Sophomore sensation propels Bartlett over battle-tested Wasilla in Class 4A girls tourney

Led by sophomore Amelia Uhila, the Bartlett Golden Bears seized a 52-48 first-round win over the Wasilla Warriors, a team that has appeared in the last three Class 4A state championship games.

Bartlett (21-7), whose lineup features two freshmen and two sophomores in key roles, showed veteran poise against the Warriors, the state champs in 2016 and 2017.

“With us being young, we had growing pains at the beginning of the season but we kept pushing and kept, what I call, ‘plugging along,’ ” said Bartlett coach Clarence Smith, the Class 4A coach of the year.

The Golden Bears, who haven’t won a state title since since taking back-to-back championships in 1977 and 1978, advance to a semifinal matchup on Friday against the Chugiak Mustangs, who upset the West Valley Wolfpack 69-66.

The other semifinal will feature defending state champion Dimond against Soldotna. Dimond overwhelmed Ketchikan 66-43, and Soldotna edged West 54-50 to prevent an all-Anchorage semifinal round.

Although the Bartlett-Wasilla game was tight, the Warriors (12-10) never led. The Golden Bears’ stifling defense proved to be the main factor, forcing Wasilla into 12 turnovers.

At the helm for Bartlett was Uhila, a first-team all-state selection whose all-around performance included 14 points, seven rebounds, six assists and three steals.

“What went well for me tonight was feeding my teammates and letting them score,” Uhila said.

“I feed my family first before I feed myself.”

The Warriors, who also feature a young team, were led by seniors Olivia Davies and Diondra Lawhead. Davies, who is headed to Division I Hawaii in the fall, notched a game-high 16 points and Lawhead tallied 10 points and six rebounds. Freshman Bella Hays provided an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double to help the Warriors outrebound Bartlett 32-26.

“(Davies) is a great player and one hell of a point guard-- applause to her and her team,” Uhila said.

Bartlett seized momentum early by jumping to a 14-8 first-quarter lead. Bartlett’s uptempo play continued with a 7-2 run in the final minute of the first half to give the Golden Bears a 24-19 halftime lead.

Behind six points from Davies and seven from Hays, the Warriors fought back in the third quarter, forcing several turnovers and cutting Bartlett’s lead to 40-37.

The defensive intensity continued into the fourth quarter, and poor 3-point shooting (1 for 7 in the second half) hurt the Warriors, who missed several open looks. An 3-point play from Uhila with just more than 30 seconds left gave the Golden Bears a four-point lead they maintained until the final buzzer.

“We locked in on defense," Smith said. "I preach to ‘defend and rebound.' A couple shots didn’t fall, but we didn’t hang our heads, we just kept our mental aspect of the game.” Smith said.

Chugiak 69, West Valley 66

Chasity Horn poured in 29 points to go with nine rebounds and four steals to power Chugiak past West Valley.

Chugiak took the lead for good with just more than a minute to play when Ari Lewis grabbed an offensive rebound and Eva Palmer finished with a drive to make it 66-64. Horn swished three of four free throws after that to seal the win.

Palmer finished with 10 points and six rebounds, and Layla Beam added 10 points and five rebounds.

West Valley’s Sheridan Blasey came through with 17 points and seven rebounds and Ali May 14 points and six rebounds.

Dimond 66, Ketchikan 43

Alissa Pili showed why she’s the Class 4A player of the year in Dimond’s early-morning victory. The senior center racked up 33 points and 19 rebounds for the defending state champs.

The Lynx led 20-9 at the end of the first quarter and 37-17 at the half. Pili was unstoppable — she hit 13 of 21 shots from the field, including three triples, and was 4 of 6 from the foul line. Teammate Dhanna Schuster joined her in double figures with 11 points.

Ketchikan had a big scorer in Ashley Huffine, who drained six 3-pointers en route to 25 points.

Soldotna 54, West 50

Soldotna fended off a fourth-quarter comeback by the Eagles, who trailed by 10 after three quarters and outscored the Stars 15-6 in the fourth quarter.

Ituau Tuisaula’s double-double (13 points, 17 rebounds) sparked the Stars. Aliann Schmidt added 14 point and eight rebounds and Brittani Blossom had 13 points for Soldotna.

West was led by Naialani Felx (13 points), Nyeniea John (9 points, 8 rebounds) and Kayzee Galloway-Davis (8 points, 9 rebounds).

ASAA March Madness Alaska

Thursday’s results

Dimond 66, Ketchikan 43

Soldotna 54, West 50

Chugiak 69, West Valley 66

Bartlett 52, Wasilla 48

Friday’s games

Consolation

8 a.m. — Ketchikan vs. West

9:30 a.m. — Wasilla vs. West Valley

Semifinals

3:30 p.m. — Dimond vs. Soldotna

5 p.m. — Bartlett vs. Chugiak