High School Sports

Parker, Osborne come up clutch to lift Dimond to 4A boys basketball glory

In front of a raucous crowd of more than 4,000 fans, Dimond's Anthony Parker shut everything out, picked up the ball and sank the two biggest free throws of his life Saturday in the 4A boys basketball championship game.

The senior point guard made two free throws in the final 10 seconds to give Dimond its final lead over Wasilla. Parker and teammate Kylan Osborne scored Dimond's final 10 points to lift the Lynx over Wasilla 50-46 in Saturday's state championship at the Alaska Airlines Center.

"I just had to make them for my team," Parker said. "We worked hard all season. It's bringing me to tears I'm so happy right now."

For 10 Dimond returners, it was a second chance after last year's loss to Juneau in the championship. And for the nine Lynx seniors, the championship win was the culmination of a goal that began in middle school.

"We've just been waiting for this since seventh grade," said a teary-eyed Osborne. "Just really emotional right now. What a great season."

The end of the game had everything to be expected in a wild March Madness championship showdown: a comeback, a clutch 3-pointer and big-time free throws in crunch time.

Down by as many as eight in the second half, Wasilla slowly chipped away at Dimond's lead to make it close again in the fourth quarter.

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An old-fashioned three-point play by Wasilla's Isaac Houck brought the top-seeded Warriors within three at 35-32 late in the third quarter.

The momentum carried over into the fourth and Wasilla took its first lead since early in the second quarter on a layup by Reilly Devine that made it 41-40 with four minutes to play.

[Wasilla girls use coach's 'bag of tricks' to repeat as 4A champions]

The teams traded free throws and Wasilla led by two when Osborne hit his biggest 3 of the game to halt Wasilla's surge and put Dimond up 44-43.

"I felt good all game, but I didn't get many looks," said Osborne, the son of UAA men's basketball coach Rusty Osborne. "They left me open on that one (and) I took advantage of it."

Parker followed up Osborne's triple with a steal and a layup that made it 46-43 Dimond with 60 seconds to go.

But Wasilla bounced back with a layup from Kobe Brown and they had a chance to take a lead when Dimond fouled Warriors guard Aeron Milliron with 12.5 seconds left on the clock.

Milliron made the first free throw to tie the game at 46-46, but he missed the second one coming out of a timeout.

The rebound went to Dimond, and Milliron intentionally fouled Parker by mistake, leading to Parker's go-ahead free throws with less than 10 seconds remaining.

Wasilla coach Ryan Engebretsen said Milliron's foul was a mistake in the heat of the moment.

"(He) just got caught up, missed the free throw and everything we had just talked about (was gone)," Engebretsen said. "It's really tough for him and I just want him to be strong and know that we still have a lot of confidence in him."

Parker said he was surprised when he got fouled.

"He was coming at me and I was just trying to blow past him," Parker said. "I was going to the hoop trying to get a bucket."

[Photos: 3A and 4A Alaska state championship basketball]

Wasilla had another chance to score with 9.6 seconds remaining, but the Warriors couldn't get the shot off. Dimond trapped Wasilla's Daniel Headdings in the corner and Osborne intercepted the pass and was fouled.

Osborne made two free throws with 1.2 seconds remaining and Wasilla's ensuing full-court shot was well off the mark.

Tears streamed down faces of players on both teams after the buzzer sounded. Wasilla players consoled each other, while Dimond celebrated their victory with their fans.

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Parker and Osborne each tallied 11 points for the Lynx. Parker added five rebounds and five steals and Osborne went 3 of 3 from beyond the arc.

Senior forward Eric Jenkins chipped in six points and six rebounds.

Wasilla was paced by Milliron (14 points), Devine (11) and Brown (10).

Dimond needed an overtime victory over East in the semifinals and some late-game heroics by a couple veteran players to secure their first title in five years.

"For so many to have been in the championship game a year ago, I think they came back determined," Dimond coach Brad Lauwers said. "East beat us twice and I think that motivated us a lot. Opponents like East and Wasilla, they really push you to be your best."

Ketchikan 79, East 71

Jake Smith and Brent Taylor combined for 52 points to propel Ketchikan past East 79-71 in the third place game.

The Kings trailed 39-37 at halftime but soared into the lead with a 27-11 advantage in the third quarter.

Smith scored 29 points and Taylor garnered 23 points, 12 rebounds and four steals. The Kings outrebounded the T-birds 36-27.

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East was led by Jaron Williams (23 points) and Moses Miller (16 points, 9 assists).

Juneau 65, Bartlett 64

A big fourth-quarter comeback and 24 points from Bryce Swofford lifted Juneau over Bartlett in the fourth-place game.

The Crimson Bears, last season's state champions, overcame a six-point deficit in the fourth quarter.

Erik Kelly (14 points) and Ulyx Bohulano (11) joined Swofford in double figures for Juneau.

Anthony Camacho led Bartlett with 19 points. Latraviaus Kingsland added 14 and Ryan Trailer supplied 12.

All-Tournament team

Anthony Parker, Dimond
Trey Huckabay, East
Moses Miller, East
Brent Taylor, Ketchikan
Erik Kelly, Juneau
Eric Jenkins, Dimond
Reilly Devine, Wasilla
Jake Smith, Ketchikan
Anthony Camacho, Bartlett
Isaac Houck, Wasilla

Stephan Wiebe

Stephan Wiebe writes about all things Alaska sports.

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