Colony boys squad improves at the right time

March 18, 2007

By MATT TUNSETH/ Frontiersman

WASILLA - As any fan familiar with college basketball's March Madness can tell you, it's always better to be playing well at the end of the season than the beginning.

No team in Alaska high school postseason play embodies that concept like the Colony Knights boys basketball team, which transformed itself from pretender to contender over the past three months.

Colony began its season with consecutive losses, including a 72-49 thrashing at the hands of West Anchorage. The Knights had a losing record through the halfway mark of the season, and were noncompetitive in their first meeting with rival Wasilla in January.

But something started to happen to the Knights midway through the year as Colony began building toward better results. The Knights eventually reeled off seven wins in a row before dropping a 48-45 decision to the Warriors in the final game of the regular

season.

Colony then stormed through the Northern Lights Conference tournament, earning a state tournament bid by making the finals before losing by one point in overtime to Wasilla in the championship game.

Colony coach Jeff Bowker acknowledged this year's team hasn't been an overnight success.

&#8220It just took a while to get this group to gel and to play roles,” Bowker said Friday.

Bowker said his young team - Colony has just two seniors on its roster - had a hard time playing together at the beginning of the season. As the season went on, players began to get more comfortable with each other and their roles within the team structure.

&#8220Honestly, everyone has gotten better,” Bowker said.

Early in the season, Colony relied heavily on junior forward Grant Niver and junior guard Doug Gray to carry much of the scoring load. But as the season went on, players like junior guards Cody Huggins and Jaron Murphy, along with senior forward Ryan Coffman, have stepped up more and more.

Also helping the Knights has been the emergence of freshman point guard John Palmer, who began the season on the bench but is now counted on to run Bowker's offense.

&#8220When he started at beginning of the season, his last competitive basketball game had been in eight grade, which is a far cry from varsity basketball,” Bowker said.

As the season wore on, Bowker said Palmer became more and more comfortable with playing against the increased level of competition.

&#8220He's a varsity player now,” Bowker said.

Although the Knights didn't look like a team destined for postseason play when the season began, the Colony coach said state has always been a goal for his team.

&#8220That's one of our goals every year,” he said. &#8220I always tell the kids, ‘you will never win state if you don't go to state.'”

Having seen his team come so far this season, Bowker said he believes the Knights have a good chance to make a run in the state tournament. Although the Knights have drawn a tough first-round opponent in No. 1 Juneau-Douglas, Bowker said he believes his players have developed the right mentality to give the Crimson Bears - and anyone else the Knights might face - a run for their money.

&#8220They certainly won't back down to anyone,” he said. &#8220They believe they can play in those games.”

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com