Dimond boys 63, Colony 45 (FINAL)

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Dimond outscored Colony 33-20 in the second half to turn a close game into a blowout in the first round of the ASAA First National Bank Alaska boys class 4A state tournament at Sullivan Arena on Thursday.

Bryce Jacobson was named player of the game for Colony, while Chris Plooy took that honor for the Lynx.

Jacobson led all scorers with 17 points in the contest, while Plooy led a balanced Dimond attack with 14 points.

John Palmer finished with eight points for Colony, Collin Murphy and Mike Lanners had five each, Hayden Summers scored three, Tim Gray and Chris Scott each had two and Jared Turner finished with one.

Ryan Hanley had 13 for Dimond, Travis Thompson scored 11, JJ Nixon had eight, Tyler Bennett and Michael Dupree had six, Colton Lauwers scored four and Trevor Romo scored one.

Colony trailed the Lynx 30-25 at halftime.

FOURTH QUARTER

Dimond led Colony 43-32 at the start of the fourth.

The Lynx opened the fourth with a Chris Plooy free throw to push the lead to 44-32 with 7:10 left to play in the game.

Bryce Jacobson ended a lengthy Colony scoring drought with a pair of free throws to cut Dimond's lead to 44-34 with seven minutes left in contest.

Colony's Chris Scott fouled out of the game with 6:35 left to play and the Lynx leading 46-34 with six minutes left.

Collin Murphy cut the lead to 46-36 with a short jumper with 5:45 left.

John Palmer's second three of the game cut Dimond's lead to seven with just over five minutes left, but Dimond was able to answer with lay-ups from Plooy and Tyler Bennett.

Plooy then scored again — another lay-up — to make it 52-41 midway through the final quarter.

Colony cut the lead to 52-43 on a Bryce Jacobson score inside with 4:06 left, but Colton Lauwers answered with a pair of free throws to keep Dimond's lead in double digits.

Plooy scored on a breakaway to make it 56-43.

Two JJ Nixon free throws pushed the Dimond lead to 15, and Smith then scored in transition to put the tournament's No. 2 seed up 60-43 as Dimond put the game out of reach.

Colony capped its scoring with a pair of Mike Lanners free throws.

THIRD QUARTER:

Bryce Jacobson got the first basket of the second half to help colony cut Dimond's lead to 30-27.

The teams then traded baskets before Dimond called timeout with 5:12 left in the quarter and the Lynx holding a 32-29 lead.

Tyler Bennett hit his second field goal of the half to put the Lynx up 34-29 before John Palmer got the Colony crowd into things with a deep three to make it 34-32.

The Lynx again took advantage of opportunities in the paint, picking up another lay-up, this time from guard Travis Thompson, giving the Lynx a 36-32 edge at the midway point of the quarter.

Chris Plooy's athletic drive to the basket pushed the Dimond lead to 38-32 with two minutes left in the third.

On Dimond's next posession, Plooy put in a reverse alley-oop lay-up to give Dimond a 40-32 advantage. Two Ryan Hanley free-throws put the Cook Inlet Conference runners-up ahead 42-32.

Plooy then took an extremely hard foul from Collin Murphy on a dunk attempt near the end of the quarter. The senior made one of two free throw tries to give the Lynx their biggest lead of the game at 43-32 as the quarter came to an end.

FIRST HALF:

Dimond opened the game on an 8-2 run, highlighted by a pair of three-pointers by Michael Dupree and Ryan Hanley and capped by a breakaway dunk from Chris Plooy.

Dimond started off hot, hitting its first three attempts from deep in the game.

Colony's John Palmer cut the lead to 11-6 with just over five minutes left to play in the first quarter.

The Knights got to 13-9 on a tough three-point play inside by Hayden Summers before the Lynx scored just before the game's first timeout.

Bryce Jacobson helped the Knights again cut the lead to four out of the timeout with a lay-up inside.

Jacobson drove into the lane again two posessions later to keep things close at 17-14.

The Knights pulled to within two on a deep three from Mike Lanners, and had a chance to tie or go ahead as the quarter came to a close. But Palmer's three pointer missed the mark, leaving the Lynx with a 19-17 edge after eight minutes of play.

Colony picked up a big break when Lynx guard Colton Lauwers whas whistled for his third foul less than a minute into the second quarter when he got tangled up on the offensive end with Lanners.

Plooy and Hanley combined for six straight free throws to give Dimond a 25-17 lead.

Colony freshman Jared Turner ended the Dimond run with a free-throw of his own to make it 25-18 with under five to play in the half.

On Colony's next posession, Dimond's decision to not take Lauwers out of the game proved costly, as the senior picked up his first foul on a Collin Murphy shot attempt midway through the quarter.

Things got heated late in the quarter, after Hanley was whistled for an intentional foul on Jacobson's inside try. Jacobson hit one of two shots from the line to make it 27-23.

Jacobson then hit a driving lay-up to cut the lead to 27-25 with under three in the half, but Dimond again answered from deep, getting another trey from Dupree to stretch the lead to 30-25.

Jacobson had to leave the game with an apparent leg injury with under two minutes left to play. He did not return before the halftime buzzer but was walking the injury off along the sidelines.

Colony held the ball for the last shot of the half, but Larson's short jumper fell short as time expired.