Wasilla girls use coach’s ‘bag of tricks’ to repeat as 4A champions

With a week left in the season, Wasilla Warriors girls basketball coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax introduced a couple of new defenses to her team.

"She threw some crazy new defenses at us," junior Azlynn Brandenburg said, "and I mean, they worked."

"She was spot on," sophomore Olivia Davies said.

And how.

Wasilla won its second straight Class 4A state championship — its fifth in seven years — by silencing the often explosive Dimond Lynx 51-34 in front of a noisy Alaska Airlines Center crowd Saturday night.

The Warriors (26-1) limited the Lynx (25-3) to two points in the second quarter and six points in the fourth quarter. They held the Lynx to 28 percent shooting, including 20 percent in the second half. They prevented 4A Player of the Year Alissa Pili of Dimond from operating with ease inside the paint, as she typically does, and held her to 13 points and seven rebounds, well below her averages.

For a span of eight minutes — roughly the last six minutes of the second quarter and the first two minutes of the third quarter — Wasilla didn't allow Dimond to score a single point.

"What we try to tell the girls is we can't always control how the shooting is going," Dimond coach Jim Young said, "but when you're not shooting good, you pick yourself up in other areas. We didn't have a lot of energy today."

Hebert-Truax said she added new defensive schemes last week in preparation for the state tournament, where Wasilla took down Ketchikan 53-31 in the first round and then survived a 46-38 battle against East in the semifinals.

"They said, 'Why are we doing this?' I said because I need a bag of tricks," Hebert-Truax said. She said she used some of them to get past East, and some of them to get past Dimond.

Dimond grabbed a 16-11 first-quarter lead behind an active offense that included two early layups from Victoria Johansen, sharp shooting from Janna Hajdukovich, who scored six of her 11 points that quarter, and six points from Pili.

Hajdukovich made it 18-11 with an 18-foot jumper to start the second quarter, and Wasilla came up empty on its first two possessions, the second of which ended with a block by Pili with about 5:30 left in the half.

It was nearly all Wasilla after that.

Pili picked up her second foul with five minutes before halftime and the Warriors went on a 9-0 run while she was on the bench to grab a 20-18 lead.

But even when Pili returned, Wasilla kept rolling. It held a 24-18 lead at halftime, at which point senior McKenna Dinkel decided it was time to remind her team about last year. In last season's state title game, Wasilla survived a big fourth-quarter rally by the Lynx to pull out a 44-40 victory.

"I told them we need to come out strong, because we know they can come back," said Dinkel, one of six seniors on the team.

Dinkel's halftime pep talk marked the second time the Warriors were inspired by locker room talk Saturday. Before the game, assistant coach and athletic director Stacia Rusted — the 1992 Player of the Year at Kenai Central — delivered a stirring speech about opportunities and not squandering them.

"It was really inspirational," Dinkel said. "She told us not to take where we were for granted. It was really special. Really emotional."

The Warriors learned throughout the season not to take anything for granted. Injuries and illnesses plagued them all season, and on Saturday two key players — seniors Willow Drorbaugh and Mallory Wheeler — were on the bench with injuries. Drorbaugh recently had surgery for a torn ACL and Wheeler suffered an ankle sprain in Thursday's game against Ketchikan. Brandenburg played despite a knee injury that will require surgery now that the season is over, Hebert-Truax said.

"We went from a rotation of nine to a rotation of six," she said. "The kids played great. I'm so proud of them."

Wasilla shot 51 percent from the field and was 6 of 9 from 3-point range. Davies led the Warriors with a game-high 18 points, Dinkel was good for 11 points and eight rebounds, Catherine Baham scored 10 points and hit two big triples, Brandenburg turned in seven points and Cheyenne Green handed out five assists, including three on three straight possessions to help Wasilla build a 34-22 lead midway through the third quarter.

The Warriors never let up on Pili, a 5-foot-11 sophomore post who was often double-teamed. She managed just nine field goal attempts and made three of them.

"She draws so much attention, and it's a grind for her every night," Young said. "It's been like that all year for her,"

With no seniors on the team, Dimond's future looks bright, and while Young is looking forward to what his young team can do next season, doesn't want his players to forget Saturday's heartbreak.

"I told them, 'Remember how this feels, and hopefully you're motivated by it,' " he said.

Though Dimond played some tough defense when Wasilla slowed down the game in the fourth quarter, the Warriors seldom turned over the ball. And when Dimond resorted fouling them in the final couple of minutes, the Warriors drained eight of 10 free throws in the final 90 seconds.

Two of them came from Wheeler, a senior who sat on the bench with her left ankle in a soft cast until she checked into the game with about 30 seconds left. "We wanted to be up by 10 points so she could come in," Dinkel said.

With 15.4 seconds left, Wheeler drew a foul and sank both free throws — the final points of the game.

"It's pretty painful," Wheeler said later as she received treatment for the injury. "But I wouldn't have it any other way. I'm so happy I could play in my final game and win with my teammates."

East 45, Colony 35

Tennae Voliva racked up 20 points and 10 rebounds to power the East T-birds to third place with a 45-35 win over Colony.

Voliva, who added four steals and two blocks, helped East outrebound the Knights 33-23.

Kali Bull paced Colony with 17 points.

Chugiak 44, Lathrop 41

Chugiak held on for a 44-41 victory over Lathrop to capture fourth place.

Ashlynn Burgess provided 11 points, 11 rebounds and three steals and Nicole Pinckney supplied 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for the Mustangs.

Tyra Do's 17 points and seven rebounds and Cheyenne Dibert's eight points and 15 rebounds sparked Lathrop.

All-Tournament Team