Wasilla girls win state title

ANCHORAGE — As the 3A tournament awards were presented before the start of the 4A championship games, there was a brief pause. There was singing somewhere in the background.

Turns out, it was the Wasilla Warriors running down the Sullivan Arena’s back hallway belting a little Marvin Gaye, some “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

It’s become sort of a team song, and part of a pregrame tradition that spans years.

It fits.

The Warriors gelled to form one of the more dominant girls basketball teams seen in the state in recent memory. And lately, it seems there ain’t no hurdle high enough or opponent strong enough to keep the Warriors from winning titles.

Wasilla remained on top of the Alaska girls’ basketball mountain with a convincing 56-33 win Saturday over the West Valley Wolfpack in the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships title game.

“If we play as hard as we can, if we play as well as we can, no one can beat us but ourselves,” Wasilla junior Kyla Dinkel said after the Wasilla players sprinted into the sea of red and white in the Sullivan bleachers to celebrate with friends and family.

The win gave Wasilla its second title in as many years, its third since 2007 and marked the Warriors’ sixth appearance in the 4A championship game since 2002.

Like the song lyrics, the Warriors used their inseparable connection to win in dominant fashion and become the first team in a decade to win consecutive 4A girls state titles.

“We all play really good together. We’re like family,” Wasilla senior Pherrari Brumbaugh said. “We’re just really encouraging and positive. We all wanted the same things. Our goal was to win a state title, and we did it.”

Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax, who found herself underneath a mountain of her players as the Warriors celebrated on the Sullivan hardwood after the win, said the Warriors ability to come together helped translate to success.

“These guys get along with each other outside the game. There are a lot of different personalities. I don’t know how they did it. We go from one end of the spectrum to the other, but they meshed,” Hebert-Truax said.

Despite only suffering one loss this season, the Warriors battled adversity.

“We had a lot of hurdles this year, two kids with mono, three concussions. We were up and down,” Hebert-Truax said. “Palmer played us to a close game. Colony played us to a close game. But we always found a way to win. Whatever it took, there were no quitters.”

Late in the season, Wasilla took it to another level.

Following a four-point win over rival Colony in late February, the Warriors won their next six games by an average margin of victory of 26 points.

“I do think we’re something different,” Dinkel said. “It’s not that we’re necessarily doing something different. We stepped it up. When regions came, we stepped it up and wanted to prove to everyone else we’re the best in the state.”

The Warriors won by no fewer than 15 points during that stretch, which also included a 23-point victory over West Valley in the title game.

Junior Alexis Imoe scored 22 points and senior Alyssa Hutchins added 15 to help the Warriors clinch the lopsided title win.

Imoe shot 8 of 11 from the floor and hit a three-pointer. She helped spark the Warriors early, knocking down 6 of 8 shots for 15 points in the first half.

Imoe got the Wasilla offense rolling, but Hebert-Truax was quick to note Imoe’s impact on the other side of the floor.

“Alexis Imoe did a phenomenal job on defense,” the longtime Wasilla head coach said.

Imoe helped shut down West Valley junior Hannah Mattson, a first-team all-state guard who recently earned Alaska Gatorade Player of the Year honors. Mattson finished the game 1 for 13 with nine points.

“It was definitely a big key stopping Hannah,” Dinkel said.

But Imoe was not the only player Hebert-Truax noted.

There was Dinkel and Savanna Burke, who combined for 19 rebounds in the win.

There was Alysha Devine, who added nine rebounds.

And Brumbaugh, who chipped in six points and seven boards.

And Hutchins, who helped put the exclamation point on the victory with 11 fourth-quarter points.

“Alyssa did a great job not to force the game. People are going to center on her and she kept playing, kept going,” Hebert-Truax said of Hutchins, who was named the Alaska Media/AABC Alaska Player of the Year before the state tourney. “She didn’t get frustrated.”

Hebert-Truax also noted the key minutes of senior Ricki Koso.

Every Warrior in uniform saw time on the court.

“I don’t know how often you get your entire bench in the game in a state championship game,” Hebert-Truax said before heading to the locker room to celebrate with her players — celebrate in a locker room were the Warriors were probably listening to a little, “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough.”

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

Wasilla 56, West Valley 33

4A girls state title game

Saturday, Sullivan Arena

West Valley 8-3-9-13—33

Wasilla 13-11-13-19—56

West Valley (33) — Brice 3 4-4 11, Mattson 1 6-8 9, Marques 1 0-0 2, Phillips 1 0-0 2, Ashmore 0 2-4 2, Washburn 2 3-3 7; Totals: 8 15-19 33.

Wasilla (56) — Hutchins 6 2-3 15, Imoe 8 5-6 22, Koso 1 0-0 2, Brumbaugh 2 1-2 6, Devine 0 3-5 3, Dinkel 2 2-2 6, Burke 1 0-1 2; Totals: 20 13-19 56.

Three-point field goals: West Valley 2 (Brice, Mattson 1), Wasilla 3 (Hutchins, Imoe, Brumbaugh 1); Total fouls: West Valley 16, Wasilla 15.