Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
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PALMER — Colony High girls basketball coach and Knights boys basketball mentor Tom Berg are members of the same coaching tree. Both have a long affiliation with Colony High. And both share many of the same coaching philosophies.
They’re also known for circling a pair of Saturday’s on the March calendar — one for the Northern Lights Conference tournament and the other for the 4A state tourney. That’s the goal. The plan revolves around playing in the late game on those two Saturdays. The Colony girls played for both a region and state title last year, the Colony boys played for region titles in each of the last two seasons.
The Knights have fallen short in those games in the last two seasons. This year, each squad hopes experienced units can help the Knights find a way to earn the chance to cut down the nets in March.
“We’ve played in the game we wanted to play in the last two years, we’ve just got to take the next step,” Berg said recently.
Berg, in his fourth season as CHS head coach, said he has arguably his most experienced squad since early in his tenure. Colony has five seniors, a group that includes Graham Dinkel, who was named first-team All-Northern Lights Conference last season. Dinkel joins two of Colony’s juniors, guards Bailey West and Anton Chamblee, as returning starters. West was also a first-team all-conference selection last year.
“This is the first year since my second year I’m going to play five seniors, two juniors and a sophomore almost every night,” Berg said.
In addition to experience, the Knights also boast length. All but two players on the Knights roster are 6-foot or taller, and only one starter, Chamblee, is not 6-0. Chamblee stands at 5-10.
“Across the board, we can put some size on the floor,” Berg said.
The Knights are currently 6-5 overall, and 1-0 in Northern Lights Conference play. Six of their first 11 games are against teams from outside Alaska. The Knights played teams from California, Mississippi and Hawaii during a tournament in Hawaii in December. Last week, the Knights played squads from Georgia and Florida during the Alaska Airlines Classic at West Anchorage High School.
Like the boys, the Colony girls also boast a very experienced squad. The Knights have seven players who return from a squad that competed for an NLC and 4A state title last season.
Leading that group is senior point guard Faith Farris, a second-team all-state selection as a junior. Farris is part of a deep senior class that also include guards Sarah Bonn and Sarah Brumbaugh, and forwards Ashley Turcotte, Tayha Clark and Taylor Kauffman. Junior guard Chase Stephens is also a varsity regular.
Colony is off to a solid start. Earlier this month, the Knights won the team title of the Mt. McKinley Bank Holiday Classic at Monroe Catholic, earning wins over Ketchikan, Soldotna and host Monroe. Last week, Colony opened its NLC schedule with a him win over Palmer.
** Editor’s note: This is the final piece of a four-part series previewing the seasons of the local 3A and 4A prep basketball teams. For features about the Palmer Moose, Houston Hawks and Wasilla Warriors, see frontiersman.com/sports.
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