Crimson Bears force Knights out of state tourney

ANCHORAGE — Regardless of the size of the deficit Colony faced, the Knights continued to push forward. But ultimately, Colony just ran out of steam.

The Knights chewed Juneau’s double-digit lead down to a possession early in the fourth quarter, but the Crimson Bears held on to score a 65-52 win over the Knights and eliminate CHS from tourney play during the consolation semifinals of the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage on Friday.

“We burned a lot of energy getting out of a hole like that,” Colony head coach Jeff Bowker said of Colony’s 10-2 run second-half run that brought the Knights within three. “It’s difficult to try to climb over the top. The guys did a good job of getting back into it, but they just ran out of gas.”

Colony junior captain John Palmer drove to the basket for the layup, drew the foul and hit the free-throw to complete the three-point play on Colony’s first possession of the fourth quarter to cut Juneau’s lead to 46-43, but that’s as close as the Knights would get.

The Bears hit seven of 10 free throws during the final four minutes of regulation and Juneau guard Alex DeRocher hit a three-pointer from the corner to help maintain the Bears lead and end the Knights 2008-09 season.

“You’ve got to credit Juneau,” Bowker said. “They made their free throws, they made shots down the stretch.”

Juneau guard Cody Grussendorf scored 20 of his game-high 24 points in the first half, and helped the Bears grab the early lead by hitting six of his first eight attempts, including a trio of three pointers, during the first two quarters.

Forward Eric Gross added 12 points for the Bears.

Colony senior Chris Scott led the Knights with 16 points. He scored six of Colony’s first nine points in the game, and grabbed five rebounds.

Palmer added 12 and senior Bryce Jacobson added 10.

Palmer scored 10 of his 12 in the second half, fighting through tremendous defensive pressure to find the basket.

“All the teams, once they’ve seen us, they know he’s the guy that makes us go,” Bowker said of Palmer, who was named the most valuable player of the Northern Lights Conference earlier this month. “Everybody knows who John is. He doesn’t sneak up on anyone anymore.”

Senior Tim Gray added eight points, three rebounds and three steals. Jacobson and fellow senior Collin Murphy each grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Colony is forced out of the state tourney after two games, with the loss. The Knights finished the regular season as the top team in the NLC Northern Division, at 16-5 overall and 8-2 in NLC play.

Juneau, the reigning Southeast Conference champion, moves into the fourth-place game, slated for Saturday at 2 p.m. at UAA.

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

Juneau-Douglas 65, Colony 52

ASAA 4A consolation semifinals

Friday, Sullivan Arena

Colony 13-13-14-12—52

Juneau 18-20-8-19—65

Colony (52) — Gray 4 0-0 8, Turner 2 0-0 5, Palmer 4 3-3 12, Scott 7 2-2 16, Jacobson 3 4-6 10, Summers 0 1-2 1; Totals: 20 10-13 52.

Juneau (65) — Mahar 0 6-6 6, DeRoacher 1 1-2 4, Fagerstrom 1 1-2 3, Gozelski 5 1-3 11, Bavard 2 0-0 5, Grussendorf 7 7-9 24, Gross 6 0-3 12; Totals: 22 16-25 65.

Three-point field goals: Colony 2 (Turner, Palmer 1), Juneau 5 (Grussendorf 3), Rebounds: Colony 31 (Jacobson, Murphy 6), Juneau 32 (Mahar 7); Total fouls: Colony 19, Juneau 14: Fouled out: Colony-Murphy.