Wasilla girls to play for state title

ANCHORAGE – The Wasilla Warriors showed Dimond a good old fashion Valley rally.

Wasilla trailed for more than three quarters, but used a 22-point effort in the fourth to edge the Lynx 42-35 in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships semifinals Friday night at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

“None of us stopped believing that we could finish it, pull through with the win,” Wasilla senior Celeste Colegrove said. “We did that. I’m pound of my team.”

The victory moved Wasilla into the state title game for the second straight year and fifth time in a decade. The Warriors win, combined with Juneau-Douglas’ semifinal victory over Colony on Friday, also sets up a Wasilla-Juneau state title bout for the second time in as many years.

It’s also the second straight year that Wasilla and Dimond met in the semis. Wasilla edged the Lynx in overtime last season.

“We knew it’d be a tough one,” Colegrove said.

Dimond, the tourney’s fourth seed, had the advantage early over the top-seeded Warriors.

Led by forwards Sierra Afoa and Jordynn Ramirez, Dimond jumped out to an 11-5 lead and led 18-14 at the half.

Wasilla shot just 22 percent from the floor in the first period, with Colegrove accounting for Wasilla’s only field goals. Wasilla was held to just one field goal and six points in the third.

The Warriors trailed by five heading into the final frame, but it wasn’t too late for a Wasilla rally.

The Warriors were 5 for 7 from the field during the final eight minutes and hit 12 free throws during the fourth.

The Warriors opened with consecutive field goals in the fourth. Senior Kelsey Cottle hit only one bucket in the game, but that cut the score to 25-24. After Dimond pushed it’s lead to 27-24, sophomore Alexis Imoe hit a pair of free throws to bring the Warriors back within one.

Colegrove hit another free throw midway through the period to tie the game at 27, and Wasilla took its first lead at the 5:32 mark of the fourth, a 28-27 advantage.

Imoe and senior Hilary Apangolook hit big jump shots during the fourth quarter to help the Warriors get past the Lynx. Imoe’s pull-up jumper gave the Warriors the 36-35 advantage.

Imoe scored nine of her 11 points in the fourth quarter and was 7 of 9 at the free throw line during the final frame.

Imoe was one of a handful of sophomores to play big minutes for the Warriors. Sophomore Kyla Dinkel scored all of her 10 points in the second half, and sophomore Alysha Devine also supplied big minutes.

“If any of us couldn’t do it, there’s someone to pick up the slack,” Colegrove said.

The play of the sophomores was also key considering the loss of senior Lesil Brown to injury during the game. The Warriors were already without junior all-conference guard Alyssa Hutchins, who suffered a season-ending injury during the Northern Lights Conference Championships.

Cottle and fellow senior Kalli Johannes also made big plays late. Johannes had a key steal during the final moments to kill a Dimond possession, and Cottle grabbed a big rebound after a Wasilla missed free throw when the Warriors led by just a possession late.

Cottle finished with a team-high 12 rebounds.

It took three quarters for Wasilla to get its offense going – the Warriors were held to single digits in scoring in each of the first three periods – but the Wasilla defense was stellar throughout. The Warriors held Dimond to only 28 percent shooting from the field, and two-time Alaska 4A Player of the Year to only eight points. Engel did not score during the first half, was 2 of 11 from the field and turned the ball over 12 times.

“She was a big part of our defensive game plan,” Colegrove said.

Saturday’s title match marks the third meeting between Wasilla and Juneau-Douglas in a state championship. Wasilla beat Juneau in the 2007 finals and the Bears bested Wasilla last year.

Wasilla 42, Dimond 35

4A girls’ semifinals

Friday, Sullivan Arena

Dimond 11-7-7-10—35

Wasilla 5-9-6-22—42

Dimond (35) – Rogers 2 0-0 5, Engel 2 4-4 8, Cole 1 1-4 3, Afoa 4 5-7 13, Ramirez 3 0-2 6; Totals: 12 10-19 35.

Wasilla (42) – Apangolook 1 1-2 3, Imoe 1 9-10 11, Devine 2 0-0 4, Colegrove 3 4-8 10, Dinkel 3 4-6 10, Cottle 1 1-4 3, Johannes 0 1-2 1; Totals: 11 20-32 42.