Colony basketball posts splits with Kenai, Soldotna

KENAI - The Kenai Central basketball teams split with Colony in two thrilling games Friday.

The Kenai boys won 53-50 in overtime, while the girls lost 37-34.

Kenai boys coach Ken Felchle praised the improved defensive effort of his team after a tough recent six-game stretch that saw the Kardinals enter Friday with a 2-4 record.

"When the defense goes, that's when you're in trouble, and that's our foundation," Felchle said. "We said tonight that we have to get back to that foundation, and then everything after that, we'll build on it."

Colony led 34-23 after the first half, but Kenai rallied to tie the game at 50 with 35 seconds left in regulation when Kenai senior AJ Hull sank two free throws.

Kenai junior Shane Spalding scored in overtime on a driving pass from Hull with 34 seconds left to break the tie.

"You have to trust your teammates, and when they're there for you, you can get it done," Hull said.

"That's a pretty good shot over a (6-foot-4) guy." Hull said of Spalding's shot over Colony guard Hunter Eisenhower.

Felchle mentioned a quote he saw during the team's recent trip to Kodiak.

"Hard work beats talent when talent does not work hard," Felchle recited. "Tonight, we did a good job at stepping out, not getting killed on the boards and not getting out-rebounded, like we have in the last six games. We were playing hard, but we needed better defense and to close out a little better. They didn't get many points in the paint."

Spalding led Kenai with 17 points, while Hull had 15.

Colony was led by Nathan Umbarger, who had 14 points.

Felchle continued to emphasize that the team is playing to win instead of playing not to lose.

"When you take a shot going to the rim, you are playing to win," Felchle said. "When you take a shot like a fade-away, you're hoping not to lose, so our mentality when we spread the floor and they gave us a little space, we're spreading the floor with the intention of scoring. AJ drove, felt the pressure and made a great pass to Shane, and Shane went hard to the rim and finished the layup."

Kenai now owns an 11-7 overall record, 5-2 in Northern Lights Conference play.

Colony leaves with an 8-7 record, 3-3 in the NLC.

Colony girls 37, Kenai 34

Much like the Kenai boys later in the night, the Colony girls rallied back to win a close game at Kenai on Friday.

Down 28-22 early in the fourth quarter, the Knights managed to turn up their defense while getting help offensively from junior Mary Klapperich, who led Colony with 13 points.

"Our coach told us to look at this opportunity that we have to get better, so we triumphed through adversity, we held our composure, ran when we wanted to and when we got fouled we made our free throws and the pressure was off," Klapperich said. "Kenai was pretty strong, we weren't expecting that. They're scrappy."

Colony freshman Faith Farris managed to steal the ball after a shot by Klapperich to score a quick basket that tied the game at 32 with a 95 seconds remaining.

Klapperich made a free throw with 22 seconds left to take the lead for the first time, and sophomore Jerica Nelson sealed the win with two free throws with a second remaining.

"Kenai was good all night defensively. Both Beeson and Wensley were tough all night, and their rebounding was absolutely terrific," Colony head coach Jeff Bowker said. "We changed some things up in the fourth quarter with some full-court plays and we made some shots."

The Kardinals were led by seniors Bailey Beeson, who had 15 points, and Morgan Wensley with 12.

Kenai head coach Stacia Rustad didn't mince words about a disappointing loss.

"We needed to take care of the ball and handle the pressure and make shots, and unfortunately we were unable to do that," Rustad said. "We outplayed them for 30 minutes, but unfortunately it's a 32-minute game, and we didn't get it done the last two minutes."

Bowker was thrilled to leave Kenai with a win.

"Kenai does a good job of not letting you do what you want to do," Bowker said. "They're physical, tough, smart and we're very fortunate coming out of here with the win."

Kenai boys 53, Colony 50 OT

Friday, Kenai

Kenai 12-11-18-9-3-53

Colony 17-17-8-8-0-50

Kenai (53) - Springer 0 0-0 0, McKee 0 0-0 0, Hull 4 7-10 15, Fitt 1 0-0 2, Sandahl 0 0-0 0, Reilly 4 2-2 12, Spalding 7 3-4 17, Hayes 2 1-2 7. Totals 18 13-18 53.

