Wasilla girls win Dimond tourney

ANCHORAGE — If the ASAA state tournament is the final exam, call the Lady Lynx Prep Shootout midterms.

And the Wasilla Warriors aced the test.

Wasilla used a dominant second-half to best host Dimond 51-30 Saturday night during the championship final of the event’s gold bracket on the final day of the Lady Lynx Shootout at Dimond High School in Anchorage.

“It was a good test, a good four days,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said by cellphone. “The kids had to come focused and ready to go.”

After leading Dimond 28-24 at the break, Wasilla held the defending 4A state champions to only six points in the second half.

“They were excited, they were intense,” Hebert-Truax said of her players. “They executed the defensive scheme as well as the offensive scheme.”

Wasilla forced 23 Dimond turnovers and held the Lynx to 25 percent shooting in the game.

“We were able to score, and we slowed Dimond down,” Hebert-Truax said of the Lynx, who blazed past Ketchikan 76-59 in the Lady Lynx semifinals. “We kind of made Dimond play to us I think.”

On the offensive side, the Warriors boasted another night with a well-rounded attack. Olivia Davies supplied a game-high 12 points. Catherine Baham chipped in 10. Leya DePriest added nine points and seven rebounds.

“I think that makes us hard to play against,” Hebert-Truax said.

Wasilla moved into the finals with a 50-34 semifinal win over East Anchorage Friday. Davies and McKenna Dinkel led Wasilla with nine points each. Wasilla opened gold bracket play with a 61-40 victory over West Valley, the runner-up to Dimond in last season’s state tournament. Baham led Wasilla with 14 points. DePriest finished with a dozen, and Dinkel had 11.

Wasilla earned a spot in the gold bracket of the 16-team tournament with a 65-36 win over South Anchorage during pool play on Wednesday. Azlynn Brandenburg had a game-high 13 for Wasilla. Dinkel collected 12 points and Davies finished with 10 points and seven steals.

Davies and Dinkel were each named all-tournament for the Warriors.

Knights 6th in tourney

Colony settled for sixth place in the Lady Lynx Shootout Gold Bracket after a 55-43 loss to West Valley in the fourth-place game.

Amanda Smith scored a team-high 12 points for Colony. Senior Ruthy Hebard, who will play for Division I Oregon next fall, supplied a game-best 29 for the Wolfpack.

Colony sandwiched a victory with a pair of losses in the bracket. The Knights opened the tournament with a 54-43 loss to Ketchikan, but rebounded with a 38-34 victory over West Anchorage. Smith scored a team-high 13 points against the Kings. Carlton led Colony with 10 against the Eagles.

Colony advanced to the gold bracket with a 51-32 win over Bartlett during pool play Wednesday. Chase Stephens scored a team-high 16 in the win.

Stephens was named all-tournament for Colony.

Moose winless in tournament

In just about every one of their games during the four-day Lady Lynx Shootout, the Palmer Moose found themselves falling just short.

In four losses during the tournament, three came by a combined total of four points. Wednesday during pool play, West Anchorage rallied to edge Palmer 44-43. Friday, Northern Lights Conference rival Kenai slipped past the Moose 44-42. Saturday, Bartlett narrowly beat Palmer 45-44.

Kali Bull led the Moose with 11 points against the Golden Bears Saturday, and also had a team-high 14 against the Kards.

The Moose also suffered a 47-34 loss to Juneau-Douglas during the tournament’s maroon bracket play. Schyler Goers led Palmer with seven points.

Bull was named all-tournament for the Moose.

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