Colony boys advance to state

KODIAK — After defeating the Kodiak Bears by a mere point, 60-59 in a Saturday morning matchup, the Colony Knights beat the Kenai Kardinals 44-35 to take third place in the Northern Lights Conference Tournament on the same afternoon.

With the win, Colony earns the conference’s third and final state tournament berth. Kenai’s 2008-09 season ends with the loss.

The Knights captured an early lead in the first half that they would not relinquish, although Kenai did pull within three points late in the second half despite a 20-10 Colony lead at halftime.

Colony junior guard John Palmer and senior forward Chris Scott each scored a team-high 13 points in the win.

Senior guard Tim Gray chipped in nine points.

Gray said the win and advancement to the state tournament, “feels really good.”

Gray wasn’t feeling so good after being kneed in the leg with about four minutes left in the fourth quarter by Kenai’s Billy Kiefer and having to leave the game for good, but said of the thigh injury, “I’ll be fine.”

He said the Knights’ defense down the stretch in the second half was the key to the win, although Colony did allow 14 fourth-quarter points to the Kardinals.

Colony head coach Jeff Bowker said in addressing his team, “I’m proud of you guys. We did what it took to win. We battled through and we persevered against guys that were shooting better than us.”

After the victory, Bowker said endurance and conditioning played an important role in the victory aside from good defense.

“Any time you have to play two games in one day, two games within six hours in this case, endurance and conditioning come into play,” Bowker said. “We had to face a hostile crowd in the morning, but we came out on top.”

Bowker said he’s looking forward to the state tournament, where expects some stiff competition but isn’t ruling out the possibility of surprising some people.

“We believe anything can happen at state,” he said.

Senior center Tyler Spalding led Kenai scorers with 10 points.

Colony remained alive with a 60-59 win over the Bears early Saturday morning.

Palmer scored a game-high 21 points for the Knights, and was one of four CHS players to hit double digits.

Scott scored 12, senior Bryce Jacobson chipped in 11 and Gray added 10.

Kodiak led early, holding a 14-10 after the first quarter, and the teams were tied at 24-24 at the half.

Palmer scored 19 of his 21 points in the second half to help keep the Knights alive.

Colony was 10-of-11 from the free throw line during the final two quarters.

Erik Wander is a freelance writer in Kodiak.

Colony 44, Kenai 35

NLC third-place game

Saturday, Kodiak High School

Colony 16-4-9-15—44

Kenai 8-2-11-14—35

COLONY (44) — Gray 9, Lanners 1, Turner 3, Larsen, Palmer 13, Scott 13, Jacobsen 4, Murphy, Depriest, Summers.

KENAI (35) — Lowe, Rabung 2, Hull, Kiefer 9, Spalding 10, Crowder, Aguilar 3, Reilly, Lazaro 9, Barnes, Bisset 2, Hayes.

Colony 60, Kodiak 59

NLC consolation semifinals

Colony 10-14-24-12—60

Kodiak 15-9-17-18—59

COLONY (60) — Gray 3 3-4 10, Lanners 0 0-0 0, Turner 0 0-0 0, Larsen 0 0-0 0, Palmer 7 6-9 21, Scott 5 2-5 12, Jacobson 5 1-1 11, Murphy 0 2-4 2, Depriest 0 0-0 0, Summers 2 0-0 4. Totals — 22 14-13 60.

KODIAK (59) — Watkins 0 0-0 0, Cowley 1 1-2 3, Domingo 1 0-0 3, Diocares 5 7-7 17, Galindo 3 2-2 10, Garner 0 0-0 0, Matautia 12 2-4 26. Totals — 22 12-16 59.

Three-point goals — Colony 2 (Gray, Palmer), Kodiak 3 (Galindo 2, Domingo 1). Team fouls — Colony 18, Kodiak 17. Fouled out — Summers, Diocares.