Colony boys net win over rival

PALMER — Colony head coach Tom Berg wasn’t surprised to see Wasilla knock down a pair of big threes during a back-and-forth first quarter with the Knights. In a rivalry game, Berg said, both teams are going to get their shots. But it’s a matter of which team gets the stops.

Colony used key runs late in the second quarter and in the third to score a 70-55 Northern Lights Conference victory over Wasilla Tuesday at Colony High. Colony senior Damien Fulp scored a game-high 24 points to help the Knights win the battle of the NLC unbeatens. Bailey West added 19 to help Colony improve to 10-2 overall and 3-0 in the NLC.

“I certainly expected them to hit the shots they did,” Berg said of the Warriors. “I thought our guards in the second and third quarters really locked down defensively. Harrison Menard and Damien were terrific.”

Wasilla’s Cameron Brown scored eight of his team-high 14 points during the first quarter to help Wasilla take a 16-15 advantage into the second. Alex Baham scored five first-quarter points.

Midway through the second, with Colony holding the slim 24-23 lead, West grabbed a steal and drove the length of the court to give his team the 26-23 advantage. An Antonio Bush rebound and putback moments later pushed his team’s lead to five. Fulp hit a free throw to give Colony a six-point advantage.

“We talk about putting stops together. We put stops together and that little streak in the second quarter gave us a six-point lead,” Berg said. “We really pushed it through in the third where we were able to get stops.”

Colony outscored Wasilla 17-7 in the third quarter.

Early in the second half, Emilio Carney used a pair of buckets to help Wasilla slice into Colony’s advantage. But the Knights defense didn’t allow another Wasilla bucket until very late in the quarter.

Fulp hit seven shots from the floor and finished 9 of 12 from the line for the Warriors. West hit a trio of three-pointers.

“Damien’s decision-making was terrific tonight. When we got into the break, does he score? Does he pass? He made terrific decisions all night,” Berg said. “Obviously, he ended up with terrific game on offense. But in terms of everybody else, Bailey had a good night, Antonio was involved, Harrison was involved.”

Brown led Wasilla (3-1 in NLC) with 14 points in the loss and Baham added 13. Cash McGregor was 6 of 8 from the free throw line and chipped in 11.

Wasilla hit four three-pointers as the Warriors tried to rally in the fourth. Baham hit a pair of threes in the final quarter. McGregor and Koby Burn also had fourth-quarter three-pointers.

Colony boys 70, Wasilla 55

Tuesday, Wasilla High School

Wasilla 16-14-7-18—55

Colony 15-21-17-17—70

Wasilla (55) — Brown 3 7-9 14, Carney 3 0-0 6, Krueger 1 0-0 2, Baham 5 0-2 13, Garnett 1 1-2 4, McGregor 2 6-8 11, Houck 1 0-0 2, Burn 1 0-0 3; Totals: 17 14-21 55.

Colony (70) — Looney 1 0-0 3, West 7 2-3 19, Fulp 7 9-12 24, Menard 1 2-5 4, Sessom 0 2-2 2, Dinkel 3 1-1 7, Nygard 1 0-0 2, Sonnenberg 0 1-2 1, Bush 4 0-0 8; Totals: 24 17-25 70.

3-point field goals: Wasilla 7 (Baham 3), Colony 5 (West 3); Total fouls: Wasilla 20, Colony 19.