The No. 8 North Pole High School girls (11-9) opened their run at the ASAA March Madness Alaska 4A girls basketball state championships in the quarterfinal round against the top-seeded Colony High School Knights (23-3). A three-point barrage from Colony helped them secure a 62-33 victory.
In the first, a full-court press provided North Pole with turnover problems, leading to transition scores for the Knights. The Patriots were successful at getting to the rim but had trouble converting on contested looks. At the end of the quarter, North Pole trailed 18-3.
A three from Taimane Skipps started the second off on a high note for the Patriots as they looked to chip away. The massive Colony lead began to shrink with North Pole finding their rhythm. Both scoring and defensive play were much improved from the first, helping the Patriots cut the deficit to 30-18 heading into halftime.
Coming out of the break, Colony retook firm control. Much like the first, all momentum was on their side. Stifling defense and an efficient three-point attack helped them grow to a 53-23 advantage.
The Knights held onto their lead in the fourth to secure a spot in the semifinal round. North Pole headed to the consolation side of the bracket following their 62-33 defeat.
Taimane and Jade Skipps led the Patriots in scoring, having nine and eight points, respectively. While North Pole struggled from the field as a team, going 11-51, they found success from the free throw line, where they went 8-12.
For Colony, Alycia Shelley and Hallie Clark finished a combined 9-15 (60%) from deep to end the game with 17 and 14 points. The Knights focused heavily on three-point looks, putting up 23 attempts on the night, accounting for over half their field goal tries. Most impressively, they converted on 10 of those for a 43% clip as a team.
The only noticeable difference between the two was the previously assessed scoring efficiency, which was in part due to the defensive effort of the Knights. In other key statistics such as rebounds, turnovers and trips to the free throw line, the game was essentially even, showing no signs of the lopsided final score.
While early portions of the game were close, North Pole never led, as Colony went wire-to-wire with the lead. The Patriots’ best quarter came in the second, where they outscored the Knights 15-12. The game’s determining stretches came in the first and third quarters, where Colony outscored North Pole by a combined margin of 41-8.
With the loss, the Patriots are out of state title contention. They begin play in the consolation bracket against the loser of Thunder Mountain and Dimond on Friday at 11 a.m.
Contact Caleb Jones at 907-459-7530 or cjones@newsminer.com.
