Some of the top girls basketball teams from all over the state gathered at Dimond High on Wednesday for the first round of the Lady Lynx Prep Shootout, and Dimond was the only team of the six from Anchorage to win.
Defending champion Dimond took down Kenai 60-30. Kodiak, Wasilla, Colony, Lathrop, Soldotna, Ketchikan and West Valley all picked up wins as well, the narrowest margin of victory being five points.
Wednesday's winners all move into the gold bracket and the losers head into a maroon bracket for the rest of the event, which concludes with a gold bracket championship game Saturday at 6:30 p.m.
Dimond 60, Kenai 30
Three Dimond players scored in double figures to help the Lynx roll to a 60-30 win over Kenai.
Ione Fischer made four 3-pointers to lead the way with 14 points for the Lynx, Aminata Cole netted 11 and Sierra Afoa notched 10 to go with a game-high 11 rebounds.
Kenai's Sydney Taylor was perfect from the free-throw line, hitting four foul shots on her way to a team-high 14 points. Catie Steinbeck accumulated 10 rebounds for the Kardinals.
West Valley 52, West 47, OT
West Valley's Carlee Marques and Lawjen Ashmore each scored 13 points to help the Wolfpack escape with a 52-47 overtime win over West.
Ashmore added seven rebounds and five steals, with Madison Ackiss making six steals and dishing three assists.
West got 15 points apiece from Alistie Aguilar and Chanel Bookert, who also secured a game-high 12 rebounds.
Kodiak 57, Chugiak 33
Kodiak's Hannah Wandersee racked 16 points and 10 rebounds in a 57-33 win over Chugiak.
The Bears, who also got 11 points from Sarah Ng and 10 from Jerica Nelson, led from start to finish. Megan Pyles' game-high 12 rebounds helped Kodiak to a 55-36 rebounding edge.
Haley Scott and Brandy Bookout each produced 10 points for Chugiak.
Wasilla 54, East 35
Wasilla came up with 22 steals in a 54-35 win over East, with six steals apiece coming from Alexis Imoe and Alysha Devine.
Wasilla's Kyla Dinkel led all scorers with 21 points, Imoe chipped in 19 and Savannah Burke ruled the glass with a game-high 12 rebounds.
Taria Page recorded 12 points and 11 rebounds for East, which led 16-14 after one quarter.
Colony 47, Bartlett 28
Colony trailed by a point at halftime, but took off in the second half of a 47-28 win over Bartlett.
Mary Klapperich led Colony with 13 points and Izzy Tweed added 12, and Colony outshot Bartlett 42.4 percent to 24.5 percent.
Bartlett's Nadine Fraker nailed a couple of 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 11 points. Fraker also made five steals. Tiemchieng Panoam led the Golden Bears with six rebounds.
Lathrop 47, Juneau 37
Ruthy Hebard's 11 points and 23 rebounds powered Lathrop's 47-37 win over Juneau. Hebard, who also blocked five shots, gathered 13 defensive rebounds and 10 on the offensive end.
Lathrop, which got a game-high 22 points from Jasmine White, trailed by four after one period and outscored Juneau 17-2 in the second quarter to lead by 11 at halftime. Lathrop led by as much as 17 in the second half.
Gabi Fenumiai's 19 points and 12 rebounds paced Juneau.
Soldotna 59, South 37
Led by 13 points from Katelynn Erkvliet, nine players scored for Soldotna in its 59-37 win over South. The Stars started strong, outscoring the Wolverines 15-4 in the first quarter on their way to a 14-point halftime lead.
South, which trailed by as much as 33 in the second half, got a game-high 17 points from Taylor Murray, who also contributed four steals.
Ketckikan 53, Palmer 44
Getting 18 points from Jaley Taylor and 17 from Baley Lindgren, Ketchikan steadily built its lead in a 53-44 win over Palmer.
Mikayla Brown-Harrison led Ketchikan with eight rebounds, Lindgren added seven and Taylor pulled in six. The Kings led by three after a quarter and by 10 at halftime.
Leya Depriest led the way for Palmer with 14 points and 13 rebounds. Caitlin Scott kicked in 13 points and seven rebounds and Taylor Blake added 10 points.
Boys basketball
East 61, Palmer 56
Jared Laws' 24 points propelled the East boys basketball team to a 61-56 win over host Palmer in an endowment game Wednesday.
The teams were tied at the half and East trailed by two after three quarters, but the Thunderbirds closed on a 19-12 fourth-quarter run. East's Xavier Johnson scored six of his 18 points in the final frame.
Conner Looney pumped in 22 points for Palmer, with Brian Selmer adding 15.
Anchorage Daily News