Wasilla girls win 5th straight region title

SoHi had won both regular season meetings with Wasilla, but with head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax at the helm and star senior Olivia Davies back in the lineup, the Warriors proved yet again that they're still the team to beat when championships are on the line.

Wasilla earned yet another region title, beating top-seeded Soldotna 57-39 in the Northern Lights Conference girls championship game Saturday in Soldotna.

The win pushed Wasilla's girls region streak to five in a row, and 15 of the last 19 years.

"The kids had confidence in themselves to stick with the gameplan and go from there," Hebert-Truax said.

The Stars looked to be on their way to a third win over the Warriors this season after taking a 14-7 lead in the first quarter, but the momentum quickly shifted and SoHi couldn't stop the bleeding.

Wasilla scored 10 unanswered points in the final 2:15 of the first quarter, which was part of a larger 30-7 run to end the first half, by which time the Warriors opened up a 37-21 advantage.

Hebert-Truax said a smothering defensive push helped knock the Stars off their game, giving them fits as the turnovers piled up with the points.

Soldotna head coach Kyle McFall admitted that Wasilla's experience in big games like region and state championships may have helped propell the Warriors in a crucial time against the Stars. None of SoHi's starting lineup had competed in a region championship, and none have state experience.

"We just kind of froze in the moment," McFall said. "Just didn't respond to adversity well tonight, and that's not something that's very characteristic of this team. I don't know if it's because we haven't been in this spot before, but we lacked the mental toughness that we've shown all season."

Having senior guard Olivia Davies back in the lineup also made things easier for Wasilla. Davies only finished with eight points, but went 6 for 6 from the foul line and made her imprint on the game with multiple steals and forced SoHi turnovers.

"She's only played the last three or four games, so she's starting to get her wind back and she can fight more than two minutes at a time," Hebert-Truax said. "The thing is the other kids learned what they can do without her. It just helped us, when she came back in the other kids had a lot of confidence."

Aliann Schmidt scored 12 points for Soldotna, which also got 11 from Ituau Tuisaula and nine from Brittani Blossom. Harmony McSorley led Wasilla with a game-high 20 points, including 10 in the fourth quarter.

The Stars had particular trouble keeping Warriors freshman Bella Hays contained in the second quarter run as Hays helped clean the offensive glass with four buckets in the frame to pace Wasilla.

"We stopped playing defense there for a while," McFall said. "We were giving up layups, we weren't rebounding, we were turning the ball over like crazy. It really came down to Wasilla wanting it more than us."

The momentum continued in the second half as Wasilla was able to push the lead to 48-29 early in the fourth quarter on a McSorley 3-pointer.

Soldotna tried one last gasp effort at a comeback in the fourth quarter, aided by Wasilla senior Cheyenne Green fouling out and Davies landing her fourth foul. SoHi went off on a 10-0 run to close the gap to single digits with 3:20 to play, capped by a drive to the basket by Drysta Crosby-Schneider for a 48-39 game.

However, McSorley abruptly stopped the run with three consecutive uncontested layups in the final two minutes, helping seal the win.

"Three layups happen and killed all our momentum," McFall said. "We call it a gear malfunction that hurt us."

Saturday girls

Warriors 57, Stars 39

Wasilla 17 20 8 12 —57

Soldotna 14 7 8 10 —39

WASILLA (57) — McSorley 20, Anderson 0, Lawhead 4, S. Green 8, C. Green 2, Davies 8, Cox 2, Hays 13.

SOLDOTNA (39) — McGillivray 0, Blossom 9, A. Schmidt 12, Tuisaula 11, Holland 0, Crosby-Schneider 5, D. Schmidt 2.

3-point FG — Wasilla 2 (McSorley 1, S. Green 1); Soldotna 2 (Blossom 1, A. Schmidt 1).

Team fouls — Wasilla 20; Soldotna 15. Fouled out — D. Schmidt, C. Green.