Wasilla girls headed back to another NLC title game

WASILLA — When everything is going right for Wasilla, the Warriors can certainly be dangerous.

On Friday, everything was going right for the Warriors.

Wasilla got the early lead, never trailed and played to a 43-26 win over the rival Colony Knights during the Northern Lights Conference semifinals Friday at Wasilla High School.

“My girls just came to play,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said. “We’ve been struggling, but it all came together finally.”

Wasilla jumped to an early lead with a 9-0 run to start the game. Kyla Dinkel hit four free throws on a pair of trips to the line, and Alexis Imoe scored five of her game-high 15 points during the opening stretch.

The Warrior defense didn’t allow Colony points until Sage Stefanski hit a pair of free throws at the 4:56 mark. Wasilla outscored Colony 15-3 during the first, and the Knights were forced to settle for only three Stefanski free throws during the first eight minutes.

“Defensively, the kids were tenacious,” Hebert-Truax said.

Colony was 0 for 9 from the floor in the first, and missed its first 10 shots before Mary Klapperich drove the baseline for Colony’s first field goal of the game.

The Knights were held to 3 of 21 shooting during the first half.

With its defense clicking, Wasilla also had four players finish with six points or more. Seven players had at least a point.

“I think we got just about everyone scoring,” Hebert-Truax said. “That obviously helps when everyone’s doing their job, getting the opportunity to score.”

Imoe led the Warriors in just about every facet of the game, finishing with 15 points, five assists, four rebounds and four steals. Plus Imoe was tasked with helping stop Colony’s top offensive threat, Klapperich.

“She just did what she had to do,” Hebert-Truax said of Imoe.

Klapperich led the Knights with 10 points in the loss. Stefanski added seven.

With the win, Wasilla moves into the title game to face Soldotna Saturday at 6 p.m. Colony meets Kodiak in the third-place game Saturday at 12:30 p.m.

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

Wasilla 43, Colony 26

NLC semifinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Colony 3-8-7-8—26

Wasilla 15-9-10-9—43

Colony (26) — Klapperich 4 1-3 10, Farris 1 1-3 3, Payne 1 0-0 2, Stefanski 2 3-4 7, Solano 1 2-2 4; Totals: 9 7-14 26.

Wasilla (43) — Hutchins 3 1-2 8, Imoe 6 0-0 15, Koso 0 1-2 1, Brumbaugh 3 0-0 7, Devine 1 0-0 2, Dinkle 0 4-4 4, Burke 3 0-0 6; Totals: 16 6-8 43.

Three-point field goals: Colony 1 (Klapperich 1), Wasilla 5 (Imoe 3); Total fouls: Colony 10, Wasila 14.