Knights the kings of the NLC

PALMER — Nobody said it would be easy.

Holding off a spirited challenge from the Kenai Central Kardinals, Colony rolled to its 19th consecutive victory, a 55-50 win in the Northern Lights Conference tournament final Saturday night at Palmer High School. The tournament championship win was Colony’s first since the Knights claimed the title in 2005.

“We played for 32 minutes and they played for 32 minutes,” Colony coach Jeff Bowker said following his team’s win. “I thought it was a terrific basketball game.”

The Knights never led by more than nine points in a game that wasn’t decided until the final seconds, when NLC Most Valuable Player Jaron Murphy hit two free throws to ice the game.

“We were in the basketball game the whole way,” Kenai coach Jim Beeson said. “We played very well.”

Murphy and John Palmer each scored 12 points to lead the Knights, which got at least two points from all nine players who entered the game. Grant Niver had seven points and 10 boards for Colony, Matt Stearman had nine points, Cody Huggins and Josh Moseley had four each, Doug Gray had three and Chris Scott and Antone Zagars chipped-in two each.

The Kardinals, who advanced to their first NLC final since 2001with a win in Friday’s semifinals over Wasilla, were led by 17 points and 10 rebounds from Cory Toombs.

Nate Byrd finished with 11 points for Kenai, Daniel Gustkey had 10, Nate Saltzgiver scored six, Bill Chimphalee had four and Zach Beeson added two.

Colony led by six at the half, but Kenai opened up the third quarter on a 12-5 run, taking the lead at 29-28 on a Saltzgiver three-pointer midway through the quarter. Kenai hit seven treys in the game, six of them coming in the second half.

Colony re-took the lead on a Murphy lay-up late in a gritty quarter that ended with the Knights clinging to a 35-34 lead heading into the fourth.

That’s when Colony’s size advantage inside began to pay dividends. Stearman opened the fourth with a pair of buckets, and Mosely put the Knights up 42-36 when he got free underneath for an easy deuce.

“There was just a little stretch in the fourth quarter when we didn’t play very good post defense,” Beeson said. “Against a good team like Colony, you can’t do that.”

Colony pushed its lead to as many as 10 points before Kenai got late three-pointers from Byrd, Toombs, Gustkey and Toombs again to cut the lead to 53-50 with four seconds left, but then Murphy hit both his free throws to finish things off.

“I liked the fact that our guys battled all the way,” Bowker said of his team, which turned the ball over just four times in the second half while forcing Kenai into 11.

Colony’s 19th straight win will likely cement a No. 1 seed at the state tournament when the final ASAA WPI rankings come out. Colony entered the NLC tournament as the state’s top-ranked team according to the WPI, and the Knights have lost just once to an Alaska opponent this season.

But Kenai gave it their best shot, and Beeson said his team has no reason to feel sorry for themselves after giving the Knights a difficult time of things Saturday night.

“They had to earn everything they got,” Beeson said.

Contact Matt Tunseth at 352-2265 or matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com

KNIGHTS 55, KARDINALS 50

Colony 15 8 12 20 — 55

Kenai 10 7 17 16 — 50

COLONY (55) — Zagars 1 0-1 2, Huggins 1 1-2 4, Murphy 3 6-8 12, Palmer 3 6-8 12, Scott 1 0-0 2, Niver 3 0-0 7, Gray 1 0-0 3, Moseley 1 2-3 4, Stearman 4 1-2 9. Totals: 18 16-24 55.

KENAI (50) — Saltzgiver 2 1-1 6, Chimphalee 2 0-0 4, Byrd 5 0-0 11, Toombs 7 0-2 17, Beeson 1 0-0 2, Gustkey 4 0-0 10. Totals: 21 1-3 50.

Three-point field goals — Colony 3 (Gray, Niver, Huggins), Kenai 7 (Toombs 3, Gustkey 2, Byrd, Saltzgiver). Total fouls — Colony 15, Kenai 22. Fouled out — Toombs.

NLC ALL-CONFERENCE:

Boys first team: Cory Toombs, Ken; Dexter Pearce, Was; Adrese LaVern, Was; Grant Niver, Col; T.J. Fullmer, Pal; Nate Byrd, Ken; Jon Bryant, Kod; John Palmer, Col; Doug Gray, Col; Richie Shirnberg, Sky.

MVP: Jaron Murphy, Col.

Boys second team: Bryce Jacobson, Pal; Brad Blossom, SoHi; Liam Andrus, SoHi; Daniel Gustkey, Ken; Nate Saltzgiver, Ken; Shane Green, Was; David Cratty, Kod; Mike Odell, Kod

Coach of the Year: Jeff Bowker, Col.

Girls first team: Allie Grazulis, Col; Paige Blackburn, SoHi; Alex Coon, Col; Ashley Swetzof, Pal; Alysa Horn, Kod; Shelby Fulton, Was; Mattie Cox, Pal; Karen Senette, Sohi; Reba Temple, Homer; Kyla Steward, Ken

MVP: Jenna Johnson, Was

Girls second team: Piper Daugharty, Hom; Britany Mayer, Sky; Kara Larson, Col; Geneva Ratcliff, Pal; Kelsey Cottle, Was; Tara Garrod, Col

Coach of the Year: Jeannie Hebert-Truax, Was