Young Warriors grab big win over Colony

WASILLA — The Wasilla Warriors feature a team drasticly different from the squad that cut down the nets following the 2007 4A state championship game.

Gone are seven seniors from the 2006-07 state championship squad, and the 2007-08 team includes three underclassmen in the starting lineup.

But on Tuesday, Wasilal proved, regardless of change, the Warriors still have the ability to post the big victory, with a 49-43 win over the Colony Knights at Colony High School.

The win marked Wasilla’s 91st straight against a Northern Lights Conference opponent.

Consdering the vast difference in experience between the Wasilla and Colony rosters, Wasilla junor Jenna Johnson said the number 91 was certainly in the Warriors’ heads early in the game.

“We knew we were going for 91,” Johnson said.

Johnson said the biggest part of facing Colony is knowing the Knights are loaded with experience.

“They’ve had the same team since my freshman year,” said Johnson, who is in her third year of varsity play. “They’ve all had expereince on the varsity court, and none of our girls, accept for like four of us, have that experience.”

Johnson and senior Shelby Fulton — the two remaining starters from the state championship squad — combined for 28 points in the win, and the Warriors were also able to get quality minutes from a group of underclassmen.

Freshman Kelsey Cottle contributed 10 points in the paint and sophomore guard Carlee Naczi added eight points from the perimeter.

The Warriors, who only used six players in the game, also got significant minutes from freshman Celeste Colegrove and sophomore Skyler Ness.

Wasilla head coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said she was happy with the play and the progress of her younger talent.

“They did pretty good in a high pressure situation,” Hebert-Truax said.

Although the Warriors scored a win over a deep Colony team with only two upperclassmen, Colony head coach Don Witzel was not surprised by the play of the Knights’ oppoenents.

“They’ve got two good veterans and some good role players,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said. “It comes down to putting the ball in the basket, and they put the ball in the basket.”

Witzel said the Knights are still struggling to find consistancy on the offensive end of the court.

“We’re just trying to find ourselves offensively,” Witzel said. “We’re not playing with a lot of confidence.”

Junior Alex Coon led the Knights with 16 points in the loss. Junior Allie Grazulis added 12.

Coon scored six of her points in the fourth quarter.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.