Balanced attack bounces Palmer boys

ANCHORAGE — The Palmer Moose continued to pull themselves back into the game, but East Anchorage managed to find ways to keep pushing ahead.

East used runs in the final minutes of the second and third quarters, and a balanced scoring attack, to survive a late Palmer rush and score a 68-61 win over the Moose during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Championships quarterfinals at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage Thursday night.

“I’m proud of our guys. They battled hard, but fell just short,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said of his sixth-seeded Moose.

Seniors Nathan Mayer and Connor Looney each drained three-pointers during the final 36 seconds as Palmer tried to knock off the No. 3 T-Birds, but East did enough to keep at least a two-possession cushion. Mayer’s long ball cut East’s lead to five points, 63-58, with 36 seconds left. Looney hit a three with 13 seconds remaining to make it a 66-61 game.

“We didn’t keel over,” Marvel said. “We played hard right to the end.”

With a trio of threes each, Mayer and Looney combined for six of Palmer’s seven three-pointers in the game.

Looney led the Moose with a game-high 32 points in the loss. The first-team all-state guard finished 10 of 22 from the field, and 9 of 9 from the free throw line. Brian Selmer added 13 points in the loss.

Looney pumped in 32 for Palmer, but East used a balanced scoring attack to get by the Moose. Four T-Birds finished in double figures. Xavier Johnson and Jarred Laws finished with a team-best 17 each.

Matthew Hardwick had 13, and Austin Huss chipped in a dozen.

“Our balance of scoring wasn’t very good,” Marvel said. “Theirs was.”

East also had 39 points off the bench.

Seven T-Birds saw at least 14 minutes of playing time in game that never had a margin more than 12 points.

East used key points during the end of the second and third quarters to grab the win and move into a semifinal date with Northern Lights Conference runner-up Colony.

Looney hit a jumper to give the Moose a 17-15 lead with 5:50 left in the second quarter. But East answered with a 12-2 run, and took a six-point advantage into the half.

“They’re a rhythm team,” Marvel said of the T-Birds, the Cook Inlet Conference runner-up. “If they get two or three buckets off of transition, stuff off steals or turnovers, that just sparks their offense.”

East had a similar run toward the end of the third quarter. Looney hit a pair of free throws to cut East’s lead to 35-34, but the T-Birds answered with an 8-2 run.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him @matsu_sports.

East 68, Palmer 61

ASAA 4A state quarterfinals

Thursday, Sullivan Arena

Palmer 12-12-13-24—61

East 12-18-13-25—68

Palmer (61) — Ramoth 1 0-0 2, Looney 10 9-9 32, Mayer 3 0-0 9, Nisbett 2 0-0 4, Selmer 4 4-6 13, Niekamp 0 1-2 1; Totals: 20 14-17 61.

East (68) — D. Johnson 4 1-1 9, X. Johnson 6 2-3 17, Laws 4 7-8 17, Hardwick 5 3-3 13, Huss 3 5-8 12; Totals: 22 18-23 68.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 7 (Looney, Mayer 3), East 6 (X. Johnson 3); Total fouls: Palmer 17, East 15.