Wasilla girls get past Colony to win NLC title

Looks like for the Wasilla Warriors, the fourth time’s the charm.

After three losses to rival Colony during the regular season, the Warriors girls basketball team finally found a way to beat their 2023-24 nemesis.

Wasilla used a huge second half to power its way to a 69-46 victory over the Knights during the Northern Lights Conference championship game Saturday evening at Soldotna High School.

After leading by only four points at the half, the Warriors erupted for 40 second-half points, including 22 in the third quarter. Mielee Merchant and Savannah Kroon each hit three-pointers during Wasilla’s 22-8 third-quarter run. Mylee Anderson buried a pair of threes in the fourth.

This came after a slow start for the Warriors. Colony held Wasilla scoreless until Anderson knocked down a shot from the elbow with 3:45 left in the first quarter.

Anderson led Wasilla with 17 points in the victory. Kroon finished 14 and Layla Hays chipped in 11. Katie Jackson also had a strong second half, scoring all 10 of her points during the final two quarters.

Colony’s Hallie Clark led all scorers with 19 points. Clark scored 14 of Colony’s 16 points in the second quarter. Tonya Karpow added seven.

Both Wasilla and Colony earned automatic berths to the ASAA 4A state tournament, which starts March 20 at the Alaska Airlines Center. Despite the loss, the Knights resin the top team in the state and earned the No. 1 seed in the 4A girls bracket.

Colony opens its tournament March 20 at 9:30 a.m. against eight-seeded North Pole. Wasilla, earned the No. 2 seed, and will face seventh-seeded Bartlett at 3:15 p.m.

Mountain City Christian, also of the NLC, is seeded third.

Entering February of the 2023-24 season, Mountain City Christian (formerly known as Anchorage Christian School) had a streak of 133 wins against in-state competition and had not dropped a game against a team from Alaska since 2018.

Wasilla snapped that streak with a 47-32 victory over MCC on Feb. 2. The Warriors are now 3-0 against Mountain City in the last five weeks.

Wasilla used a third-quarter surge to score 68-55 win over Mountain City during the girls semifinal round of the NLC tourney Friday.

Hays erupted for 34 points in the victory. The junior scored 19 of Wasilla’s 27 points in the first half.

The Warriors trailed 31-27 at halftime, but took over the game with 27 points in the third quarter. Wasilla tied the score at 34 with 5:42 left in the third and Hays went to the basket to give Wasilla the 36-34 lead. Anderson followed with another bucket on Wasilla’s next possession.

Merchant hit a trio of threes in the third. Merchant hit one from the left corner and another from the right side to push Wasilla’s lead to 10 points. The run also included an Anderson steal and layup.

Anderson added 18 points in the win.

Wasilla was the second seed and MCC was seeded third.

Top-seeded Colony stormed into the title game with a 72-30 victory over Palmer in the other semifinal.

Clark scored a game-high 22 points for the Knights. Karpow had 16 points and Morgan Ainsworth finished with a dozen. Colony opened with 46 points in the first half and added 20 in the third quarter.

Larkin Christiansen led Palmer with 11.

On Saturday, MCC scored a 78-38 win over the Moose. Christiansen scored 13.

Palmer did cap its season with a 43-42 victory over Soldotna in the fourth-place game. Theresa Arreola and Abby Pettit scored 14 each.

Contact the Frontiersman at sports@frontiersman.com.