Wasilla hoops tourney draws from Lower 48

WASILLA — When Ryan Engebretsen began his work to bring a holiday basketball tournament to Wasilla High School, the head coach of the Warriors boys basketball team had lofty goals for his event.

He envisioned an eight-team field for the boys, with at least four of those programs hailing from outside of Alaska. Now in its second year, the event he helped create — the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic — is allowing him to come closer to his goal. The second-annual classic, which starts Monday at Wasilla HIgh, will include three teams from the Lower 48.

Banning (Calif.) High and Fairview (Colo.) High will join four Alaska squads in a six-team boys field. Newberg (Ore.) will play with three teams from the 49th state in a four-team girls’ field.

“I should be really good,” Engebretsen recently said.

Engebretsen’s goal for the boys’ bracket is to have eight teams, with four coming from Outside. Engebretsen actually thought he had that for the 2010 event, but teams from Arizona and California were forced to cancel after initially committing.

Engebretsen said he’s excited about the potential for the event, which runs through Thursday.

Fairview, a school in Boulder, Colo., finished as the runner-up in the Colorado Class 5A state championships last season, and is already off to a 4-0 start this year. The Knights started their season on Dec. 3.

Banning, of Wilmington Calif., finished 6-23 overall last year and is 1-5 this year. Wilmington is located south of Los Angeles near Long Beach.

The boys field also includes three teams that advanced to the 4A state tournament — Colony, Dimond and the host Warriors.

Colony, which finished as the runner-up to Wasilla in the Northern Lights Conference tournament, finished third in state last year. Dimond was sixth and Wasilla advanced to the state title game and finished second.

“There’s a really strong field from Alaska,” Engebretsen said.

Engebretsen said he’s also excited to have another Valley team involved, and would like to see Colony or Palmer part of the event in the future. Wasilla will not play Colony in the round robin event this year.

Newberg finished 17-7 last season and advanced to the Oregon 6A Pacific playoffs. The Tigers are 2-3 this year. North Pole, Chugiak and Wasilla round out the girls field.

Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said she would also like to see a 50-50 split between in-state and Outside teams for the girls’, but is happy with a four-team field.

Chugiak and Wasilla both advanced to the state tourney last year. Wasilla was the runner-up last season. Chugiak won a state title in 2009.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/matsu_sports.