CLOSE CONTESTS GO KODIAKS WAY

PALMER - The Palmer boys basketball team dropped a pair of weekend games to Kodiak, with both games decided by six points or less.

In both games, Palmer had trouble holding the lead. Friday night, the Moose jumped to a 23-12 lead after one quarter of action, but the Bears kept chipping away at the lead until finally taking it for good a minute into the second half. After a furious final half of action, the Bears ended up on top with a 78-72 victory.

The third and fourth quarters featured the two teams trading baskets on virtually every possession.

Kodiak refused to surrender the lead, although Palmer never trailed by more than five points and almost pulled off a fantastic comeback in the final seconds of the contest.

With 1:15 to play, Palmer forced Kodiak to turn the ball over. Palmer guard Jesse Doerr lost his defender off the dribble and drained a three-pointer to pull the Moose to within two at 74-72.

Palmer fouled Kodiak immediately, and the Bears made one free throw to give them a three-point lead.

With one last chance to tie the game, Palmer was unable to get a shot off in the final 20 seconds as a pass by Mike Jones to Doerr went out of bounds.

Kodiak was fouled again and made both free throws to give it a 78-72 victory.

Doerr led the Moose in scoring with 25 points, while Jones and Chris Stringer each had 19.

The same type of game played out Saturday when the Bears again rallied late in the game for a 59-56 victory.

Kodiak outscored Palmer 28-15 in the fourth quarter for the comeback victory. Palmer did not tally a single field goal in the final quarter as the Moose scored all 15 points in the quarter from the foul line.

Doerr had 30 points, with 19 of them coming from the free-throw line, including 13 in the fourth quarter.

Springer added 10 points for the Moose, who were playing without four players who were sitting the game out for disciplinary reasons.

Palmer plays Valley rival Wasilla Friday night at Wasilla High School, with tipoff scheduled for 7:15 p.m.