High School Sports

Dimond girls seal undefeated season with win over Wasilla

Standing at midcourt Saturday night after winning the state basketball championship, Dimond High's Alissa Pili and Jahnna Hajdukovich talked about being a family, having their teammates' backs, and forgetting about the past.

Asked what their season-ending record was, the two drew blanks.

"32 and 0?" said Pili.

Hadjukovich looked uncertain, and then it dawned on her.

"Undefeated!" she said.

And with that, the two shared a high-five.

It was a long time coming.

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Facing the Wasilla Warriors in the Class 4A state championship game for the third straight year, the Lynx finally came out on top, 61-46.

[Championship Saturday: Our best photos from 3A and 4A basketball finals]

Pili, a 6-foot junior with a shy but brilliant smile and a Polynesia flower tattooed the length of one calf, was a force. She grabbed 22 rebounds and poured in 22 points — mostly on putbacks or layups, but a couple of times on sweet shots from the top of the key — and was part of a fierce Dimond defense that held Wasilla to three field goals the entire first half.

The victory capped a 30-0 season for the nationally ranked Lynx — a win total tallied in haste by co-coach Jim Young in a hallway after the game, because no one seemed to know for sure if the Lynx were 32-0, 31-0 or 30-0.

Whatever. They won the one they wanted most.

"The only game that mattered was state," Hadjukovich said. "We worked our butts off just to get here."

And they worked tirelessly against the Warriors, who entered the game chasing its second three-peat of the millennium.

[ACS hits all the right notes to repeat as 3A girls basketball champs]

Wasilla won three straight state titles from 2011-13 (getting the third win by beating Dimond 43-27), and after a two-year break as the queens of Alaska basketball, the Warriors won titles in 2017 and 2016 — beating Dimond both times.

One of the differences this time was the play of Pili, who had by far the best championship game of her career.

"I don't want to say revenge," Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax said, "but getting beat twice by us, I think the third time was the charm for her."

Pili, who had two blocks according to the stat sheet but altered many more, said she spent the season thinking about what the Lynx could do this year, not what happened last year or the year before.

"It's a new year," she said. "The past doesn't matter."

Dimond, ranked 24th in the nation by Max Prep Sports, asserted itself late in a first quarter that started with a flurry of turnovers, most of them caused by aggressive defense by both teams. The pace was fast and the energy was off the charts.

Tied 7-7 after five minutes, Dimond reeled off nine straight points to take a 16-7 lead. Seanne Bialo started the run by getting an open 3-pointer after out-waiting a Wasilla defender. Pili followed with a putback on a possession during which she had two offensive rebounds, Angelline Nageak turned a steal into a layup and Hajdukovich capped the run with a pair of free throws.

[Matthews leads Barrow to 3A boys state basketball title]

Nageak, a quick sophomore guard, finished with 10 points, eight assists and six rebounds, and Hajdukovich, a senior sharpshooter, added 18 points and eight rebounds.

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"This is a really big win for us, especially going undefeated," said Nageak. "We couldn't lose our last game."

Nageak was still in middle school the first time Wasilla beat Dimond for the title, 44-40 in 2016. She spent most of last season on the JV team but was promoted to varsity in time for the state tournament, which ended with Wasilla's 51-34 victory.

This season, she was a key component of Dimond's full-court press, which constantly kept Wasilla fighting to keep the ball and find good shots.

"It gets pretty tiring but at the beginning of the season we condition a lot," Nageak said. "Our energy definitely (made the difference), from the bench, on the court. We were ready to keep going. We were fired up (from) the past two years."

Dimond led 28-13 at the half and extended the lead to 32-13 with buckets by Pili and Nageak early in the third quarter. It was 37-20 at the end of the third quarter, a frustrating stretch for Wasilla, which worked hard to create good shots but couldn't make them.

But the Warriors, who finished the season 22-5, didn't give up. There's a reason Truax-Hebert was selected to be a head coach later this week at the McDonald's All-American high school all-star game in Atlanta, and within 90 seconds of the fourth quarter, she and the Warriors were back in the game.

Azlynn Brandenburg scored four quick points and Olivia Davies sank all three free throws after getting fouled on a 3-point attempt, and suddenly Dimond's lead was down to 10 and Wasilla was pressing.

And then it was Pili time.

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She scored five straight points, two on a jumper from the top of the key, to trigger a 10-point Dimond run. That made it 47-27 with four minutes left. Brandenburg (15 points) and Davies (23 points, 12 rebounds and tons of intensity) each sank two triples, but the gap was too big even for Hebert-Truax, who coached each possession as if the game depended on it.

"We're gonna go down fighting," she said. "That's the game."

Chugiak 66, West 47

Chasity Horn drilled four 3-pointers to carry Chugiak to fourth place with a 66-47 win over Cook Inlet Conference rival West.

Horn finished with 20 point and six steals for the Mustangs, who swiped the ball 21 times.

Caitlin Wachmann and Ariana Lewis each scored 10 points for Chugiak. West was led by Sunny Pedebone's nine points.

East 48, Colony 38

Skye Miller flirted with a triple-double in East's 48-38 triumph over Colony in the third-place game.

Miller finished with 18 points, nine rebounds and eight steals. Azaria Robinson added 13 rebounds, eight points and four blocks and Daisy Page had 10 points for the T-birds.

Amanda Smith supplied 15 points for Colony.

All-tournament team

Jahnna Hajdukovich, Dimond
Azaria Robinson, East
Olivia Davies, Wasilla
Chasity Horn, Chugiak
Alissa Pili, Dimond
Azlynn Brandenberg, Wasilla
Angelline Nageak, Dimond
Skye Miller, East
Nyeniea John, West
Alex Carlton, Colony

Beth Bragg

Beth Bragg wrote about sports and other topics for the ADN for more than 35 years, much of it as sports editor. She retired in October 2021. She's contributing coverage of Alaskans involved in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

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