Wasilla girls defeat Colony to earn second-straight Region III crown

The Wasilla Warriors girls' basketball team took its unblemished 4A/Region III record to the region tournament at Skyview High School over the weekend and came out unscathed, defeating Colony 61-49 Saturday to take its second consecutive Region III title.

The Warriors jumped to a 28-15 lead by halftime and never looked back by keeping the Knights at bay in the third consecutive Region III championship game between the two schools.

Sophomore point guard Chandice Cronk showed the hot hand by leading all scorers with 27 points in the game. Dominating post-player Brittney Kroon added 15 points for the Warriors.

Kelly Quinn scored 26 of the Knights' 39 points.

Despite the loss, Colony still qualified for Thursday's state tournament along with third-place finisher Kenai. Kenai defeated Soldotna 37-26 to earn the third ticket from the region for the state tournament.

The state tournament will take place at the Sullivan Arena and will run through Saturday.

Wasilla advanced to the championship game by knocking down Homer 68-33 in the opening day of the tournament Thursday. The Warriors then beat Soldotna 49-30 in the semifinal game Friday.

Colony earned its trip to the championship game by defeating Skyview 60-40 Thursday and Kenai 49-46 Friday.

Quinn scored nine points in the fourth quarter against Kenai to come back from a 36-30 deficit at the start of the final stanza.

Palmer was edged by Kenai 54-51 in the opening round Thursday to be eliminated from state qualification. The Moose outscored Kenai 20-14 in the fourth quarter but couldn't complete the comeback. Palmer regrouped to defeat Skyview 45-37 in a consolation game Friday.

Kroon was named the most valuable player for the tournament and Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert was named coach of the year.

In the 3A/District 3 tournament held at Nikiski, the Seward girls shocked Nikiski 42-39 to steal the region championship away from the Bulldogs on their home court.

The Houston Hawks suffered a close first round 39-37 loss to Seward Thursday, but defeated Su Valley 56-37 to advance to the fourth-place game.

The Hawks went on to beat Anchorage Christian 58-52 to take fourth place in the tournament.