Playing against Bartlett in the last game of the regular season, West junior guard Devon Bookert kept looking around the gym, searching for a familiar face that was always there supporting the basketball star.
Bookert scored 16 points that night as West rolled to a big victory, but he never did see his uncle Edwing Matos in the crowd. Earlier that evening, Matos had been shot and killed at the Dimond Center.
"He wasn't in the crowd, and I was wondering what was wrong," Bookert said. "He came to every game. He was always there.
"He died the day of the Bartlett game. When I heard the news, I broke down."
Wearing shoes his uncle bought for him and using his memory as inspiration, Bookert scored 19 points Tuesday as West rolled to a 69-38 win over Colony in the semifinals of the 4A boys basketball state tournament.
"He enjoyed basketball, he always was there for me," Bookert said. "Winning state matters. I know he would want us to win."
Bookert missed practice on March 9 to attend his uncle's funeral.
"They were very close," West coach Chuck White said after that practice. "That's why he was so down lately."
A loss in the Cook Inlet Conference semifinals added to West's motivation to win and the results so far in the state tournament have been impressive.
The Eagles opened state on Monday with a 78-47 win over Lathrop and followed that with Tuesday's 31-point victory over Colony.
"We want to be the best that we can be," Bookert said. "Coach White makes sure we keep our intensity up all game, that we never let down. We don't play halfway."
West scored the first six points on Tuesday and never looked back. Bookert opened the game with a 3-point basket, senior forward Justin Kauffman followed suit with another three a few seconds later and the Eagles continued running and gunning the rest of the night.
"When the shots are falling, it is really fun to go out there and play," Kauffman said. "We were playing loose and having fun."
West and the game clock both took mercy on Colony at the same time as the Eagles subbed out their five starters with five minutes left in the fourth quarter while the game clock continued to run.
The Eagles held a 41-point lead at the time, invoking the mercy rule in ASAA basketball - the game switches to a running clock when there is a point spread of 40 points or more at the end of the third quarter or later. Once the clock begins running, it is only stopped for time outs and technical fouls.
"I was surprised," Kauffman said of West reaching the 40-point spread. "Colony is a disciplined team and they are scary every year. We just came out on fire."
Even after the clock was running down the final seconds, White received a technical foul for complaining about the officiating.
"They kept calling fouls on us being over the back and they didn't call them on (Colony), there could've been two or three in a row," White said after slightly chuckling at the call. "I just wanted a little consistency. I was a little hyper I guess. It's my first tech all year."
West shot 46 percent from the field, hit eight 3-pointers and used its pressure defense to force 27 steals.
Kauffman led the Eagles with 21 points and five steals.
Tom Feeney added 10 points, including a late dunk, and six assists, including a highlight-reel rocket pass from the top of the key to Bookert underneath for a layup.
On a play that epitomized the Knights' offensive woes, Colony had a 4-on-0 break after a turnover midway through the third quarter, but ended up turning the ball over.
Senior guard John Palmer led Colony with 11 points and senior guard Scott Herman added 10.
West went unbeaten against Alaska competition all regular season, winning by an average of more than 30 points, before being stunned by Bartlett in the CIC semifinals. The Eagles rebounded from that loss to crush Service in the CIC third-place game and have kept on rolling in the state tournament.
"It was a wake up call. In a way we needed it," Bookert said. "We want to be the best that we can be. Hopefully we can come out just as strong (today), get the game over with and be cutting down the nets."
The Eagles were the top seed in the state tournament last year before being stunned by Wasilla in the opening round. Kauffman and Bookert said that loss also motivated them this year, but White professed to be only concerned with how this year's team does.
"It doesn't matter about last year, I don't think that way," White said. "Each year is a new year."
Colony 9 9 10 10 -- 38
West 20 19 22 8 -- 69
Colony -- Palmer 11, Herman 10, Nicers 5, Depriest 4, Ray 2, Summers 6.
