Colony’s Tonya Karpow goes in for a layup. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
In the early moments of Friday’s fourth quarter, Tonya Karpow moved away from the interior of the offensive end and nailed her only three-pointer of the afternoon from the deep, left corner.
Nearby along the sidelines by the Colony High bench, coach Chandice Cronk Kelly’s back straightened as she grinned with some relief and a slight air of confidence. The Knights had clearly found their comfort zone, breezing into the program’s first Class 4A girls state championship game since 2014.
In her first season at Colony after transferring from West Anchorage, Karpow and fellow superlative junior Hallie Clark each scored 19 points in the first of two March Madness Alaska semifinals at the Alaska Airlines Center. The Knights came alive in the second half and ran away with a 69-35 victory over fourth-ranked Thunder Mountain.
They only led the Falcons 20-16 after two quarters.
“We hadn’t been playing like we usually play, so we had to go show everyone what we got,” said Karpow, who added 12 rebounds to her stat line as well. “We’re a little too timid, maybe overexcited, in the first half. Eventually, we calmed down and took the win.”
ASAA/First National Bank Alaska
March Madness Alaska
4A Girls
Friday
Semifinals
#2 Colony 69, #4 Thunder Mountain 35
#1 Wasilla 54, #3 Mountain City 43
Consolation
Service 56, Bartlett 23
#5 Dimond 56, North Pole 52
Saturday
Championship
5:30 p.m. – Wasilla (21-5) vs. Colony (25-3)
Consolation
Third place, 9 a.m. – Thunder Mountain (23-4) vs. Mountain City (22-4)
Fourth place, 9 a.m. – Service (19-10) vs. Dimond (23-7)
# ASR/Class 4A Coaches Poll rankings
Colony, ranked second in the final Alaska Sports Report/Coaches Poll of the season, will face Northern Lights Conference and Matanuska-Susitna Valley rival Wasilla in Saturday’s 4A title tilt. The Knights will be in search of their first championship since 2008 and fifth in program history (1995, 1997, 1998 and 2008).
Colony and Wasilla have never met for a title in the 50 years of girls state tournament basketball. In fact, all available archives suggest it will be only the fourth matchup between the schools (2023 semifinals, 2016 quarterfinals, 2012 semifinals and 2013 semifinals). This season, Colony won three of four matchups, losing to the Warriors only in the Northern Lights Conference tournament championship, 69-46 on March 9.
“It shouldn’t matter who we play (Saturday),” Karpow said. “But we played Wasilla those four times, we just need to play like we did the first three times.”
Karpow scored 10 of her points and grabbed six rebounds in the first half. An all-state performer her first two seasons, Clark pumped in 15 points in the second half as Colony outscored the Falcons 49-19 in the final 16 minutes.
Most importantly, Colony moved the ball and started hitting shots. It finished 30% percent from the floor in the first half but made 21 of 30 attempts (70%) in the second. Clark’s biggest moment came when made a circus basket on the left side with her back to the baseline. The Knights led 43-26 with 1 minute, 19 seconds left in the third.
Colony’s Hallie Clark drives on the Falcons. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report
“This whole season we’ve been working on pushing the ball,” Clark said. “We have a really fast team.”
Thunder Mountain may be history as a high school sooner rather than later. Last week, the Juneau School Board approved a plan to make Thunder Mountain, which opened in 2008, the town’s junior high. High school students would then attend Juneau-Douglas High. But the Falcons also made history at March Madness Alaska, winning its first quarterfinal game in the Falcons’ third appearance.
Junior twins Kerra Baxter (11 points, five rebounds) and Cailynn Baxter (11 points, three rebounds) offer a lot of promise. We’ll just have to wait to see what school they attend and basketball uniforms they’ll be wearing as seniors.
Meanwhile, Colony will look to make a new chapter in its history Saturday night.
“This opportunity means a lot because we know how hard we work,” Karpow said. “We deserve it.”
THUNDER MOUNTAIN (35) – Lockhart 5, Gates 0, J. Carandang 3. M. Carandang 2, Dobson 0, Erickson 0, Frommerz 0, K. Baxter 11, C. Baxter 11, Hartman 1, Wilson 2, Strong 0.
COLONY (69) – Waggoner 6, Ar. Shelley 0, Wiestemberg 10, Hopkins 4, Al. Shelley 11, Ainsworth 0, Larsen 0, Clark 19, Noll 0, Smith 0, Karpow 19, Spencer 0.
Thunder Mountain 8 8 12 17 – 35
Colony 10 10 28 21 – 69
Thunder Mountain’s Kerra Baxter shoots with Colony’s Tonya Karpow defending. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report