Wasilla seniors appear on ESPN SportsCenter, lead Warriors to NLC final

WASILLA — On Thursday night, Connor Devine was seen on ESPN SportsCenter. On Friday, Devine was busy creating more material for his highlight reel.

Wasilla’s 6-foot-10 senior all-state forward posted 27 points, 22 rebounds and six blocks as he lead the Wasilla Warriors back into the Northern Lights Conference title game with Wasilla’s 65-41 win over the Kodiak Bears during the NLC semifinals at Wasilla High.

As the Warriors celebrated their eighth berth in the NLC title game in the last nine years, some of the talk around the WHS gym still centered around the national television debut of Devine and his teammates.

Wasilla senior Dillon Ferro used a Twitter account to send ESPN video clips of Wasilla dunks during a recent win over North Pole. Before the game, a representative from ESPN Tweeted back to ask permission to use the highlights.

And ESPN did use the highlight.

On ESPN’s Thursday edition of SportsCenter, Devine, Ferro and the Warriors were part of the program’s Top 10 Plays of the Day. The highlight used — Ferro coming down the floor and putting the ball off the glass for the trailing Devine to slam home — was listed at No. 7 on the program’s list.

Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said he received a text from his older brother Phil, a former Colony head coach who now lives in Washington, about five minutes before the beginning of Wasilla’s win over Skyview on Thursday.

“He said, hey I just saw your big kid on SportsCenter,” the Wasilla head coach said. “When (Connor) came off the floor, I said great job tonight ‘SportsCenter’.”

After the game, Engebretsen told the Warriors about their television appearance.

“I was kind of shocked at first, national television, it was kind of crazy,” Devine said Friday. “It was kind of surreal. Then I went home and saw it, and was kind of in awe.”

Engebretsen was thrilled for not only Devine and Ferro, but also everyone on his team.

“It’s fantastic. It shows a great representation of Wasilla, a great representation of Wasilla basketball,” Engebretsen said. “It’s a terrific thing for Wasilla basketball, it’s a terrific reward for a terrific group of guys to see themselves on national television. It’s pretty sweet.”

The video clip also caught the attention of Devine’s future team, Division I South Dakota State.

“The South Dakota State staff was excited about it,” Engebretsen said. “My phone blew up right afterward.”

Engebretsen said the clip was also on ESPN’s Sportsnation on Friday morning.

On Friday evening, Devine scored eight of his game-high 27 during a key 21-4 third quarter run.

The Warriors and Bears, who met last year in the NLC title game, battled through the first 16 minutes. Wasilla led 8-4 after the first quarter and 21-13 at halftime. The Bears used the same approach they did during the 2011 championship against the Warriors, slowing down the tempo and making Wasilla work for every opportunity.

Wasilla was able to win that game 41-31 thanks to a big second half.

“They tried to do it last year,” Devine said. “They ran a lot of time off in the first half. We just had to guard and capitalize on offense.”

Engebretsen said the Warriors spent time preparing for this before the region tournament, just in case the Warriors ran into Kodiak.

“We spent time this week working on fine-tuning possessions, knowing we’d be limited possession-wise, knowing our possessions would be cut in half,” Engebretsen said.

In the second half, Engebretsen said his team’s stellar play on the defensive end set up offensive opportunities.

“Defensively, we were an animal they weren’t ready for,” Engebretsen said. “Defensively, we’ve been that animal all year.”

Wasilla finished with 10 steals in the game and limited Kodiak to just 25 percent shooting.

The win over Kodiak sets up an all-Valley final. Wasilla will face rival Colony Saturday at 8 p.m. It will mark the fifth time since 2005 that Wasilla and Colony meet for the final.

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

Wasilla 63, Kodiak 41

NLC semifinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Kodiak 4-9-4-24—41

Wasilla 8-12-21-21—63

Kodiak (41) — Frick 4 5-5 16, Medina 0 2-4 2, Will 1 1-2 3, Sweargin 7 1-2 15, Hiner 2 1-2 5; Totals: 14 10-15 41.

Wasilla (63) — Hunt 0 4-4 4, Ferro 2 0-1 4, Kuiper 3 0-2 6, D. Kuiper 5 0-2 10, McGregor 2 2-2 6, Devine 9 9-13 27, Roberts 4 0-0 8; Totals: 24 15-24 63.

Three-point field goals: Kodiak 3 (Frick 3), Wasilla 0; Total fouls: Koidak 19, Wasilla 13.