 5:45 p.m. at the Alaska Airlines Center.

Dimond gets past Colony

The Colony Knights did what only one other team has done this season — hold Dimond to less than 60 points in a game.

But the Lynx also had a big night on the defensive side. Dimond held Colony to single digits in scoring during each of the first three quarters during a 54-32 win over the Knights in the 4A girls state semifinals Friday in Anchorage.

Dimond also used 22 fourth-quarter points to advance to the state title game for the fourth straight year. The Lynx, looking for its first state title since 2015, will meet two-time defending state champion Wasilla in the final for the third straight year.

Senior Haylee Duguid hit four three-pointers and led the Knights with 12 points in the loss. Kali Bull added six points. Duguid and Bull led the Knights in rebounds, with four each. Jahnna Hajudukovich led Dimond with 14. Alissa Pili finished with 13 points and 18 rebounds.

Colony will face East in the third-place game Saturday at 10 a.m.

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

Wasilla 43, East Anchorage 37

4A girls state semifinals

Friday, Anchorage

Wasilla 14-10-11-8—43

East 11-12-11-3—37

Wasilla (43) — Brandenburg 3 6-6 15, Davies 3 8-8 14, Vasquez 0 2-2 2, Obremski 1 1-2 4, Green 2 4-5 8; Totals: 9 21-23 43.

East (37) — Filoialii 1 0-0 2, Jordan 1 0-0 2, Robinson 5 0-0 10, Page 4 0-0 9, Miller 4 5-7 14; Totals: 15 6-10 37.

Dimond 54, Colony 32

4A girls state semifinals

Friday, Anchorage

Colony 8-5-2-17—32

Dimond 11-12-9-22—54

Colony (32) — Hay. Duguid 4 0-0 12, A. Smith 2 0-2 5, Kenley 1 0-0 3, Bull 2 0-0 6, Schwantes 1 0-0 2, Carlton 1 0-1 2, E. Smith 1 0-0 2; Totals: 12 0-3 32.

Dimond (54) — Johanson 3 0-1 8, Camacho 1 0-0 3, Jones 1 0-0 3, Hajdukovich 6 0-0 14, Lawrence 1 1-2 3, Pili 3 7-12 13; Totals: 19 10-17 54.