Wasilla hustles past Lathrop

The Wasilla Warriors' faced fierce competition from the visiting Lathrop Malemutes Wednesday in boys' basketball action at Wasilla High School.

The scrappy play of the Malemutes challenged the Warriors throughout the game until a late third-quarter surge fueled a fourth explosion to propel the Warriors to a 70-51 victory.

"This was a terrific win for us tonight," said Wasilla coach Chuck Martin. "Lathrop is a very good team, maybe as good as we will see all year."

Wasilla jumped to a comfortable 22-11 lead in the first quarter behind Adam Fitt-Chappell's five buckets for 10 points.

Lathrop demonstrated that no lead is safe as it began to close the gap in the second quarter.

The Malemutes found little success in trying to match up to the Warriors' height in the middle. The dominating presence of Ray Schafer plugged the inside paint, keeping Lathrop outside. Schafer didn't block many shots in the game, but he forced inside shooters to alter or hurry their shots.

The Malemutes were effective from the perimeter, however, hitting the outside shots to get back into the game.

Wasilla struggled on the offensive end in the second quarter. They were able to penetrate well inside, but missed many opportunities for points. Travis Webb scored the only points from the field on two baskets, with Scott Faeo and Fitt-Chappell knocking down free throws to get the Warriors into halftime with a 31-25 lead.

Lathrop continued to have momentum early in the third period, chipping away at the lead until it tied the game at 34 with 3:32 remaining in the quarter.

Moments later the Malemutes took the lead 37-36, erasing the deficit with a huge momentum shift that began in the second quarter.

"They've got some playmakers on their team," said Martin. "Good players that they can turn loose and put points on the board."

With their comfortable lead erased, the Warriors recharged to swing momentum back to their side.

Using great team hustle, the Warriors created turnovers on defense that set up easy baskets in transition on the offensive end.

Wasilla patiently worked the ball around to get it inside to Webb, Fitt-Chappell and Schafer. The Warriors reeled off seven unanswered points to regain the lead 43-37 by the end of the third quarter.

Wasilla stayed hot through the fourth quarter, continuing to work the ball inside for baskets or fouls.

Webb, Fitt-Chappell and Schafer scored all 27 points in the fourth quarter, combining to hit 16 of 18 free throws in the final stanza.

On defense, the Warriors stepped up to put pressure on Lathrop's outside shooters while converging on any inside penetration. This left the Malemutes with few options to score and no chance to get back in the game as Wasilla charged away with the 70-51 victory.

"We were able to weather their run and stretch it out late," said Martin. "We got more aggressive, hustled and picked up our transition game."

Fitt-Chappell finished the game with 28 points, hitting an early fourth-quarter three-pointer that fueled the momentum while going 8-for-8 at the free-throw line in the final quarter.

Schafer scored 18 points in the game and Webb tallied 16.

"Our defense played good tonight, but we need to get better," said Martin. "We were much improved over our last two games in Texas."