A West High team that had been woefully inept all game long burst to life in the final minutes Monday, just in time to deliver the Eagles a shocking 35-32 victory over West Valley in the opening round of Monday's Class 4A girls state basketball tournament.
After being stuck on 11 points late in the third quarter, West erupted for 13 points in the final five minutes and turned an eight-point deficit into a surprising victory.
"Wow," said West coach Tim Helvey. "I really don't understand how we stayed in this game. Just my seniors and a will to win."
The Eagles found a way to win when senior forward Adrina Lavern-Tosi began driving hard to the basket against a Wolfpack defense that had frustrated the Eagles all night. Senior forward Tessla Rennie also returned for the final five minutes of play after being saddled with foul trouble throughout much of the game.
"Oh my gosh, this is the third game this year we've done something like that," Lavern-Tosi said of the late rally. "The blood was flowing. We got the momentum and we weren't going to give it up."
West Valley experienced its own offensive troubles, making only 21 percent of its shots and scoring only 15 points in the first 21 minutes. But the Wolfpack appeared to be in control when sensational freshman guard Hannah Mattson blocked a 3-point attempt, grabbed the loose ball and went the length of the court for a layup that gave the Wolfpack a 30-22 lead with 5:14 to play.
Then West got its offense in gear. Lavern-Tosi drove to the hoop to score clutch baskets and draw critical fouls and Rennie picked up key rebounds on the offensive and defensive boards to keep West alive.
A runner in the lane by Lavern-Tosi with 35 seconds to play gave West a 33-32 lead. She hit two free throws with 6.3 seconds to provide for the final margin.
"We're seniors this year and nobody else was going to take over so we had to," Lavern-Tosi said. "We had to start taking the ball to the hoop and taking shots. It was a low-scoring game, but we just had to come out in the fourth and give it everything we could."
Lavern-Tosi had a game-high 19 points and added 11 rebounds. Rennie scored six points and grabbed 14 rebounds.
West Valley missed the front end of three 1-and-1 attempts during the late West run, missed a couple hurried shots on offense and had a pair of bad turnovers.
"We has some interesting team decision-making down the stretch," West Valley coach Steve Caciari said. "The kids were fighting hard. They wanted it so bad. We had an eight-point lead and they are thinking about it right now. They are bummed to go from so high to so low.
"It was a heavyweight fight going back and forth and back and forth, waiting to see who was going to crack."
West Valley built its lead with Jasmine Yarde taking the ball inside for three baskets. Yarde, who finished with 14 points, was going against Rennie, who was saddled with foul trouble. West was outscored 9-0 when she was out of the lineup in the first half.
Rennie came back in the fourth quarter and Yarde went right at her for a bucket that gave West Valley a 32-29 lead with three minutes to play.
"I was trying to foul her out. I was going after her," Yarde said.
Rennie answered with a basket to cut the lead to a point and had two rebounds in the final minute to help West pull out the victory.
"She's a rebounding machine. When she's out, you know the rebounding is going to go down," Helvey said. "My two seniors inside really came up big. They just had that will to win. We just chipped at the lead and then put the pressure on at the end."
West took a 7-2 lead four minutes into the game, then didn't score again for another eight minutes to trail 11-7. The taller Wolfpack used their long arms to deny easy shots, leading to West's 13 percent field-goal shooting in the first half.
West finally cracked the West Valley defense in the last five minutes.
"At the end of the game you have to credit West Anchorage for playing hard," Caciari said. "They did what they had to do. It wasn't a lack of effort for us."
West Valley had only one senior in its lineup and its star was a freshman point guard. Mattson finished with 12 points and three assists and seemed unfazed by the state-tournament stage. She was in control of the offense from the start and keyed her team on both ends of the court.
"She really knows what she's doing out there," Lavern-Tosi said. "For a freshman she was really good. She knows the game."
West 7 4 7 17 -- 35
West Valley 9 6 6 11 32
West -- Nidoy 5, Tufi 2, Smith 3, Lavern-Tosi 19, Rennie 6
West Valley -- Mattson 12, Brice 2, Phillips 2, Yarde 14, Hinzman 2.
Juneau 64, Kodiak 28
Juneau-Douglas showed why it's the No. 1 seed in the state tournament, crushing Kodiak 64-28 in its tournament opener Monday.
The Crimson Bears mauled the Bears, leading 32-10 at the half and forcing 27 turnovers in the one-sided win.
Juneau had 11 players score, led by 14 points from Brittany Fenumiai. The Crimson Bears picked up 17 steals with five players having at least three.
Joyce Juble led Kodiak with 11 points.
Kodiak 8 2 16 2 -- 28
Juneau 17 15 11 21 -- 64
Kodiak -- Yamat 2, Garcia 4, Taan 4, Grupp 2, Tusitino 4, Gregory 1, Juble 11.
Juneau -- Johnson 4, Henderson 4, Tingley 8, Fenumiai 14, Brakes 1, Ostrom 3, Tarver 9, Highley 5, Weyhrauch 5, Larson 4, Swofford 7.
Wasilla 38, Colony 30
Trailing by a point entering the fourth quarter, Wasilla pumped in 19 points in the final frame to earn a 38-30 win over Colony in a meeting of Valley rivals.
The fourth-quarter output matched the number of points the Warriors scored in the first three quarters combined.
Alexis Imoe, Carlee Naczi and Celeste Colgrove each scored nine points to lead the Warriors. Colgrove also grabbed 14 rebounds to help her team to a 34-25 advantage on the boards.
Colony was held to 25 percent shooting and was 8 of 23 from the free throw line. Wasilla only sank 8 of 20 free throws, but shot 44 percent from the floor.
Mary Klapperich and ALyssa Hutchins each scored nine points to lead Colony.
Colony 10 5 5 10 -- 30
Wasilla 6 8 5 19 -- 38
Colony -- M. Klapperich 9, Hutchins 9, K. Klapperich 4, Bowker 1, Leight 2, Forstner 5.
Wasilla -- Imoe 9, Nuss 4, Naczi 9, Colgrove 9, Cottle 7.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com