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ANCHORAGE - Paint the town crimson.

Juneau-Douglas took no prisoners defensively and knocked down free throws Wednesday, holding off Wasilla 41-35 to win the 4A girls' basketball state championship at Sullivan Arena.

The sounds of "We are the Champions" drifted out of the girls' locker room after the win, along with cheers and shouts of joy.

"It's always great to go out with a big bang," senior wing Brittany Fenumiai said after playing her final prep game. "We gave it our all on the floor. Everybody had a good game and I thought we played together as a team as we have all season, and this is the outcome."

"It feels amazing. We've been wanting this for so long and I'm happy our seniors got to experience this, and we got to experience it with them," junior point guard Karli Brakes said. "We're going to miss them a lot. We've been playing together for a long time, and they're great teammates.

"They're our role models."

The Bears' balance again shone through, with JDHS winning without Fenumiai, a First Team All-State selection, not scoring a single point after having a tough night shooting the ball. Picking up the offensive slack was fellow senior Mahlet Tingley, who had 11 points to lead the way, and 10 points each from Taylor Larson and Annette Highley.

Fenumiai contributed in other ways, leading the Bears with six boards and chipping in three steals.

The Bears made 18 of 25 free throws on the night, a key factor in the win, and scored 18 points off 22 turnovers, 15 of which came off steals.

"It's a big relief and an amazing feeling. I'm really proud of our team that we put such an amazing season together," Larson said. "It was a big defensive game. One of our main things was to press the ball and get lots of steals and turnovers, and then just drive (to the basket) to try and get them in foul trouble because free throws is one of our big strengths."

Wasilla scored the first four points as the Bears struggled to get going early, with two turnovers in their first four possessions. Sarah Tarver scored inside at the 4:20-mark to put the Bears on the board, and Brakes tied things up with a steal and lay-up.

A Larson steal led to a bucket inside off a dish from Tarver for the Bears' first lead, 6-4. Highley stole the ball under the JDHS basket and went to the free throw line, where she made both, and a Fenumiai steal off the press gave Highley two more chances at the stripe.

Highley was automatic, and the Bears led 10-4 after the first period.

"Annette's a great free throw shooter and we really have focused the last month on free throw shooting," JDHS coach Lesslie Knight said. "We spent a huge amount of time doing it, so it's really nice that it made a difference in the game."

The Warriors went inside to towering 6-foot-5 center Kelsey Cottle, who had 12 points, with four coming at the free line, for the first bucket of the second quarter, but another Brakes' steal sent Highley back to the stripe, where she again made both.

Wasilla scored three straight to cut into the deficit, and then pulled within one after a stickback by Cottle, but Larson then scored two straight buckets on the left block over Cottle, the second coming after she stole the ball on the press.

After another Cottle score, Larson got a stickback and the Bears continued to wreak havoc with their press. A Brakes steal led to an easy bucket inside for Highley after a nice pass from Fenumiai across the lane.

Tingley scored a tough lay-up after a steal by Emily Johnson under the Warriors' goal, and the Bears led 22-15 at the half.

Larson started the second half with a deuce inside, and the Warriors turned it over on the ensuing possession against the press, leading to a 3-pointer for Tingley and a 27-15 lead for the Bears in the opening minute of the second half.

The Warriors didn't get their first point until Celeste Colgrove made two free throws at the 5:13 mark. A jumper from Alexis Imoe made it 27-19 Bears at the midway point.

Wasilla continued to chip away, and pulled within six after a stickback by Carlee Naczi. Hannah Swofford made a couple of free throws and JDHS forced another turnover off the press, leading to two free throws for Tingley, pushing the lead back to 10, 31-21, with 1:14 left in the third, and the Bears led 31-23 after three quarters of action.

Neither team could find the bottom of the net to start the fourth, with the first point not coming until the 5:16 mark when Brakes made a free throw after a steal. A Highley turnover led to one made free throw for Cottle, and the Bears spread the ball around to eat some time off the clock.

Wasilla made a couple of free throws, but Tingley found Tarver wide open under the basket for a lay-up after a defensive rebound and kick by Fenumiai, and a 37-28 JDHS with 1:29 remaining. The Bears took care of business at the line down the stretch, and celebrated the school's first girls' basketball state title since 2005.

Knight said she couldn't have had a better group of girls to coach this year.

"It is a long season, and this is really a special group that I've had an opportunity to work with the last four years, and Dee (Boster) had a chance to coach in middle school," she said. "We're really connected to these kids and we're really happy that the good guys won and we had a happy ending."

Due to the late finish Wednesday night, there will be more coverage in Friday's paper.