West -- Garrett-Queen 3, Bookert 19, Kauffman 21, Abdul-Bassitt 8, Wyche 5, Feeney 10, Harris 3.
Wasilla 49, Soldotna 46
After Soldotna forced overtime on a buzzer-beating 3-pointer by Boomer Blossom, Wasilla prevailed in the extra session defeating the Stars 49-46 in the 4A boys basketball semifinals on Tuesday.
Wasilla's 6-8 sophomore forward Connor Devine scored his team's final five points of overtime after Soldotna had taken a 45-44 lead. A 3-point play by Devine with 25.4 second remaining broke a 46-46 tie and propelled the Warriors to victory.
Blossom attempted to force a second overtime, but missed a 3-point shot with five seconds left. Senior guard Blaine Carver got the offensive rebound, but was unable to get another 3-point shot off in time.
Wasilla led 42-38 in the final minute of play before senior center D.J. Stilchen hit one of two free throws to cut the lead to 3. After Devine missed the front end of a 1-on-1 with 11.3 seconds left, the awesome Blossom raced up the court, let one defender fly past then launched a 3-pointer over the hands of a second defender to tie the game.
Senior guard Cody Pfeifer led Wasilla with 16 points while Devine added 12.
Blossom finished with 26.
Soldotna 8 18 5 11 4 — 46
Wasilla 15 7 7 13 7 — 49
Soldotna -- Story 6, Blossom 26, Carver 1, Stilchen 8, Bosick 5.
Wasilla -- Mock 4, Kuiper 8, Stahle 3, Pfeifer 16, Devine 12, Ford 6.
Dimond 64, Juneau-Douglas 45
After suffering a tough double-overtime loss to Soldotna in Monday's opening round, Dimond bounced back to beat Juneau-Douglas in an early morning consolation bracket semifinal on Tuesday.
Sophomore forward Ryden Hines dominated inside, scoring 25 points and pulling down 15 rebounds -- including seven offensive boards -- to lead the Lynx to the win.
It was the first victory for Dimond since it lost 4A Player of the Year Travis Thompson to a broken finger in the Cook Inlet Conference tournament semifinals. Dimond had lost by a point in the CIC championship and by two points in double overtime on Monday without Thompson.
Alex DeRocher paced the Crimson Bears with 20 points.
Juneau 12 12 15 6 -- 45
Dimond 23 7 19 15 -- 64
Juneau -- Ibesate 3, Gozelski 6, Yadao 2, DeRocher 20, Calloway 2, Gross 1, Sele 3, Tupou 8.
Dimond -- Jack-Nixon 9, Lauwers 9, Samuels 5, Hurst 2, Bennett 4, Adams 4, Hines 25, Carter 4, Phillips 1, Hueners 1.
Bartlett 71, Lathrop 63
The fourth-place game of the 4A state tournament will be a repeat of the Cook Inlet Conference tournament title game after Bartlett beat Lathrop 71-63 to advance to meet Dimond on Wednesday.
Bartlett defeated Dimond 44-43 in the CIC championship game on March 6.
The Golden Bears bolted to a 31-15 lead then held off Lathrop in the second half.
Damon Sherman-Newsome led three Golden Bears in double figures with 19 points. The junior forward also grabbed 13 rebounds.
Malik King poured in 18 points, including three 3-point baskets, and Darius Honeycutt added 11 points and had five steals.
Lathrop lost despite a monster game from Keith Mays who had 30 points, 16 rebounds, two assists and three steals. Mays scored 49 of Lathrop's 110 points in the tournament.
Bartlett 27 12 20 12 -- 71
Lathrop 15 17 15 16 -- 63
Bartlett -- Chenault 6, Hale 2, King 18, Harris 7, Sherman-Newsome 19, Honeycutt 11, Johnson 7, Everett 1.
Lathrop -- Streeter 9, Green 6, Holland 3, Ballard 3, Mays 30, Eason 2, Hamilton 10.
By RICHARD LARSON
rlarson@adn.com