Wasilla girls, Colony boys advance to NLC title games

The Wasilla girls and the Colony boys have punched their tickets to the state tournament and will play for region titles.

Wasilla got past Colony 66-33 in the girls semifinals and Colony edged Anchorage Christian School 50-47 in the boys semis during the Northern Lights Conference Championships Friday at Palmer High School.

Both teams earned automatic berths to the 4A state tournament in Anchorage next week. Second-seeded Wasilla will face top-seeded Anchorage Christian School Saturday at 5 p.m. in the NLC girls final. Colony, the No. 1 seed, plays second-seeded Kodiak Saturday at 6:45 p.m. in the conference boys final.

Bella Hayes led the Wasilla girls with 16 points in the win. Megan Alley added 11, and Layla Hays chipped in nine. Hallie Clark led Colony with 16.

Wasilla jumped out to a 19-11 advantage in the first and added to the lead with a 19-0 second-quarter run.

Jayce Underwood scored 21 points to lead Colony past the ACS boys. Underwood was 8 of 12 from the free throw line. Kash Luce scored 14.

Both Palmer teams also played in the semis. The ACS girls beat the Moose 85-38. Paige Marshall led Palmer with eight points.

The Kodiak boys edged Palmer 43-39. Elzavier Bradley led Palmer with 12 points.

Colony will meet Palmer Saturday at 10 a.m. in the girls third-place game. Palmer plays ACS Saturday at 11:45 a.m. in the boys third-place game.

The Wasilla boys stayed alive in the tournament with a 78-67 win over Soldotna. Dylan Jeffus hit seven three-pointers and led Wasilla with 30 points. Arthur Adams added 13 and Eli Wagle chipped in 11.

Wasilla will play the loser of the Palmer-ACS game in the fourth-place game Saturday at 3:15 p.m.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.