Wasilla junior varsity falls to West

The Wasilla Warriors junior varsity boys opened their basketball season Wednesday by hosting the West Anchorage Eagles at Wasilla High School.

Despite battling back to take a halftime lead, the Warriors were overcome by the West rush in the fourth quarter to fall 57-53.

"We didn't play very well," said Warriors' coach Steve Andresen. "We had too many turnovers and gave them easy shots."

The game featured many shifts in momentum that allowed each team to get back into the game and take the lead.

Wasilla jumped to an early 8-2 lead in the game with three-pointers by Aaron Roth and Justin Morin.

The Warrior defense played well to deny the inside penetration to make West shoot from the outside.

"We went into a zone defense to prevent the inside penetration," said Andresen.

Wasilla fouls and turnovers allowed the Eagles to come back and take a 17-12 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Wasilla regrouped in the second quarter with good hustle and shot selection. The Warriors charged back, causing two turnovers off the press defense that were converted for four points late in the quarter and gave the Warriors a 32-28 lead at halftime.

The game got somewhat physical inside the paint during the quarter, with play stopping at 1:55 in the quarter so that a West player could retrieve a lost tooth that was knocked out during play under the West basket.

Wasilla continued to deny West the inside game in the third quarter. The Warriors shot well and crashed the boards for rebounds on both ends of the court, enabling them to advance their lead 45-39 by the end of the third quarter.

The game began to unravel for the Warriors in the fourth quarter. Turnovers and undisciplined play let West come back to tie the game at 45, then move on to a 51-47 lead.

The Warriors began to charge back late in the game, but ran out of time as the Warriors were forced to foul in order to stop the Eagles from running out the clock. The Eagles hit most of their free throws to stave off the Warriors charge and take the 57-53 win.

Warrior post-player Sam Widmer led all Wasilla scorers with 16 points. Widmer's scrappy play paced the Warriors throughout the game.

Roth finished the game with 13 points in the game. Adrian Furman converted two three-point plays by converting free throws after shots made, to total 10 points in the game.

"We missed some shots late that might have made a difference in the game," said Andresen. "But we shouldn't have been in that position anyway."