Colony boys, Wasilla girls finish second in NLC tourney

As the Kodiak Bears stormed the Palmer High School gymnasium floor, the Colony Knights were left heartbroken.

Kodiak rallied to upset top-seeded Colony 51-50 in the Northern Lights Conference Championships title game Saturday night at Palmer High.

Frankie Marcelo drained a pair of free throws with 11.1 seconds left to give second-seeded Kodiak the 51-50 lead. Marcelo scored six of his 12 points in the fourth and was 4 for 4 from the free throw line during the final quarter.

Colony had led by at least two possessions during the first three quarters and into the fourth. The Bears cut the Colony lead to a possession at the 6:38 and 5:07 marks, and Marcelo gave Kodiak its first lead with 3:36 left in regulation.

Colony sophomore Jayce Underwood had a pair of big baskets down the stretch. Underwood used a steal and a layup to give the Knights a 48-47 advantage with 2:40 left. Underwood hit a jumper with 21 seconds left to give the Knights the 50-49 lead.

Underwood led Colony with 15 points. Kash Luce scored a dozen. Blake Dinkel hit a trio of three-pointers and pitched in 11. Harvey Pullen added 10 for Colony,

Both Kodiak and Colony earned automatic bids to the 4A state tournament, which starts Wednesday in Anchorage.

Wasilla is the runner-up in the girls class, falling to Anchorage Christian School 82-49. ACS, which was bumped from 3A to the 4A level during the offseason, won its first NLC title and has not lost a game to an Alaska team since 2018.

Salvia Sellers hit five three-pointers and led ACS with 33 points. Nyapar Mathot added 21.

Bella Hays led Wasilla with 17 points. Layla Hays added 10 and Megan Alley chipped in nine.

Both ACS and Wasilla earned automatic bids to the 4A girls state tournament.

The Palmer boys and Colony girls placed third in the tournament.

Palmer edged ACS 57-55. The Moose closed the game on a 14-8 run.

Kael Galliher was one of four Palmer players in double figures, and led the Moose with 13 points. Gavin O’Brien added a dozen, Evan Rothenbuhler finished with 11 and Arin Mathis chipped in 10.

Colony got past Palmer 56-49 in the girls third-place game.

Freshman Hallie Clark hit a trio of three-pointers and led Colony with a game-high 18 points. Kaylee Wilkes finished with 16.

Lily Anderson led Palmer with 16 and Alyssa Clark scored 11.

The Palmer girls placed fourth with a 45-30 win over Soldotna. Marshall led Palmer with 18 points.

ACS beat Wasilla 74-53 in the boys fourth-place game. Parker Kroon led Wasilla with 18 points.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at editor@frontiersman.com.