AOTW: Clark, Karpow lead Colony Knights girls basketball to first state title in 17 years
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - After suffering heartbreak at the hands of their biggest rivals last year, the Colony Knights girls basketball team avenged the loss and defeated Wasilla 44-41 to win the program its first state championship since 2008.
“It means so much. Last year really motivated us. It was one of the worst feelings I have ever felt,” Colony Senior Hallie Clark said of falling in the state championship in 2024. “We put all that into the off-season, in before-school workouts and all of that, so it means a lot.”
The Knights were led in part by Clark, who was named the 2024-25 Alaska Gatorade Basketball Player of the Year amongst a talented field of girls basketball players.
“Oh man, it means so much, doing it with these girls ... senior year, I have been playing with these girls since elementary school, middle school, so to be able to experience this, it is indescribable,” Clark said.
The 5-foot-7 senior averaged 25.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 2.8 steals per game this season and has signed to Division II’s Colorado-Mesa.
Meanwhile, the hero of the championship was fellow senior Tonya Karpow, who dropped a game-high 20 points to lift the Knights over the reigning state champs.
“It was an experience I will never forget, honestly, being out on the floor, playing with my family, my teammates, those are my sisters, and I play for them, we play for each other,” Karpow said with an unerasable smile on her face after the triumphant win.
Karpow sunk two clutch free throws with 10 seconds remaining to make it a three-point game, where Wasilla’s game-tying shot fell short, and the Knights were back on top of the girl’s basketball landscape.
“I was like, okay, if I can make these, we can win!” Karpow recalled. “I just have to make them. This is my last shot I am going to make, this is my last point. I have got to do this for my team, I have got to do this for my family; I have to do this for everyone.”
Karpow delivered the game-sealing moment at the Alaska Airlines Center — which likely won’t be her last showing on this court. She is signed to Simon Fraser, a conference foe of UAA that plays in Anchorage once a season.
Although they are taking their talents elsewhere, Clark and Karpow have left their legacy at Colony High School and basketball in the state.
”Alaska basketball is really special, and I am just so blessed to be a part of it,” Clark added.
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