Boys' prep basketball: Defending state champs post win over CHS

Dec. 24, 2006

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

PALMER - The Colony boys basketball team had no answer for West Anchorage's up-tempo style of play Thursday night, falling 72-49 to the three-time defending state champions.

&#8220You can't turn the ball over and you can't give the other team second chances, and we did both,” Knights head coach Jeff Bowker said following the loss.

Colony stayed with the Eagles through the first quarter, as Doug Gray netted eight of his team-high 16 points in the opening period. But West's guards - led by senior Brian Mason who led all scorers with 25 points - proved too much as the game wore on.

Despite the lopsided win, however, West coach Chuck White was far from happy following the game.

&#8220I thought we stunk,” White said of his team's performance.

White said he felt like his squad was out-hustled all evening by the scrappy Knights, who don't have a single player listed at taller than 6-foot-3.

&#8220I love the way they play,” White said of Colony. &#8220They hustled their tails off.”

The game didn't end until 11:15 p.m., a result of both West's bus getting to the Valley more than an hour late as well as the frenetic pace of play.

A total of 47 fouls were whistled in the contest, and Colony turned the ball over more than 30 times. Mason was often the reason for those turnovers, racking up six steals on the night.

Colony actually held the early lead after getting a 3-pointer from Gray to open the contest. But as the game wore on, West's pressure defense continually forced the Knights to take bad shots and make ill-advised passes.

&#8220You negate your hustle when you foul or turn the ball over,” Bowker said.

West put the game away for good with their defense in the third quarter, outscoring Colony 15-8 in the frame and holding the Knights without a field goal for the first six minutes of the quarter. West led 53-28 after the quarter before putting in their subs, which enabled Colony to have its best quarter of the game with 21 points.

Ryan Coffman chipped in eight points for Colony, Grant Niver added seven and Josh Moseley and Antone Zagars each scored five. Bowker said he was not happy with how is team played on the offensive end, and said the Knights will have to get scoring from other players besides Gray.

&#8220You've got to have more than one guy,” he said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 357-2265 or matt.tunseth@

frontiersman.com.