Championship matchups set in 4A state basketball tourney

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Semifinal Friday was an action-packed day at the Alaska Airlines Center with eight teams all vying for a spot in the championship game.

In the first semifinal of the day, the Anchorage Christian School girls showed why they are on a more than 100-game win streak, dominating West Anchorage in the Class 3A girls game 81-34.

Sayvia Sellers, who committed to the University of Washington, broke the all-time Alaska high school girls career scoring record.

“It definitely was, I’m not going to lie, it was, but I wasn’t going to like make it a main goal like I knew it would just come,” Sellers said after winning player of the game and advancing to the championship game. “Before the game, I was just a little nervous I guess, it’s just a little feeling in my stomach, like man there’s a lot going on, not too bad, it goes away once the tip-off (happened).”

On the other side of the 4A girls semis, it was an all Mat-Su matchup as Wasilla took on Colony.

The two teams played each other numerous times throughout the season with both teams winning and losing. In a rivalry matchup, this one didn’t disappoint.

Wasilla took the lead early but the Colony Knights kept going at the Warriors and made it a game.

The semifinal clash came down to some clutch free throws and the Wasilla Warriors returned to the championship game for the second straight year with a final of 48-40.

“I just feel like this group of girls, we just want it more, we are ready to play ACS tomorrow,” Wasilla’s Layla Hays said. “We put in. We went in there with the mindset that we wanted it.”

In the 4A boys bracket, it was an all-Fairbanks matchup in the first semifinal, as the #1-seeded West Valley Wolfpack played the Monroe Catholic Rams.

The two teams exchanged heavyweight blows until the final buzzer with West Valley coming out on top 43-40, advancing to the championship game.

“I just got to take it one game at a time,” Malachi Bradley said. “My teammates and I, we just got to get better. We have to look for the best situation possible to win. Honestly, I’m just ready to play another game. Time to get better.”

In the other semifinal, it was East Anchorage versus West Anchorage for the other spot in the championship game.

The East Anchorage Thunderbirds came out like lightning and never looked back, beating West 62-31.

All of the championship fun starts at 1 p.m. with the Grace Christian Grizzlies taking on the Mt. Edgecumbe Braves in the 3A girls state championship game.

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