Breakthrough

PALMER — The Palmer Moose made a breakthrough Tuesday night. And the Moose did so by breaking through the signature defensive pressure of the Colony Knights.

Palmer weathered a late Colony rally to post a 50-46 win over the Knights at Colony High School.

“I think we grew as a team tonight,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said after he watched his team record its third straight victory and first win over Colony in four years.

Palmer improved to 1-1 in Northern Lights Conference play and never trailed in the victory. But sparked by its intense pressure on the defensive end of the floor, Colony did cut Palmer’s advantage to just a possession, a handful of times in the second half.

“I knew they’d surge,” Marvel said of the Knights, who scored 34 of their 46 points during the final two quarters. “It was nice we battled through.”

Palmer held a 19-12 advantage at the half, but the Colony pressure early in the third period led to five quick Colony points and the Knights were suddenly back in the game.

“We knew they would (come back),” Marvel said. “Colony doesn’t give up. Coach (Jeff Bowker) does a nice job of making sure that his boys don’t give up.”

Buy every time Colony was in reach of gaining the lead, Palmer would do something to add to its advantage.

Palmer junior Brennan Bohman rifled a pass inside to senior Jake Hillis, and HIllis slipped in the easy lay-in to give the Moose their first bucket of the quarter, just before the 5-minute mark of the third. That came after Chris Scott capped a Colony 5-1 run with two of his game-high 18 points.

After Scott scored again to bring the Knights within a possession — again — Palmer senior Mitch Swetzof sparked a raucous response from the visitor’s section of the stands with a steal and a dunk to give the Moose the five-point lead.

“We had to focus — break their press and just run our stuff,” said Swetzof, who scored a team-high 10 in the win. “If we handle the pressure, it goes away.”

Swetzof was one of five Palmer players to score at least eight points in the win. Hillis, Bohman and senior Shaq Odom each chipped in nine points, while sophomore Sean Niekamp added eight.

Aside from a few short jumpers, most of Palmer’s points came from either the paint or the free throw line.

“Our inside game works really well,” Marvel said. “We’re really not outside shooters. We’ve got to work it around and plug it inside and go to work. We have some three-point shooters, but they’ve got to get in rhythm first.”

Palmer also had to overcome a bit of foul trouble in the fourth. Two of the team’s senior leaders — Hillis and Swetzof — had both been tagged with their fourth foul of the game by the early point of the fourth.

But even with Hillis and Swetzof on the bench in points during the fourth, the Moose were able to hold onto the lead.

Palmer finished the game 20-for-31 at the free throw line and was 10-for-15 from the stripe in the fourth quarter.

Scott and fellow forward Bryce Jacobson supplied the bulk of Colony’s offense in the second half. Scott scored 10 of his 18 points in the third, and after being held scoreless during the first half, Jacobson scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer 50, Colony 46

Tuesday, Colony High School

Palmer 10-9-15-16—50

Colony 5-7-14-18—46

Palmer (50) — Hillis 3 3-4 9, Niekamp 2 4-6 8, Bohman 2 5-6 9, S. Odom 4 1-4 9, Swetzof 4 2-3 10, C. Odom 0 3-4 3, Dean 0 2-4 2; Totals: 15 20-31 50.

Colony (46) — Scott 9 0-1 18, Murphy 0 3-4 3, Palmer 4 2-2 11, Jacobson 3 8-11 14; Totals: 17 13-17 46.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 0, Colony 1 (Palmer 1).