Knights sweep Kenai, Soldotna

PALMER — The Colony Knights were forced to show a little different look Friday night.

Colony, hit with its first major dose of adversity of the season, took the floor for a Northern Lights Conference game for the first time since losing senior standout Graham Dinkel to a season-ending wrist injury last week during a nonconference road win over North Pole. One of the players Colony hopes will help fill the void left by the loss of Dinkel helped the Knights stay undefeated in NLC play.

Ethan Selmer scored a dozen points in the first half to help Colony race to a 70-39 win over Kenai Central at Colony High.

“You hate to see a kid get injured. My heart goes out to him,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of Dinkel, a first-team All-NLC selection last year and a player of the year candidate this season. “He’s a really good kid. He’s been a big part of our program. He’s a good ball player, and he’s a way better kid than a ball player.”

Despite the loss of the senior standout, Berg said the Knights have to remain focused on their goal of reaching the NLC title game for the third straight year.

“It’s been hard on him, certainly hard on the guys. But we’ve got to go out and play. Graham wants us to play. He was here cheering us on tonight and he’ll be here cheering us on the rest of the year,” Berg said.

With the loss of Dinkel, the Knights are not going to reinvent a game plan, Berg said, but Colony will have to tweak some things.

“We’ve got to play a little bit differently than we have in the past. We’ve just got to make sure the next man up is ready to go,” Berg said. “We’ve got good players. It just means slightly different roles for Tucker Looney, Harrison Menard and Ethan Selmer.”

Dinkel’s teammates have already answered the call. Looney and Selmer combined to score 10 of Colony’s first 20 points against Kenai, and Menard played key minutes in reserve.

“Ethan Selmer has stepped up into the starting lineup since Graham got hurt and has done a good job,” Berg said.

The Knights got more help inside from players such as Robert Sonnenberg and Noah Sessom.

Colony raced to an early lopsided advantage. Colony used 20 first-quarter points and 21 in the second to take a 41-17 halftime lead.

Anton Chamblee scored eight of his game-high 16 in the third quarter.

Looney finished with 11 in the win and Bailey West added 10.

Tanner Wortham led Kenai with nine points.

Colony girls grab win

Big scoreless droughts for Kenai and the inside presence of Colony’s Ashley Turcotte proved too much for the Kards Friday night.

Colony held Kenai to only five field goals and Turcotte scored a game-high 14 to lead Colony to a 40-18 win over Kenai Friday night at Colony High.

Turcotte scored six of her team’s 16 first-quarter points to help Colony jump to an early lead. Turcotte led the Knights on offense, and a collective effort kept the Kards off the scoreboard.

The Kards didn’t get their first points until Sarah Every hit a three-pointer just more than three minutes into regulation. Colony also held Kenai scoreless for the first seven minutes of regulation. Kelsey Booth hit a short base line jumper with just about a minute left in the first half to give Kenai its first points of the second quarter.

Kenai was held to a combined two field goals in the second half.

Knights sweep Soldotna

PALMER — Chase Stephens used a big fourth quarter to help Colony cement a Northern Lights Conference win over Soldotna Saturday afternoon.

Stephens scored 10 of Colony’s 19 fourth-quarter points in a 46-34 victory over the Stars at Colony High. Stephens finished with 13 points in the win. Faith Farris added 11. Colony improved to 7-1 in NLC play with the victory.

Hayley Ramsell led Soldotna with 11 points in the loss. Haley Miller added 10.

In boys’ action, Soldotna’s eight three-pointers was not enough to get past Colony. The Knights (8-0) stayed undefeated in NLC play with a 52-45 win over the Stars.

Bailey West hit four three-pointers for Colony, and led the Knights with 16. Ethan Selmer added 13.

Nate Spence hit three of Soldotna’s eight treys and led the Stars with 15 points. Joe Weltzin added 11.

Colony girls 46, Soldotna 34

Saturday, Colony High

Soldotna 6-6-10-12—34

Colony 5-8-14-19—46

Soldotna (34) — Nelson 2 0-0 5, Shaw 1 2-2 4, Wong 2 0-0 4, Ramsell 4 3-4 11, Miller 2 6-8 10; Totals: 11 11-13 34.

Colony (46) — A. Smith 2 0-0 5, Farris 2 6-6 11, Stephens 6 1-3 13, Clark 3 0-2 6, Turcotte 1 0-0 2, Brumbaugh 1 2-3 4, Bonn 2 0-1 5; Totals: 17 9-15 46.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 1 (Nelson 1), Colony 3 (3 tied with 1); Total fouls: Soldotna 15, Colony 13

Colony boys 52, Soldotna 45

Saturday, Colony High

Soldotna 9-10-13-13—45

Colony 14-16-11-11—52

Soldotna (45) — Kuntz 1 2-2 5, Weltzin 5 1-2 11, Furlong 2 0-1 6, Phillips 0 1-2 1, Spence 6 0-0 15, Duke 2 1-2 7; Totals: 16 5-9 45.

Colony (52) — Selmer 5 2-4 13, Looney 3 0-0 6, West 5 2-4 16, Chamblee 1 0-2 2, Menard 1 3-4 5, Sonnenberg 3 2-2 8, Lincoln 1 0-1 2; Totals: 19 9-17 52.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 8 (Spence 3), Total fouls: Soldotna 12

Colony boys 70, Kenai 39

Friday, Colony High

Kenai 6-11-7-15—39

Colony 20-21-19-10—70

Kenai (39) — Theisen 1 0-0 2, Ivy 1 0-2 2, McKee 3 0-0 7, Tr. Landry 1 1-3 3, Jackman 3 0-0 6, Vest 1 0-0 2, Fitt 0 1-2 1, Foree 3 0-0 7, Wortham 4 0-0 9; Totals: 16 2-7 39.

Colony (70) — Selmer 4 3-6 12, Looney 5 1-2 11, West 3 2-3 10, Chamblee 7 1-2 16, P. Martin 1 0-0 3, Menard 1 0-0 2, N. Martin 0 4-6 4, Nygard 0 2-2 2, Sonnenberg 3 1-2 7, Sessom 1 0-0 2, James 0 1-2 1; Totals: 25 15-25 70.

Colony girls 40, Kenai 18

Friday, Colony High

Kenai 6-4-4-4—18

Colony 16-8-6-10—40

Colony (40) — Smith 1 0-0 2, Farris 3 0-0 7, Carlton 1 2-2 5, Turcotte 7 0-0 14, Kauffman 1 0-0 2, Bonn 2 0-0 5; Totals: 15 2-2 40.

Kenai (18) — Ostrander 1 0-0 2, Drury 0 2-4 2, Steinbeck 0 2-5 2, Baker 1 0-0 2, Booth 1 0-0 2, Beck 1 1-4 3, Beck 1 0-0 3; Totals: 5 5-13 18.