Colony (50) - Smith 2 1-1 6, Fulp 3 2-2 10, Turner 2 0-0 5, Umbarger 5 3-4 14, Peliteir 3 0-0 7, Hightower 0 0-0 0, Eisenhower 3 2-2 8. Totals 18 8-9 50.

3-point goals - Kenai 4 (Reilly 2, Hayes 2); Colony 6 (Fulp 2, Smith 1, Turner 1, Umbarger 1, Peliteir 1).

Team fouls - Kenai 12, Colony 16. Fouled out - Smith.

Colony girls 37, Kenai 34

Friday, Kenai

Colony 8-2-12-15-37

Kenai 5-11-10-8-34

Colony (37) - Klapperich 5 3-6 13, Farris 3 0-2 6, Tweed 0 0-2 0, Nelson 3 6-6 12, Simmons 0 0-0 0, Willardson 0 0-0 0, Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, Payne 0 0-0 0, Stefanski 1 0-0 2, Solano 1 2-2 4. Totals 13 11-18 37.

Kenai (34) - English 0 0-0 0, Beeson 5 5-8 15, Kiefer 0 1-2 1, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Ross 0 0-0 0, Tieaskie 2 0-0 4, Wensley 4 2-4 12. Totals 12 8-14 34.

3-point goals - Colony 0; Kenai 2 (Wensley 2).

Team fouls - Colony 15, Kenai 12. Fouled out - none.

Knights split with SoHi

SOLDOTNA — Like Friday, the Colony Knights also left the gym with a Northern Lights Conference split Saturday.

The Colony boys earned a big 56-46 win, but the girls fell 50-41.

The Soldotna girls took over in the second half after a halftime tie to win over Colony Saturday in Northern Lights Conference play at Soldotna.

With a halftime score of 19 each, the Stars managed to outscore the Knights 31-22 in the second half.

Julie Litchfield had 20 points to lead Soldotna. Kelci Benson and Kaillee Skjold had 11 apiece as well.

Jerica Nelson had 16 points to lead Colony.

In boys action, leading 32-23 at halftime, Soldotna was outscored by the Knights 33-14 in the second half.

Evan Withrow led Soldotna with 21 points, while Colony was led by both Tim Smith and Hunter Eisenhower, who had 18 and 17 points, respectively.

Soldotna girls 50, Colony 41

Soldotna 13 6 14 17 —50

Colony 11 8 9 13 —41

SOLDOTNA (50) — Benson 3 2-2 11, Kress 0 0-0 0, Litchfield 5 11-12 20, Wong 1 2-2 4, Kerkvliet 0 0-0 0, Westerman 2 0-0 4, Skjold 3 4-4 11. Totals 14 19-20 50.

COLONY (41) — Klapperich 1 1-2 3, Farris 2 0-0 4, Tweed 2 4-4 10, Nelson 6 2-2 16, Simmons 0 0-0 0, Brumbaugh 0 0-0 0, Payne 0 0-0 0, Stefanski 2 0-2 4, Solano 2 0-0 4. Totals 15 7-10 41.

3-point goals — Soldotna 4 (Benson 3, Skjold 1); Colony 4 (Tweed 2, Nelson 2).

Team fouls — Soldotna 10, Colony 18. Fouled out — none.

Colony boys 56, Soldotna 46

Colony 10 13 15 18 —56

Soldotna 16 16 7 7 —46

COLONY (56) — Smith 5 6-7 18, Fulp 3 0-0 7, Turner 1 1-2 3, Umbarger 2 3-4 7, Menard 0 0-0 0, Peliteir 1 0-0 2, Hightower 1 0-0 2, Eisenhower 5 4-6 17, Gredigen 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 14-19 56.

SOLDOTNA (46) — Fowler 3 0-0 8, Young 2 0-0 5, Darrow 0 0-0 0, Carver 2 3-4 7, Withrow 9 0-0 21, Fowler 0 0-0 0, Bosick 2 1-1 5, McElroy 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 4-5 46.

3-point goals — Colony 6 (Eisenhower 3, Smith 2, Fulp 1); Soldotna 6 (Withrow 3, Fowler 2, Young 1).

Team fouls — Colony 8, Soldotna 14. Fouled out — none.