Jan. 21, 2007

Moose win with defense/Prep Roundup

By Jeremiah Bartz/Frontiersman

PALMER - The Palmer Moose have already had a few pretty impressive defensive performances this season.

Earlier this season, Palmer allowed only three first-half points in a 49-25 win over North Pole.

Last week, the Moose surrendered only nine total points in a 56-9 win over Eagle River.

Now, Palmer can add it's win over Kodiak to that list.

The Bears managed only a single score in the first eight minutes, just 12 points in the first two quarters, as Palmer earned a 53-30 win over their Northern Lights Conference foe Friday at Palmer High School.

Palmer's defense proved to be at its best in the first and third quarters.

Kodiak was held without a score for the first seven minutes of regulation, and the Moose allowed only seven points in the third quarter.

&#8220Good teams come out strong,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said after the game. &#8220We're trying to instill that in these guys.”

Palmer's 6-foot senior post Stephanie Houser was literally a big reason why the Bears were able to accomplish little on the offensive end, constantly pulling down rebounds in the pain.

Houser also sparked the Moose on the offensive end scoring 12 of her game-high 20 points in the third quarter.

&#8220Offensively, she's really picked up her game,” Reid said. &#8220She's been powerful in the paint, a tough stopper for us.”

Last week Houser's play was key as the Moose captured the title of the Lady T-Bird Classic at East Anchorage High School. In the semifinals of the tourney, Houser's work on defense helped Palmer post a double-overtime win over the host Thunderbirds. In the title game, a win over Chugiak, Houser led her team in scoring.

And she continued that high level of play during a tough Northern Lights Conference win over Kodiak.

&#8220Tonight she got the game ball,” Reid said. &#8220It's good to see that coming from a senior, the only senior on our team.”

Kodiak entered the contest at 5-1 overall and the fifth-ranked team at the 4A level, according to the first Alaska Sportswriters Prep Basketball Poll of the season. Palmer, now 7-3 overall and 1-0 in region play, was left out of the top five.

Kodiak boys sweep Palmer

Curtis Catt scored 31 points to lead Kodiak to a 66-57 win over Palmer Friday at Palmer High School. Then on Saturday, Catt netted a game-high 14 points to help his team pull off a two-game sweep.

Catt scored 10 of his team's 18 points in the first quarter Friday. He hit 14 of Kodiak's 24 shots from the field.

Kodiak held a 14-point lead over the Moose with three minutes left in regulation, but Scott Cottrell led a late Palmer attempt at a comeback.

Cottrell hit two late three-pointers, and scored 10 of his team-high 15 points in the final frame.

Cottrell's second three-pointer cut Kodiak''s lead to 57-50, and Josh McPheters followed with a baseline jumper to cut the Bears' lead to four points with 1:27 left.

Catt hit his only three free throw attempts of the game in the final moments of the fourth quarter to help seal the win for Kodiak.

On Saturday, the Moose were better able to contain the Bears' big man, but the result was still the same, with Kodiak picking up a 47-43 victory.

Palmer led the game 33-31 after three quarters, but was outscored 16-9 in the final eight minutes.

Wasilla 63, Homer 39

Tyler Johannes led all scorers with 16 points as the Warriors boys completed a 2-0 weekend with a 63-39 win over Homer Saturday in Wasilla.

Wasilla jumped out to a 36-18 lead after the first half and limited the Mariners to just 26 points through the first three quarters.

Dexter Pierce scored 13 for Wasilla, while Jesse Bean added 11 and Josh Troshynski chipped-in 10.

Deonte Powe was the only Homer player in double figures, scoring 10.

Houston 62, Homer 46

Aaron Conn led a balanced scoring attack with 15 points as the Hawks netted a 62-46 nonconference victory over the visiting Homer Mariners Friday in Houston.

Ryan Thamm had 12 points and Bryan Mason scored nine for Houston, which led 31-17 at the half. Donovan Parker and Phillip Lestenkoff each had eight.

Noah McWilliams and Taylor Layland each had nine for Homer, which shot just 35 percent from the field.

Thamm contributed eight steals on the game, whiile Conn was the leading rebounder with sev en.

Houston 53, Skyview 38

Donovan Parker and Ryan Thamm each scored 13 points as the Houston Hawks rolled to a 53-38 win over Skyview Saturday in Houston.

Houston's defense came up big against the Panthers, holding Skyview to just two points in the second quarter.

Richie Shirnberg led all scorers with 24 points for Skyview, but no other panther managed more than five points on the game.

