Knights return to state tournament

PALMER — After a brief hiatus, the Colony Knights are headed back to the state tournament.

The Knights grabbed one of the conference’s three automatic bids with a 55-46 win over the Soldotna Stars during the semifinal round of the Northern Lights Conference basketball tournament at Palmer High School on Friday.

“That’s certainly one of our goals,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said after the win.

Last season, Colony failed to qualify for the 4A state tourney for the first time in 13 years.

Junior Allie Grazulis led the Knights with a game-high 20 points in the win. Grazulis collected six field goals and finished 8-for-10 from the free-throw line.

“Allie really kept us in it,” Witzel said.

Senior Hayley Hotchkiss scored 11 points for CHS, while junior Kara Larson added 10.

While Colony did lead by as much as seven points in the first half and walked off the court with a nine-point victory, the Knights did have to overcome the Stars’ aggressive defensive effort to post the win.

“They did a great job defensively, and we didn’t do a good job of handling the pressure,” Witzel said.

Soldotna’s pressure was apparent especially early. The Stars forced turnovers on five straight Colony possessions in the early moments of the first quarter.

Witzel said Soldotna’s defensive play caused the Knights to be a bit scattered at points, and the Stars were able to use that strategy to keep the margin close for much of the game.

“We were able to battle through it,” Witzel said.

Soldotna’s pressure gave the Stars several extra opportunities on the offensive end during the first three quarters, but Colony was able to work its way to a few extra chances in the fourth.

With Colony holding a slim 44-42 lead midway through the fourth, Larson grabbed a rebound after a Colony missed free throw. The junior drew a foul on the play and was able to hit a free-throw attempt to push Colony’s lead to 45-42. Seconds later, Larson grabbed the steal at halfcourt and sent a quick feed to Grazulis, who got the east bucket to give Colony the five-point lead.

Colony padded its lead at the free-throw line in the fourth. The Knights were 9-for-14 from the stripe in the final four minutes of regulation.

While Grazulis was the hero offensively, Witzel said the game ball goes to sophomore guard Megan Bowker.

“She did a great job defensively tonight,” Witzel said.

Following the loss of junior Tara Garrod, who suffered a season-ending wrist injury in a win over Wasilla last week, Witzel has been looking for another defensive stopper. Garrod normally has the task of defending the opponent’s point guard, and that’s what Bowker did against the Stars. The sophomore guard had her hands full with Soldotna point guard Karen Senette, but the Knights held the speedy and crafty guard to just two field goals.

Senette did hit a team-high seven free throws in the game.

Soldotna forward Karen Duffy was able to the most damage against the Knights, scoring all 12 of her points in the first three quarters. Soldotna is normally led underneath by all-conference forward Paige Blackburn, and Witzel said sometimes when a team focuses so much on stopping a player like Blackburn, another can strike.

With the win, Colony moves forward and will play in the NLC title game Saturday at 6:15 p.m. at Palmer High School.

Soldotna is pushed backward and will face Peninsula rival Kenai at 9 a.m. Saturday at Colony High School.

The Stars can still advance to the state tourney will consecutive wins on Saturday.

Colony 55, Soldotna 46

NLC Semifinals

Friday, Palmer High School

Colony 19-10-9-17—55

Soldotna 14-12-13-7—46

Colony (55) — Hamann 0 1-3 1, Hotchkiss 4 3-4 11, Ma. Bowker 0 1 0-0 3, Grazulis 6 8-10 20, Me. Bowker 0 2-2 2, Coon 4 0-0 8, Larson 4 2-4 10.

Soldonta (46) — Senette 2 7-8 11, Stenga 3 1-3 7, Dykstra 1 0-0 2, Heffner 2 0-0 4, Duffy 6 0-0 12, Barker 0 2-2 2, Blackburn 4 0-0 8.

Three-point field goals: Colony 9 (Ma. Bowker), Soldotna 0; Total fouls: Colony 14, Soldotna 19; Fouled out: Colony- Coon, Soldotna- Blackburn