Barrow's Hilary Lowery looks for an open teammate against the Wasilla Warriors. - Photo Provided / for Alaska Newspapers

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Barrow girls go down swinging

January 20th 3:08 am | Van Williams

With arguably the state's toughest girls basketball program coming to town, Barrow's Hilary Lowery admitted to letting Wasilla's reputation get the best of her initially.

But it didn't last.

"I was actually getting really nervous before Friday's game," Lowery said. "But then I got out on the court and started playing and everything I learned came into place. Playing them wasn't as tough as I thought it would be."

The Lady Whalers lost 48-37 but gained respect by battling Wasilla the whole way in a meeting between the 4A and 3A defending state champions.

"I was happy with how my girls came out and played," Barrow coach Jordyn Danner said. "I think they even surprised themselves how well they played."

Lowery led the way with 10 points while Lynette Hepa scored 9 and Dana Chrestman 8.

"It was an excellent way to see where we really are as a team and how much potential we actually have," Danner said. "I hope playing the number one ranked team in 4A, playing as hard and close as we did the first night, gives this team confidence in their abilities."

Wasilla's Alyssa Hutchins scored a game-high 28 points.

The Warriors led by only 1 at halftime before pulling away in the second half.

"It was fun playing a good team," Lowery said. "Honestly I think we could've beaten them the first night but we ran out of gas."

In the second game, Wasilla won 65-41 despite a vocal Barrow crowd.

Hepa pumped in 17 points and Lowery had 14.

"Playing Wasilla was a great experience and I'm happy we got to play them," Hepa said. "The games were fast paced and tough, but overall it was really fun. Wasilla is a tough team and really quick. I'm so proud of my team for keeping up and playing their game with them even though we lost."

Van Williams can be reached at sports@reportalaska.com.

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Copyright 2012 The Arctic Sounder is a publication of Alaska Media, LLC. This article is © 2012 and limited reproduction rights for personal use are granted for this printing only. This article, in any form, may not be further reproduced without written permission of the publisher and owner, including duplication for not-for-profit purposes. Portions of this article may belong to other agencies; those sections are reproduced here with permission and Alaska Media, LLC makes no provisions for further distribution.