Knights enter new era

PALMER — At several points during the first half of Colony’s 42-30 season-opening win over West Anchorage earlier this month, the Knights featured four sophomores and a freshman on the floor.

While the Knights do have a pair of upperclassmen who helped Colony win a Northern Lights Conference title last season, Colony fans should get used to seeing a flurry of fresh faces on the floor. The Knights also have a new leader on the bench. Jeff Bowker, a former longtime head coach of the Colony boys basketball program, took the reins of the girls team during the offseason.

“It’ll be a learning curve. They’ve got to get used to me. I’ve got to learn what they’re capable of doing,” Bowker said after the win over West. “We’ll figure out what we can do, and we’ll start building from that, aiming for March 3 and March 17. That’s always my goal.”

March 3 and March 17 are the dates of the championship session of the Northern Lights Conference and 4A state tournaments, respectively. As the Colony boys coach, Bowker circled the final days of those tournaments on the calendar every year. He intended on playing in the late game on each of those days, and had success doing so. Bowker led his team to a pair of NLC titles in four trips to the championship, and a pair of appearances in the state title game.

Bowker will rely on senior Saige Stefanksi and junior Mary Klapperich to be his leaders on the floor.

Klapperich, a 6-foot wing, was named first-team All-NLC last year. Bowker said the Knights will use Klapperich on the outside this year.

“She shoots the ball pretty good outside and provides so much on defense,” Bowker said. “She does the little things the crowd doesn’t always see.”

Stefanski, a senior post, also will be a vital part of the Knights success, Bowker said, providing rebounding and scoring inside.

Colony also has senior Laroya Simmans, a newcomer to the varsity program.

Sophomore Jerica Nelson saw varsity time as a freshman, and will also be a big part of the Knights game plan. Nelson is among a stockpile of underclassmen that includes Jennifer Solano, Hunter Payne, Izzy Twead and freshman Faith Farris.

Solano netted a game-high 20 against the Eagles.

Bowker said Colony’s youth is actually one of its strengths.

“They’re too young not to know better, to a certain extent,” Bowker said. “They love playing the game of basketball. They play hard.”

** Editor’s note: This is part of a series of stories previewing the seasons of the local 4A prep basketball programs. Continue to see future editions of the Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman and frontiersman.com/sports for more prep basketball preview stories.