Knights hold on to beat Palmer boys

PALMER — Throughout the early portion of the 2015-16 season, Colony head coach Tom Berg has continued to preach effort and energy. With a roster made up predominately of players new to the varsity level, Berg has known effort and energy could be the difference between a win and a loss.

Tuesday, Berg said effort and energy were big reasons why the Knights were able to take a tough Northern Lights Conference win on a rival’s home court.

Colony held on to score a 54-49 win over Palmer at Palmer High School.

“For us, effort and energy are going to go a long way. We executed enough to get the win,” Berg said. “I thought, all night, our guys, even through their mistakes, kept playing hard. I was happy for them because they kept going. It wasn’t always good. It wasn’t always pretty. But they kept going.”

Colony, which led by as many as eight in the third quarter, denied a late Palmer rally, and improved to 2-0 in NLC play.

“I thought tonight when we needed to get a rebound we did. When they tied the game, we found a way,” Berg said.

Senior Tyler Boyer had a big go-ahead basket with less than two minutes left in regulation, after Palmer tied the score, and the Knights the Knights were 6 of 7 from the free throw line during the final 1:14.

Colony senior Alex Nygard scored 13 of his game-high 18 points in the second half, and six in the fourth quarter. Nygard hit a pair of free throws with five minutes left to break a 41-41 tie. His layup gave the Knights a three-point lead with about three minutes left. Two more Nygard free throws came after Palmer pulled within one point with 26 seconds left, and pushed Colony’s lead to 52-49 with 16 seconds remaining.

“He’s got to be good. We’re going to continue to put him in the position to be successful,” Berg said of Nygard. “We don’t have another kid on the team who does what Alex Nygard does. So, Alex Nygard, every night has to do certain things. He’s starting to figure out, night in, night out, I’m not sitting him. He’s playing.”

Boyer added 16 points for Colony.

Payton Martin, Clayton Southwick and Michael Kluting helped pull Palmer back into the game, after the Moose fell behind. Martin sparked the Moose in the second half, scoring 11 of Palmer’s 16 third-quarter points. Martin hit a trio of three-pointers in the third. Kluting hit a pair of fourth-quarter three-pointers. Southwick scored all seven of his team’s second-quarter points, and added four points in the fourth.

In the third quarter, Martin hit a pair of threes and Kluting knocked down another to help Palmer chew into the eight-point deficit. Martin’s second three of the quarter cut Colony’s lead to two points with 3:50 left in the third, and he drained another three with 1:44 left in the quarter to give Palmer the 36-35 advantage, Palmer’s first lead since early in the first quarter.

Seconds into the fourth quarter, Martin went to the basket to give Palmer the 38-37 advantage. Colony grabbed the lead right back with an Anton Chamblee layup.

Kluting twice used a three-pointer to tie the score in the fourth, first at 41 points and again at 45. Colony answered the second Kluting three-pointer with a four-point run.

Southwick had two baskets during the final minute of the game. The first cut Colony’s lead to 49-47 and the second cut the CHS advantage to 50-49. Each time, Colony was able to follow with free throws at the other end.

Colony finished 15 of 19 from the free throw line. Palmer was just 1 of 3.

Palmer dropped to 0-1 in NLC play with the loss. The defeat also snapped a six-game winning streak.

Palmer hit 10 three-pointers in the loss. Kluting led Palmer with 14 points. Martin and Southwick added 13 each.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 54, Palmer 49

Tuesday, Palmer High School

Colony 16-10-11-17—54

Colony (54) — James 0 2-2 2, Nygard 5 7-9 18, Chamblee 3 3-4 11, Martin 1 1-2 3, Nicholson 1 2-2 4, Boyer 7 2-3 16; Totals: 17 15-19 54.

Palmer (49) — Martin 5 0-0 13, Farris 2 0-0 6, B. Southwick 1 0-0 3, C. Southwick 6 0-1 13, Kluting 5 1-2 14; Totals: 19 1-3 49.

3-point field goals: Colony 3 (Chamblee 2), Palmer 10, (Martin, Kluting 3); Total fouls: Colony 11, Palmer 18.