Knights roll into finals

PALMER — Trapping and slashing through the competition, the Colony Knights earned a berth in the state tournament by way of a pair of blowouts in the Northern Lights Conference tournament.

Colony’s easy run to the NLC title game was completed with a 68-30 drubbing of the Kodiak Bears. Combined with an 80-17 win over Homer in the opening round Thursday, Colony reached the finals riding an 18-game winning streak.

“They’ve got to be the team to beat,” Kodiak coach Ron Bryant said after the game. “Anchorage teams included.”

Colony’s trapping defense was too much for the Bears to handle, as Kodiak committed 19 turnovers and shot a dismal 26 percent from the floor.

“That’s probably the most stressed thing in practice,” Colony guard John Palmer said following the game.

Palmer said Colony coach Jeff Bowker’s attention to the Knights’ defensive effort is far more important than anything Colony does on the offensive end.

“Defense is number one,” Palmer said.

The Knights’ stifling defense held Kodiak without a field goal in the entire second quarter and led 33-13 after the first half.

The big win was a bit of a surprise, as Kodiak gave Colony two highly competitive games earlier in the season, once pushing the Knights to quadruple-overtime.

But this time around, Bryant said his Bears squad ran up against a much better team.

“I think Colony continued to improve over the course of the season, and we didn’t,” Bryant said.

Jaron Murphy was Colony’s top scorer with 14 points — most on bullish drives into the paint — and five rebounds, leading a balanced Colony offense that once again got contributions up and down the lineup. Palmer had 11 points, Grant Niver had 10 points and five rebounds, Chris Scott had seven points and five boards, Gray scored seven points and grabbed three steals. Ten Colony players got into the scoring column, including Matt Stearman (6 pts.), Cody Huggins (5 points), Antone Zagars (4 points) and Josh Moseley and Hayden Summers (2 points each).

Kodiak led by two points twice early in the game before a Doug Gray three-pointer put the Knights up for good with 3:10 left in the first quarter. After that it was all Colony, as the Knights ended the half on a 21-2 run to finish off the Bears.

David Cratty led Kodiak with 12 points, while Jon Bryant had 10 before he was ejected after collecting a pair of technical fouls in the third quarter.

“They put pressure on us we didn’t handle very well,” Ron Bryant, Jon’s dad, said after the game. “Frustration set in.”

The win moved Colony into the NLC finals for the second consecutive year. Last season, the Knights lost to Wasilla in the NLC championship game, then again in the state finals.

Kodiak fell into the consolation round, where they’ll meet Palmer at 10:45 a.m. Saturday.

KNIGHTS 68, BEARS 30

NLC Semifinals

Friday, Palmer High School

Colony 19 14 23 12 — 68

Kodiak 11 2 9 8 — 33

COLONY (63) — Zagars 2 0-2 4, Huggins 2 0-0 5, J. Murphy 6 2-3 14, Palmer 4 3-4 11, Scott 2 3-4 7, Niver 4 0-0 10, Gray 3 0-0 7, Moseley 1 0-0 2, Stearman 3 0-0 6, Summers 1 0-0 2. Totals: 28 8-13 68.

KODIAK (30) – Cratty 4 2-2 12, Bryant 5 0-0 10, R. Diocares 2 0-0 5, D. Diocares 0 1-2 2, Domingo 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 3-4 30.

Three-point field goals — Colony 4 ( Niver 2, Gray, Huggins), Kodiak 3 (Cratty 2, R. Diocares). Total fouls — Colony 8, Kodiak 11. Technical fouls – Kodiak: Jon Bryant, 2 (ejected, 1:28, 3rd Quarter).