Prep Hoops: Colony girls take top spot in ASR/Class 4A Coaches Poll; East boys unanimous No. 1

The Colony bench celebrates a 3-pointer against Wasilla. Photo by Bruce Eggleston/MatSu Sports

There was a shakeup atop the girls’ rankings in this week’s Alaska Sports Report/Class 4A Coaches Poll.

Colony is the new No. 1 while Wasilla moved up to the No. 2 spot after edging Mountain City Christian Academy by a single point.

Colony (22-2) received nine of 13 first-place votes and racked up 61 points. The Knights extended their winning streak to 13 games after rallying late in the fourth quarter to beat Wasilla 50-48 in Friday’s regular-season finale.

Wasilla (16-5) defeated MCCA 55-51 earlier in the week and then outscored the Lions 48-47 in the poll, leapfrogging them in the rankings.

MCCA (19-2) had been ranked No. 1 since the inaugural poll was revealed a month ago. Some of the voters still see the Lions as the team to beat as the two-time defending state champions received three first-place votes this week, with Wasilla getting one as well.

The poll’s top three rankings mirror how the teams were seeded for the Northern Lights Conference Tournament, which tips off Thursday in Soldotna. Colony, Wasilla and MCCA finished tied the NLC at 8-2 after the regular season, so playoff seedings were determined by tiebreakers.

Alaska Sports Report/Class 4A Girls Coaches Poll

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Service 1.

Colony has beaten Wasilla three times this year but is 0-2 against MCCA, which has beaten Colony twice but is 0-2 against Wasilla.

Cook Inlet Conference No. 1 seed Dimond (21-5) retained the No. 4 state ranking and Southeast Conference No. 1 seed Thunder Mountain (20-3) stayed at No. 5.

Dimond has won nine straight heading into teh CIC Tournament, which opens Tuesday. The Lynx along with second seeded Bartlett earned double byes and won’t hit the court until Friday.

Thunder Mountain will carry a five-game winning streak into the playoffs.

Wasilla’s Layka Hays shoots over Colony’s Tonya Karpow. Photo by Bruce Eggleston/MatSu Sports

On the boys side, the East T-birds continued to perch atop the rankings in unanimous fashion for a fourth straight week.

East (23-1) collected all 15 first-place votes and piled up 75 points. The defending state champions are riding a 14-game winning streak and 25-game victorious streak against in-state competition dating back to last season.

The rest of the poll remained the same with West Valley second, Service third, West fourth and Monroe Catholic fifth.

West Valley (20-3) has won seven straight games going into the Mid Alaska Conference Tournament, which begins Thursday in North Pole. The Wolfpack have lost to only ranked teams this season – West in OT, Service and Monroe.

Service (19-7) has won seven of nine games since dropping a decision to unranked Bartlett in a loss that defines why the CIC is the toughest conference in the state. Not only do CIC teams play East twice, but they battle each other, too.

Service’s Rilen Niclai gets up for a throwdown. Photo by Stephanie Burgoon/Alaska Sports Report

Take West (16-8), for example, which owns two wins over Service and beat West Valley but is 0-2 against unranked Dimond.

The only predictable thing about this week’s CIC Tournament at West is its unpredictability. It’s not called March Madness for nothing.

Monroe (18-5) has won five straight and 13 of 14. The Mid Alaska might not have the depth of the CIC but it does have two of the best teams in the state in Monroe and West Valley.

In the Southeast, Ketchikan, Thunder Mountain and Juneau-Douglas each finished 4-4 in league and a tiebreaker was used to determine seeding. Second seeded Thunder Mountain plays third seeded Juneau on Tuesday.

In the NLC, Colony earned the No. 1 seed and Wasilla got the No. 2 seed in a tournament that begins Thursday at SoHi.
 

Alaska Sports Report/Class 4A Boys Coaches Poll

ALSO RECEIVING VOTES: Thunder Mountain 3; Dimond 1.