Anchorage Christian School girls win state — again

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - The Anchorage Christian School girls kept their remarkable run of basketball success rolling Saturday at the Alaska Airlines Center.

If the COVID-19 season that didn’t technically have a state championship tournament is counted, the ACS girls have won seven straight state titles, dating back to 2017.

The Lions took on the Wasilla Warriors in a rematch of the 2022 state final, beating Wasilla again with a 57-38 final score to cut the nets down.

The Lions took a winning streak of over 100 games into the matchup, thanks to great team chemistry and the highest-scoring Alaska girls basketball player in history on their side in Sayvia Sellers.

The Wasilla Warriors were anchored by strong guard play and 6-foot-5 sophomore center Layla Hays, who shined on both sides of the ball.

Going into the game, many fans would admit that a win for Wasilla would be to keep the score within 10 points, but Wasilla didn’t get that memo; the Warriors came out and played ACS straight up, keeping it to a nine-point game at halftime.

“It was a really close game, the whole time,” Sellers said. “I’m just glad that my team pulled it off. It’s what we worked for all season.”

Eventually, the talent of Sellers and the rest of the ACS squad started to pile on. Sellers had 32 points and junior Nyamach Mathot had eight big points that came at just the right time.

While the final score was 57-38, the game felt much closer than that and is one of the closest games ACS has played all season.

“It’s a little different obviously,” ACS girls basketball head coach Chad Dyson said. “It’s a different group of kids that come out compete and work really hard, so it’s special every year, but I think it’s most special for the freshmen to be able to experience that at a high level.”

The Lions have made a name for themselves as the premier school to go to for those wanting to win in girls basketball in Alaska. Even with Sellers graduating and going to play Div. I basketball at the University of Washington, their reign of championships doesn’t look like it will end soon with tons of talent on their roster.

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