Colony boys grind out win against Palmer

PALMER — Tuesday night, Colony head coach Tom Berg and the Knights sat in the stands in the Palmer High gymnasium and watched Wasilla edge Palmer 36-35 in a defensive battle.

Friday night, the Knights found themselves in a defensive slugfest of their own with the Moose. And Colony was able to do just enough at the offensive end to post a 33-27 over Palmer at Colony High School.

“They do a very good job of making you work on the defensive end and moving the ball,” Berg said after the win. “We certainly played the way they wanted to play more than we wanted to tonight.”

Each team hit double digits in scoring in a quarter only once in the game, and the Knights and Moose combined to hit only 16 total field goals. Colony was held to only four total field goals during the final three quarters, but found a way to improve to 8-1 in Northern Lights Conference play.

“They are good defensively. They’ve been really good defensively all year,” Berg said of Palmer. “That’s what they hang their hat on.”

Berg said as they prepare for Palmer, the Knights know they have to play great defense as well.

“I thought we guarded tonight,” Berg said. “I thought we did a good job tonight.”

Berg said the Knights have the pieces to win in different ways, and was happy to see his squad have the ability to come out on top in a defensive battle.

“It’s nice when you have nights like that, you can grind it out and find ways to win,” Berg said.

Colony was also able to jump to an early lead, scoring 12 of its 33 points in the first quarter. Sullivan Menard and Parker Kizer had five points each in the first, and both hit a three-pointer early in the game. Palmer didn’t get its first bucket until Jared Hawkins hit a three with 2:16 left in the first quarter. Menard had Colony’s only basket in the fourth. Palmer didn’t have a field goal in the fourth until an Isaac Atkins layup with seven seconds left to play.

Menard led Colony with 11 points in the win. Clayton Southwick scored 13 in the loss for the Moose. Palmer capped its regular season 6-4 in NLC play. Colony improved to 9-0 and clinched the top seed in the upcoming NLC tournament.

The Knights end their regular season Saturday at 4:30 p.m. at Wasilla.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 33, Palmer 27

Friday, Colony High

Palmer 6-6-5-10—27

Colony 12-4-8-9—33

Palmer (27) — Atkins 2 2-3 6, Titus 0 3-4 3, Hawkins 1 0-0 3, Southwick 3 7-14 13, Oviok 1 0-0 2; Totals: 7 12-21 27.

Colony (33) — Pomrenke 2 0-0 4, McMahon 1 4-6 6, Freeman 0 3-4 3, Menard 3 4-6 11, Kizer 2 0-0 5, Hersrud 1 2-3 3; Totals: 9 13-18 33.