Colony girls rally, move into semis

SOLDOTNA —Kenai may have finished 0-10 in conference play during the regular season, but the Kardinals showed Thursday they’re not the easiest team to get past.

At least during the first half.

Kenai held a lead late into the first half, but sparked by an Izzy Tweed three-pointer and clutch play off the bench, the Knights rebounded to grab a 45-27 win over the Kenai Kardinals during the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Soldotna High School on Thursday.

“They play so hard all the time. They’re physical, always physical, and they made some shots early,” Colony head coach Jeff Bowker said of the Kards, who led until the 2-minute, 40-second mark of the second quarter.

Kenai opened the game on a 9-3 run, led 15-11 after the first period and carried that advantage through the midway point of the second quarter.

“They get after it,” Klapperich said. “They give you no room, they don’t mess around.”

Tweed hit a three-pointer with 3:20 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 16. Audrey Michaelson gave the Knights’ their first lead of the game with a pair of free throws at the 2:40 mark of the second.

After Kenai tied the score at 18, Colony ended the quarter on a seven-point run. Bowker gave credit to the key play of his reserves.

“That second group, I am not sure if I’ve ever had that lineup in. Chase (Stephens), (Sarah) Brumbaugh, those guys in. I thought they gave us a little bit of a cushion,” Bowker said. “That first group was ready to go in the second half.”

With their starters back on the floor during the second half, the Knights outscored Kenai 20-9 during the second half.

Klapperich, Colony’s Division I-bound senior captain, said despite trailing Kenai for the bulk of the first half, the third-seeded Knights never panicked.

“I don’t think so,” Klapperich said. “When it got close, we thought we know what to do. We’ve got our game plan, and we’re going to stick to it.”

Apparently, that Colony game plan involved feeding forward Jennifer Solano the ball. Solano scored nine of her team’s 12 fourth-quarter points as the Knights iced the game during the final frame.

“I thought they did a nice job of getting the ball to Jen,” Bowker said. “Jen made some nice shots in the second half.”

Solano added six rebounds to her 17 points. Klapperich finished with eight points eight rebounds, four blocks and two steals.

With the victory, Colony moves into the semifinal round to play second-seeded Kodiak today at 4:15 p.m. at Soldotna High School. Kodiak is 3-0 against the Knights this season.

“Every time we play them, we get one point closer to them,” Bowker said. “We can’t make mistakes against them.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him @matsu_sports throughout the region championship weekend.

Colony 45, Kenai 27

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Soldotna

Kenai 15-3-4-5—27

Colony 11-14-8-12—45

Kenai (27) —English 2 1-2 6, Taylor 3 2-4 8, Steinbeck 0 0-1 1, Norvelle 2 0-1 4, Ross 2 0-0 4, Barcus 0 4-6 4; Totals: 9 8-15 27.

Colony (45) — Klapperich 2 3-6 8, Farris 3 0-0 8, Tweed 1 0-0 3, Stephens 1 0-1 2, Brumbaugh 0 1-2 1, Michaelson 0 4-4 4, Solano 5 7-8 17; Totals: 13 15-21 45.