COMEBACK KIDS

WASILLA — Late in each half, Corey Mock seemed to find himself with the ball. And late in each half, the junior guard took advantage of the opportunity.

Mock buried a game-tying buzzer-beating three-pointer at the tail end of the first half and sank 4-of-6 free throws during the final minute of regulation to help the Wasilla Warriors score a come-from-behind win over the Palmer Moose at Wasilla High School on Thursday.

“He’s not afraid. He doesn’t play with any fear,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said of Mock, who helped the Warriors improve to 7-0 in Northern Lights Conference play with the win over the Moose. “He knows he can make plays, and he’s always willing to try to make one.”

Mock scored nine in the game, and six came from the free-throw line during the fourth quarter. That effort helped Wasilla put together an 18-7 fourth-quarter run that erased Palmer’s seven-point lead.

Mock may have hit the big free throws, but he was quick to credit his teammates for the winning effort.

“Team play. We kept our composure,” Mock said of the reason for the Warrior comeback. “We didn’t want to lose. That’s the biggest thing. We want to be undefeated in our region.”

Palmer junior Christian Odom hit a jumper to give Palmer the seven-point lead, the biggest lead by either team in the game, early in the fourth quarter. Following the Odom jumper that gave Palmer the 37-30 advantage, Wasilla used a six-point run to cut the lead to a point.

Junior Trey Fullmer, who scored 11 points off the bench for the Moose, nailed a three to give the Moose a three-point lead, but the Warriors made another run.

But this time it would be a game-ending 10-0 run that included those five Mock free throws.

“We just had at some point find a grove, and keep playing defensively, and get the ball to bounce the right way,” Engebretsen said. “They wouldn’t quit. They didn’t stop playing.”

Mock spoiled Palmer’s hopes of taking the lead into the intermission, when he hit a deep three before the buzzer to tie the game at 24-24.

Palmer was draining the final seconds off the second-quarter clock in its offensive zone, but the Warriors picked up a loose ball. Mock got open and nailed the three.

“That was huge,” Engebretsen said. “We weren’t playing very well at all offensively. We weren’t doing the things we’ve been doing for the last three or four weeks. To Palmer’s credit, they found out what they wanted to do and they got after us.”

Wasilla led 19-17 with three minutes left in the first half. Odom went to the basket for the lay-up to tie the game at 19. Sophomore Jackson Buresch hit a jumper to give Palmer the 21-19 lead. Senior Kyle Titus, who led Palmer with a game-high 13 points, hit one of his three, three-pointers to give the Moose the 24-19 lead late in the half.

But Wasilla capped the quarter with the five-point run that included the Mock three-pointer.

Senior Cody Pfeifer led the Warriors with 11 points. Sophomore Connor Devine added eight.

Titus (13 points) and Fullmer (11) were both in double digits for Palmer. Junior Sean Niekamp added six points.

While Wasilla improved to 7-0 in NLC play with the win, Palmer dropped to 2-5.

Junior posts monster effort in Wasilla win

WASILLA — The Palmer Moose didn’t seem to have an answer for Kelsey Cottle or the Wasilla defense.

Wasilla junior Kelsey Cottle scored a game-high 29 points and the stingy Warriors defense held Palmer to only 17 total points during a 59-17 NLC win over the Moose at Wasilla High School on Thursday.

Cottle, who was just one-point shy of a tying her career high, scored eight points in the first quarter on her team’s first eight points of the second as Wasilla built a 36-5 first-half lead.

The Warriors, who started the game on an 11-0 run, didn’t allow a Moose bucket until Monica Nuernberg went to the basket with 2:16 left in the first quarter.

A Kassara Brandanburg free throw marked Palmer’s lone point of the second quarter of action.

Cottle was the lone player in double figures in the game. Junior Celeste Colegrove and freshman Alexis Imoe each chipped in six during the Wasilla win.

Brandenburg scored six of her team-high seven points during the second half for Palmer.

Wasilla improved to 6-1 in NLC play with the win. Palmer dropped to 2-5.

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