Jordan Zackery and her West High teammates understand the reality of the Cook Inlet Conference’s watered-down image of late.
“The CIC doesn’t have good teams, the CIC this, the CIC that,” Zackery said. “A lot of people say things because they don’t expect anything from us.”
Well, then. Let’s credit the conference-champion Eagles with making their biggest splash of the season when it mattered most Wednesday afternoon.
One of three West seniors, Zackery expertly sank six free throws in the final 53 seconds of the Eagles’ hellacious comeback in the March Madness Alaska quarterfinals. She finished with a team-high 19 points as West furiously erased a double-digit deficit in the second half and escaped the Alaska Airlines Center with a 54-50 Class 4A girls quarterfinal victory over an unheralded yet impressive, young Thunder Mountain squad.
The Eagles (21-4) advanced to the 4A semifinals for a second-consecutive season. They will meet mighty Anchorage Christian in a 3:15 p.m. tilt on Friday. The mighty Lions dispatched CIC second-place finisher Dimond, 82-22, in Wednesday’s last quarterfinal to run their 61-month winning streak against Alaska opponents to 120 games.
Colony and Wasilla also punched tickets to the semis with Wednesday wins, giving the Northern Lights Conference a 75% showing in the winner’s bracket of the 49th state’s 49th girls state tournament. Glennallen won the first girls title in 1972 and the pandemic cancelled the 2020 edition.
West’;s Jordan Zachary. Photo by Grenel Sumabat/Alaska Airlines Classic
West and Dimond combined for a 38-10 regular season record and split a pair of games before the Eagles won the conference tournament with a 42-38 win March 11. As the CIC’s two qualifiers for state, the Eagles and Lynx earned fifth and eighth seeds, respectively. Of course, rational thinkers know the seedings don’t really amount to anything other than needing to bracket out the eight-team state field. Still, the math – win, losses, common opponents and more – used by the Alaska School Activities Association didn’t offer much redemption to the CIC.
“I think there are really good players that keep coming out of the CIC,” Zackery said. “The conference shouldn’t be overlooked.”
Case in point, West’s ability to bounce back Wednesday. The Eagles trailed first-time Southeast Conference champion Thunder Mountain 22-17 at the break. Neither team shot better than 44% in the first half and the teams combined for 25 turnovers. West only committed five turnovers in the second half.
Thunder Mountain featured the intriguing Baxter twins. Only sophomores, Kerra and Cailynn combined to score 17 of the Falcons’ first-half points Kerra finished with a game-high 21 points and team-high six rebounds. Cailynn added 14 points. It will be fun to watch them likely improve throughout the remainder of their high school days.
“They didn’t play middle school basketball, so this is baptism under fire for them,” said Thunder Mountain coach Andy Lee, in his third season. “They learned to play during COVID. When I say learned to play, they learned to dribble and learned what the lines on the court mean.
“We also have the Carandang twins (Jaya and Mikah). They’re all terrific young players, and we’re a team that’s very supportive of each other.”
West trailed by 14, 33-19, when Kerra Baxter sank one of two Falcons’ free throws with 5:30 remaining in the third quarter. From there, the Eagles scored 35 of the final 51 points. They earned their first lead at 3:52 of the fourth when junior Jayla Speakman canned a turn-around jumper from the free-throw line. Sophomore Tanya Karpow scored six points in the next 70 seconds before giving way to Zackery’s free-throw line majesty.
In likely the smartest move of the afternoon, West wisely inbounded the ball at the offensive end with 1:00 left and pulled out of its set, instead waiting on the Falcons to foul. Zackery made free throws with 53, 42 and 24 ticks remaining.
“My nerves were calmed, and I think as a leader on the team, so were everyone else’s. We got hyped and closed it out.”
Karpow finished with 10 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Thunder Mountain enters Friday’s consolation round still searching for the program’s first win at state. The Juneau school opened in 2008 and the Falcons finished tied for seventh in their only other MMA appearance in 2015.
Lee said a state victory would be huge. The Falcons know they’re a work in progress.