Girls basketball

Palmer 53, Kodiak 30

Kodiak 49, Palmer 33

The Palmer and Kodiak girls split a pair of games Friday and Saturday at Palmer High School.

On Friday, the Moose got a game-high 20 points from Sunni Danielowski to roll to a 53-30 win. Kelsey Campbell contributed 11 for the Moose.

Palmer wasn't quite as fortunate Saturday against the Bears, as Kodiak outscored Palmer 21-11 to pull out a come-from-behind victory to salvage a split with the Moose.

Stephanie Houser led Palmer with 13 points.

High school hockey

Wasilla 3, Soldotna 0

The Warriors scored in each of the first two periods and added a shorthanded tally in the third in blanking SoHi Thursday night at the Soldotna Sports Center.

After Wasilla's Adam Friese opened the scoring 7:04 into the contest, the Stars nearly knotted the game when Ben Christianson put a rebound behind Warriors' goalie Jesse Hugli before the defense cleared it out.

Christianson then thought he scored again when he intercepted the puck at mid-ice, skated in and sent a shot flying past Hugli. Christianson celebrated and the horn sounded, but the referee called off the goal in sending a Warrior to the penalty box.

The first period went back-and-forth and ended with both teams knotted at eight shots apiece, but Wasilla leading, 1-0.

Matthew Friese got into the scoring act with 7:02 left in the second when he put a rebound past SoHi goaltender Micah Perletti. The Warriors limited the Stars to only one shot in the middle frame in owning a 2-0 lead entering the third. The final tally came 6:19 into the final frame when Matthew Friese skated in on a breakaway but knocked the puck too far ahead of him. In one last desperate moment as he sailed past the goal, he weakly backhanded the puck off Perletti's backside and into the net for the shorthanded goal.

Homer 3, Colony 0

Homer goalie Ben Miller made 23 saves to get the Mariners a North Star Conference victory over the Knights on Thursday in Homer.

Colony had 23 shots to Homer's 20. Drake Piper got Homer on the board in the second period when he scored on an assist from Sam Satre.

In the third period, Andrew Beile scored on assists from Aaron Lewis and Brady Quinn and Tracy Quance scored on an assist from Pat Pozzi.

Soldotna 5, Colony 1

A save by Soldotna goalie Micah Perletti kept the Stars alive. A power-play goal by Ben Christianson got the Stars kicking on Friday night in a North Star Conference victory over the Knights.

Colony, which is winless this season, came out smelling an upset. With 4:54 to play in the first period, the Knights took the lead on a goal by Andrew Bargelski.

&#8220We came out flat-footed,” Perletti said. &#8220We lacked energy. We had a late game (Thursday) night, and that may have been a factor.”

With 2:45 left in the first period, the Stars were nearing the end of an unproductive power play when Kevin Garske took a slap shot from the point.

Blake Huppert blocked the shot and the puck bounced out perfectly ahead of him, giving him a breakaway on Perletti. Perletti was able to avoid the 2-0 hole with a glove save.

Huppert was second on Colony's team last year in points. This was just his second game this year due to shoulder surgery.

&#8220That was a huge save,” Soldotna coach Aaron Swanson said after his team improved to 4-3 in the conference. &#8220Micah really stepped up.”

In the second period, both teams spent a lot of time in the penalty box, with Colony taking six penalties and Soldotna taking five. With 6:22 left,

Christianson scored a power-play goal off a rebound in traffic. Eli Waldrip and Clayton Glick were credited with assists.

&#8220You could just see the surge of energy go through them when they scored that goal,” Colony coach Dale Mattson said of the Stars.

Mattson said he has a young team, with only five or six upperclassmen, and the youth showed as the Knights quickly lost a handle on the game.

Soldotna scored in a pair of 4-on-4 situations just 16 seconds apart to take a 3-1 lead at the end of the second period. Christianson scored on assists from Glick and Kevin Garske, and Garske scored unassisted.

The outburst marked the end of a dry spell for the Stars, who hadn't scored in their last two games against Wasilla and West.

&#8220Our kids weren't shooting the puck," Swanson said. "They weren't taking the initiative to create a goal.”

The Stars wrapped up the victory with third-period goals from Daniel Markstrom and Glick. Perletti handled all 16 shots he saw after the firs period.

&#8220The defense got better as the game wore on,” Perletti said. &#8220I feel the defense has been pretty strong all year.”

Peninsula Clarion reporters Jeff Helminiak and Matt Carroll contributed to this report.