Coach’s strategy pays off

PALMER — Palmer head coach Jason Marvel wanted to send a message to his players, particularly his seniors.

When the Moose took the court on Saturday against the Chugiak Mustangs, Marvel had three sophomores and a junior in the starting lineup.

“My response to the seniors, if they’re going to lose, I’ll lose young,” Marvel said.

Message received.

Senior Jake Hillis scored a game-high 28 points and fellow senior Mitch Swetzof pulled down a game-best eight offensive rebounds to lead the Moose to a 59-48 nonconference win over the Mustangs at Palmer High School.

“I think it was a good wake-up call to those seniors,” Marvel said.

Hillis, Palmer’s senior captain, echoed his coach’s sentiments.

“(He) scared us into winning,” Hillis said.

Behind the scoring of Hillis and a dominating performance on the offensive glass, Palmer built an early lead and stretched that advantage to double digits in the second half.

“We finally played together,” Hillis said. “We hustled our butts off and did what we needed to do.”

Led by Swetzof, Palmer’s attack on the offensive boards gave the Moose a number of second chances at their own end.

“It’s huge,” Hillis said. “Offensive boards, second chances.”

Palmer had its second chances. Sometimes the Moose even three attempts at the basket.

Early in the game, junior Kyle Titus nailed one of his three, three-pointers in the first quarter to give the Moose the nine-point advantage. Titus’ trey came after three Palmer offensive rebounds.

Titus, a junior and one of four first-year varsity players to earn the start, scored 11 points in the win.

Hillis scored eight of his 28 points in the third quarter to help push Palmer’s lead to double figures.

“He’s big,” Marvel said of the performance of his 6-foot-5 forward. “That was one of our pregame goals. If we don’t have an inside game, we’re not going to be very good.”

Marvel was also pleased with his group of sophomores who saw significant action in the win.

Sean Niekamp scored six points and grabbed a handful of rebounds. Christian Odom and Trey Fullmer saw significant minutes at the guard spots, with Odom running the offense at the point guard position. Another sophomore, Hunter Dean, hit four key free throws down the stretch.

Dean’s free throws helped Palmer survive a late Chugiak rally.

Mustang captain Justin Williams scored six of his team-high 18 in the final quarter to help to bring Chugiak as close as five points, but Palmer was able to keep a cushion during the final stretch.

“I thought the boys responded nicely,” Marvel said of his team’s effort late in the game.

The win was the first of the season for Palmer, and Marvel’s first as the head coach of the Moose basketball program. During a brutal early-season stretch, Palmer has dropped games to Dimond, West Anchorage, Juneau-Douglas, Wasilla and Service.

Marvel said it was nice to get the monkey off their backs.

“It was a heck of a big monkey,” Marvel said.

Palmer returns to the court to host Anchorage Christian School on Tuesday.

Palmer 59, Chugiak 48

Saturday, Palmer High School

Chugiak 9-12-11-16—48

Palmer 18-9-18-14—59

Chugiak (48) — C. Fullmer 2 0-0 5, Moore 0 1-4 1, Rabung 4 1-1 9, Hewitt 1 1-5 3, Thies 5 2-4 12, Williams 7 1-2 18; Totals: 19 6-16 48.

Palmer (59) — Titus 4 0-0 11, Dean 0 4-4 4, Hillis 14 0-1 28, Swetzof 2 2-3 6, Bohman 1 2-2 4, Niekamp 3 0-1 6, C. Odom 0 0-1 0; Totals: 24 8-12 59.

Three-point field goals: Chugiak 4 (Williams 3), Palmer 3 (Titus 3); Total fouls: Chugiak 19, Palmer 19; Fouled out: Chugiak- Rabung, Hewitt, Thies; Palmer- Swetzof.

Cougars edge Moose

ANCHORAGE — The Service Cougars edged Palmer 49-41 in nonconference action at Service High School on Friday.

Jake Hillis was the lone Palmer play to hit double digits in scoring and led the Moose with 12 points in the loss. Mitch Swetzof and Shaq Odom added six each.

Service’s Leo Aukustino posted a game-high 20 for the Cougars.

Service 49, Palmer 41

Friday, Service High School

Palmer 8-10-12-11—41

Service 10-11-12-16—49

Palmer (41) — Titus 2, Hillis 12, Swetzof 6, S. Odom 6, Bohman 4, Niekamp 6, C. Odom 3, Daniels 2.

Service (49 — Krynski 2, Jackson 8, Freed 3, Hale 2, Aukustino 20, Johnson 12, Pullen 2.

Warriors seventh in tourney

ANCHORAGE — The Wasilla Warriors finished seventh in the Alaska Airlines Classic at West Anchorage High School on Saturday.

After dropping games to Dimond and East Anchorage during the first two rounds, the Warriors posted a 75-48 win over Wrangell in the seventh-place game.

East defeated Wasilla 60-52, while Dimond got past the Warriors 73-64 in the first round.

Girls basketball

Mustangs gallop past Moose

PALMER — The Chugiak Mustangs held Palmer to single digits in scoring in each quarter and posted a 44-28 nonconference win over Palmer at Palmer High School on Saturday.

Kelsey Campbell led the Moose with seven points.

Palmer returns to the court to play at Anchorage Christian on Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.

Chugiak 44, Palmer 28

Saturday, Palmer High

Chugiak 13-10,-15-6—44

Palmer 5-9-8-6—28

Chugiak (44) — Murphy 2 0-0 4, Watzke 1 0-0 2, Rochon 1 0-0 3, Meddaugh 2 0-0 4, Sayer 5 1-2 12, Seierup 1 0-0 2, Clifford 5 2-4 13, Kavanaugh 2 0-0 4; Totals: 19 3-6 44.

Palmer (28) — Campbell 2 0-3 7; LaMere 1 0-0 2, Mangelsdorf 1 0-0 2, Thein 1 2-3 4, Bolling 1 2-4 2; Zimmer 1 4-6 6, Venzke 1 1-2 3; Totals: 8 12-18 28.

Three-point field goals: Chugiak 3, Palmer 0.