The longest Alaska high school basketball winning streak against in-state competition came to an end Friday night when two-time girls 4A state runner-up Wasilla defeated two-time defending state champion Mountain City Christian Academy 47-32.
It seemed only fitting that the Lions suffered their first defeat against a team from their home state in nearly six years against the same opponent that handed them their last one. Since the Warriors beat the school then known as Anchorage Christian School 55-33 on Feb. 9, 2018, when they were still at the 3A level, the Lions had rattled off a state record 133 straight wins against foes from the Last Frontier.
“I thought my girls did a fabulous job playing defense,” Wasilla head coach Jeannie Herbert said. “We held a prolific scoring team to 32 points and three points in the second quarter. I thought they just beared down defensively and did a great job communicating and holding them off.”
The Warriors jumped out to an early double-digit lead, but the Lions crawled back within striking distance to make it 15-11 at the end of the opening quarter. The Warriors clamped down on defense again and led 29-14 at halftime.
“We kept that lead in the second half, and at one time, we were up by 22, and they kind of came back but we still won by 15,” Herbert said.
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She was very pleased with how complete the team’s overall performance was, from a dominant defensive effort to offensive execution.
“We got a few things to work on before the next time we play them but I’m super proud of my girls,” Herbert said.
The only player to reach double figures in scoring for Wasilla was star junior forward/center Layla Hays with a game-high 15 points. Mountain City only had one player reach that threshold as well, with standout junior guard Morgan Maldonado scoring 14.
Snapping Mountain City’s longstanding winning streak was made even sweeter by the fact that the Warriors did it on their home court in front of a rowdy crowd filled with friends, family and classmates.
“It was nice and we definitely had a home-crowd advantage,” Herbert said. “I want to thank all our fans for their support, being in the game and being there.”