Knight girls survive Moose comeback

PALMER -- The Knights prevailed, but the Moose gave them a scare.

The Colony girls survived a late Palmer surge to defeat their crosstown rivals 60-51 at the Colony High School gym Friday.

The Knights led by as many as 20 points, but Palmer slid back into the contest.

Colony opened the fourth quarter with a 47-27 lead, but point guard Sienna Locke, the catalyst for the Knight offense, took her fifth foul just minutes into the final period.

The speedy point guard was not only whistled for a pair of defensive infractions, but was nailed with three offensive penalties.

The Moose were able to take advantage of the Knights' loss and go on an 18-5 run. Palmer chewed into the Colony lead and were only facing a 50-45 deficit at the 2:33 mark of the fourth quarter.

Margaret Morris, Kristina Klapperich and Kelsey Joynt hit free throws down the stretch to help ward off a possible Palmer upset.

The Moose were able to garner an early lead by putting immense pressure on the Knights. Palmer created early turnovers that led to early buckets.

But as Colony settled into their game plan, the Moose got away from theirs.

"Palmer came out and put a lot of pressure on us in the first quarter," Colony head coach Don Witzel said. "We felt like we had to shoot as soon we saw an opening. We weathered the storm and settled down in the second."

Colony gained their first lead of the contest as junior post Jessica Dault got the bucket and the foul. Dault hit her free-be and the Knights led 9-8. Klapperich added a layup after a rebound on the offensive end to give the Knights an 11-8 lead after the first period.

After Palmer's initial burst, their offense went stagnant for a chunk of the first half.

"We got up 8-4 and then went five minutes without scoring," Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey said. "That has been our problem all along. Our offense will go in these droughts and it affects our defense."

The key to the contest came late in the second with Colony holding a 19-15 lead.

Klapperich nailed consecutive three-pointers to open up the lead for Colony.

"That was the game when Klapperich hit two three-pointers in a row," Busbey said. "Their lead went from four to 10 right there."

Klapperich's change in role with the Knight squad was evident with Friday's contest. As a post player last season, Klapperich did not even think about taking a shot from behind the arc.

On the wing this season the Knights are trying to establish Klapperich as a threat from the outside.

Klapperich was also counted on to move the ball up the court after Locke fouled out.

Klapperich led the Knights with a game-high 26 points. Dault added 16 for Colony.

Chrissy Lien led the Moose with 13 points, while Emily Bolling added 12.

COLONY 60, PALMER 51

PALMER (51) — Berberich 0 1-3 1; Cox 2 3-4 7; Aro 0 0-1 0; Chapman 1 2-2 4; Hooker 4 1-2 9; Jones 0 0-0 0; Lien 5 3-7 13; Bolling 5 2-3 12; Irvine 1 0-2 2; Stanley 1 1-2 3. Totals 19 13-26 51.

COLONY (60) — Joynt 0 3-4 3; Beirsto 2 0-1 2; Hill 1 2-2 4; Locke 0 2-2 2; Egger 1 0-0 2; Morris 1 3-6 5; Klapperich 10 4-7 26; Dault 5 6-10 16. Totals 16 20-32 60.

Total fouls — Palmer 25, Colony 26. Fouled out — Cox, Chapman, Hooker, Hill, Locke. Three-point goals — Ewing.

Palmer 8 11 8 24 — 51

Colony 11 22 14 13 — 60

Mustangs down Knights

The Chugiak Mustangs defeated the Knights 57-32 at Chugiak High School Saturday.

The Knights were led by an eight point effort by Klapperich.

Locke added seven points for Colony.

CHUGIAK GIRLS 57, COLONY 32

COLONY (32) — Hill 3 1-4 7; Johnson 0 0-2 0; Locke 1 5-8 7; Egger 1 1-2 3; Morris 1 2-4 4; Klapperich 4 0-0 8; Dault 1 1-6 3. Totals 11 10-26 32.

CHUGIAK (57) — Waters 0 2-2 2; Sacks 0 0-0 0; Bjornstad 3 0-1 7; Hartman 4 5-5 13; DuCharme 3 1-2 8; Griffin 2 0-0 4; Williams 2 0-0 6; Adams 2 0-0 4; Putnam 6 1-2 13. Totals 22 9-21 57.

Total fouls — Colony 12, Chugiak 21. Fouled out — Locke, Hartman. Three-point goals — Bjornstad, DuCharme, Williams 2.

Colony 8 8 14 2 — 32

Chugiak 15 12 13 17 — 57