“As a young team, we haven’t had a lot of 14-point leads against top-notch competition,” Lee said. “We didn’t handle it very well, but I’m going to look at the fact we had it.
“I always throw that letter L up (on my forehead) in the locker room, and the kids always say ‘loser, loser.’ No, it’s learner, learner. We’re going to keep on learning.”
WASILLA 60, LATHROP 33
Despite coming off a Northern Lights tournament semifinal loss to Colony, Wasilla looked every bit like its 4A state pedigree suggests in a convincing quarterfinal win over Lathrop.
The Warriors lead the tournament field with seven single classification/4A titles on their resume (’82, ’07, ’11, ’12, ’13, ’16 and ’17).
Layla Hays
Paced by sophomore Layla Hays’ double double (24 points, 19 rebounds), Wasilla improved 23-4. Fellow sophomore Mylee Anderson chipped in with 15 points.
The Warriors started strong with a 16-5 edge in the first quarter. They hope the strength stays with them in the semifinals and beyond.
“We have to stay mentally alert,” said Wasilla coach Jeannie Hebert-Truax. “We have to remain focused on every possession, whether on offense or defense and no matter the score.”
The Mid-Alaska Conference champs, Lathrop fell to 17-11. Senior Ashlyn Parduhn led with 11 points for the Malemutes, which shot only 25% from the floor. Wasilla also scored 25 points off 24 Lathrop turnovers.
Allow us a moment to appreciate Hebert-Truax’s fashion sense. Clearly one of the state’s best coaches regardless of sport or level, she also almost always looks like a legend. Wednesday, she wore a fly white blazer with red slacks.
“I was walking around Kohl’s last week and saw (the blazer),” Hebert-Truax said. “Said to myself, it would look great with the sweet red pants. And voila, there you have it.”
COLONY 53, JUNEAU-DOUGLAS 46
Sophomore guard Hallie Clark scored a team-high 22 to surpass 1,000 in her still young career, and the Knights relied on a strong first half to advance in the winner’s bracket. The win marked their seventh in nine games.
Colony (19-7) and Wasilla will embark on another chapter in their storied rivalry in Friday’s 4:45 p.m. semifinal. The Matanuska-Susitna Valley cohorts split four games in the regular season.
In an entertaining twist you may have missed outside the Valley, Colony is coached by Chandice Cronk Kelly. She won 2004 Gatorade Player of the Year honors at Wasilla under Hebert-Truax.
Juneau senior Skylar Tuckwood dropped in a game-high 30 points, including five three pointers. The Crimson Bears (16-13) are coached by alum and former UAA leading scorer Tanya Nizich. She averaged 13.1 points per game to pace the Seawolves during the 2003-04 season.
Photo by Bryan Boyett/Alaska Sports Report
ANCHORAGE CHRISTIAN 82, DIMOND 22
Sayvia Sellers needed 18 points to tie the record for second-most points scored in an Alaska high school career. She scored 19 in the opening quarter, and thus ended the final quarterfinal’s drama.
In a game featuring a running clock from midway through the second quarter on, Sellers finished with 30 points and sits all alone in second place on the state’s scoring list. Her 2,589 career points now leave her 25 shy of former Dimond and current University of Utah powerhouse Alissa Pili. It’s rather likely Sellers will break the record during Friday’s semi against West.
ACS freshman Keelie Kronberger impressed with 16 points and made four of five three-point attempts, amazing stroke, and all. The Lions (23-2) led 37-7 after eight minutes, 61-12 at the halftime and sank 63% of their shots
Dimond’s Katie MacDonald scored seven points for the Lynx, which fell to 18-7.
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
Class 4A Girls State Championships
Wednesday’s Quarterfinals
Anchorage Christian 82, Dimond 22
West Anchorage 54, Thunder Mountain 50
Colony 53, Juneau-Douglas 46
Wasilla 60, Lathrop 33
Friday’s Schedule
Semifinals
3:15 p.m. – West vs. ACS
4:45 p.m. – Wasilla vs. Colony
Consolation
12:30 p.m. Dimond vs. Thunder Mountain
12:30 p.m. Lathrop vs. Juneau-Douglas