Colony boys place 3rd at state

ANCHORAGE — As the veterans of the Colony boys capped their careers by helping the Knights record their second straight top-3 finish in the 4A class, the next core of leaders became more apparent Saturday morning.

Both groups helped Colony finish its 2013-14 season with a 49-46 win over East Anchorage during the third-place game of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

“It’s sort of a semi-climatic passing of the guard,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of the balance of the outgoing talent and the future leaders. “As a program, we owe our seniors a debt of gratitude. The young guys, you want to get them to play, get them experience on the court. It’s going to serve us well if we work hard in the offseason and get back to it next year.”

Seniors Damien Fulp, Antonio Bush and Eric Nygard, who each played more than 22 minutes in the game, combined for more than half the team’s points. Junior Graham Dinkel provided eight points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Sophomore Bailey West chipped in nine points.

Colony also used the win to rebound from a tough 46-32 loss to West Anchorage in the semifinals. Berg credited his players for their ability to bounce back from the defeat.

“It’s not ideal. You want to play on Saturday, but you don’t want to play at 10:40 in the morning. You want to play in the late one,” Berg said of playing in the third-place game rather than for a state title. “What it really is, it’s a testament to our kids to be resilient enough to decide (to want to play and win).”

Colony overcame a slow start with a 13-point second quarter.

“We were better on the glass, a little more resilient getting to the rim,” Berg said of Colony’s work Saturday compared to the loss Friday.

Fulp scored seven of his 16 points in the second quarter to help spark the Knights. The UAA recruit also finished with four assists in the win.

“For him, he’s just done a terrific job this year learning when you got to take the reigns, and learning when you have to get your teammates involved a bit,” Berg said of Fulp.

Colony outrebounded East 38-27. Both Dinkel and Bush were within reach of double-doubles. Dinkel finished with eight points and 13 rebounds and Bush had eight points and 11 boards. Bush was a known weapon for the Knights, but Dinkel has also opened the eyes of opposing coaches, Berg said.

“The kid from the start to the finish of the season has been tremendous. I don’t think anybody had him as all-region at the beginning of the year. I don’t think anybody had him as a guy you had to worry about. I promise you every team we played in the state tournament had him on the scouting report as someone you need to worry about,” Berg said of Dinkel.

West Anchorage managed to score the 46-32 win over Colony despite shooting just 30 percent from the field.

“I thought our defense effort the last two days was tremendous,” Berg said Saturday. “As disappointing as last night was, we held West High to 30 percent. If you had told me before the game that we were going to hold West High to 30 percent and lose, I would have told you that you’ve been drinking. I was so worried if we were going to be able to guard them. I never in a million years would have thought we’d struggle scoring as much as we did.”

Colony was held to 20 percent shooting.

West led the Knights with 10 points against the Eagles. Bush finished with five points and 11 rebounds. Fulp added nine points and five rebounds.

Colony 49, East 46

4A third-place game

Saturday, Sullivan Arena

East 10-7-15-14—46

Colony 8-13-11-17—49

East (46) — Johnson 6 1-1 14, Gomez 6 2-2 15, Chore 1 0-2 2, Washburn 1 0-0 2, Bonner 1 1-1 3, Keith 3 0-0 8, Brown 0 1-2 1, Jany 0 1-2 1; Totals: 18 6-10 46.

Colony (49) — Looney 1 0-0 2, West 3 2-2 9, Fulp 7 0-1 16, Menard 1 2-2 4, Dinkel 4 0-0 8, Nygard 1 0-0 2, Bush 3 2-2 8; Totals: 20 6-7 49.

3-point field goals: East 4 (Keith 2), Colony 3 (Fulp 2); Total fouls: East 11, Colony 11.

West 46, Colony 32

4A semifinals

Friday, Sullivan Arena

Colony 7-5-9-11—32

West 4-12-18-12—46

Colony (32) — West 4 0-0 10, Fulp 2 4-7 9, Dinkel 2 2-4 6, Nygard 1 0-0 2, Bush 1 3-5 5; Totals: 10 9-16 32.

West (46) — Wyche 5 6-6 17, Zamora 1 0-0 2, McMorris 5 2-2 13, Wilson 3 0-0 8, Gross 2 0-0 4, Tatafu 1 0-0 2; Totals: 17 8-10 46.

3-point field goals: Colony 3 (West 2), West 4 (Wilson 2); Total fouls: Colony 14, West 10.