Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
2 min read
March 9, 2007
By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman
KENAI - Wasilla's boys basketball team got a bit of a scare early from the Homer Mariners before running away with a 64-35 win in the first round of the Northern Lights Conference tournament at Kenai Central High School Thursday morning.
The teams were deadlocked midway through the second quarter before Wasilla exploded for a 12-0 run to end the half and end any hopes of a Homer upset.
Wasilla forward Logan Williams got the state's top-ranked boys team going with a thunderous two-handed dunk to key the run. Williams scored all six of his points in the quarter.
Jesse Bean led all scorers with 20 points for Wasilla, while Tyler Johannes added 12.
Wasilla head coach Jason Marvel said it was no surprise that the Mariners came out swinging against his team, which finished the conference season a perfect 10-0.
“Everyone comes to play,” Marvel said. “The season records don't matter.”
Wasilla is the heavy favorite to win the tournament and earn one of the conference's three state tournament bids, but Marvel said he's not taking anything for granted.
“We're not even thinking about state,” he said. “You have to take them one game at a time.”
Wasilla will face Kenai today at 5:45 p.m. in the semifinals. If the Warriors win, they'll be guaranteed a place in the state tournament.
Like Wasilla, coming into Thursday's quarterfinal match against Skyview, Colony knew it was a big favorite to advance.
But after watching the school's girls team fall victim to a Skyview upset earlier in the day, the Knights weren't about to take the Panthers lightly.
“Anything can happen in tournament play,” Colony head coach Jeff Bowker said following his team's 66-37 win at Kenai Central High School.
Jaron Murphy and Doug Gray each scored 12 points for the Knights, which had four players in double figures. John Palmer had 11 for Colony and Ryan Coffman added 10.
Colony's full-court press caused all kinds of Skyview from the beginning, as the Knights raced to a 37-12 halftime lead.
“We knew our pressure would eventually get to them,” Bowker said.
Rich Shirnberg scored 17 points to lead all scorers for Skyview, but 13 of those came in the second half - long after Colony had taken firm command of the contest.
With the win, Colony advanced to today's semifinal game against Soldotna, the top seed from the South Division.
“It won't be easy,” Bowker said. “We've got to beat a team that we lost to earlier this season.”
In the final game of the day, Soldotna scored a 50-41 win over Palmer.
Guard T.J. Fullmer led Palmer with 15 points.
The Stars' win sets up a semifinal match with Colony, today at 9:15 p.m.
The Moose play Skyview at 2:15 p.m.
Palmer finished just 2-8 in region play this season, but one of those two wins came on the road against the Panthers. The Moose can still work their way into the state tournament with consecutive wins on the consolation side of the bracket.
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