Late-half run spurs Palmer girls

PALMER — For nearly the first six minutes of the second quarter, the Palmer Moose held the Colony Knights without a point. But while Palmer got the defensive stops, the Moose couldn’t find the offensive spark.

Colony survived that six-minute drought and used a 9-1 run late in the first half to score a 50-37 win over the Moose at Colony High School on Friday.

“I told (the team) we put together about 13 and a half solid minutes in the first half, but we got a little bit rattled late, late in the second quarter,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said after the loss. “Basically, that was the difference in the point spread.”

The Knights, who led 14-8 after the first quarter, were held scoreless until senior Megan Bowker hit a short jumper with 2:40 left in the half. But during those six minutes, the Moose managed only five points themselves. Reid said Colony’s size prevented the Moose from being able to establish an inside game. Palmer also had to of its top posts, Kendal Venzke and Kasara Brandenburg on the bench in foul trouble.

“We’re not a very big squad as it is, and with both of those guys on the bench, we were definitely mismatched inside,” Reid said. “I thought the girls fought hard, but gave up too much size.”

Pherrari Brumbaugh came off the bench to score four points during that late first-half run, and sophomore Alyssa Hutchins drained a three-pointer early in the third to spark a 17-point Colony third quarter.

Hutchins and junior Kaitlyn Klapperich each scored a team-high 11 points for Colony in the win. Tess Forstner added eight.

Freshman Taylor Blake scored a game-high 13 points, while making her first career start.

Colony improved to 8-2 with the victory, and finishes the regular season sitting in a first-place tie at the top of the Northern Lights Conference North Division standings tied with Wasilla. Palmer dropped to 4-6.

The NLC tourney starts Thursday at Skyview High School in Soldotna.

Colony 50, Palmer 37

Friday, Colony High School

Colony 14-9-17-10—50

Palmer 8-6-16-7—43

Colony (50) — M. Klapperich 6, Hutchins 11, K. Klapperich 11, Trudeau 1, Brumbaugh 1, Bowker 7, Forstner 8, Booth 2.

Palmer (43) — Venzke 2, LaMere 4, Thein 6, Koehn 3, Blake 13, Brandenburg 5, Nurenberg 2.

Freshman leads Moose

PALMER — Freshman Taylor Blake scored seven points during a 13-5 second-quarter run to help Palmer grab a 39-33 nonconference win over North Pole on Saturday afternoon at Palmer High School.

Blake scored 10 points in the win. Senior Shawna Thein supplied a game-high 13.

Sydney McIntosh and Cheyenne Smothers each scored 11 for North Pole.

Palmer 39, North Pole 33

Saturday, Palmer High School

North Pole 6-5-6-16—33

Palmer 7-13-8-11—39

North Pole (33) — R. Smothers 0 1-3 1, Broderick 5 1-2 11, McIntosh 0 4-9 4, McKinnell 1 0-0 2, C. Smothers 3 5-7 11, Wood 0 1-4 1, Wheeler 0 1-2 1, Church 0 1-2 2; Totals: 10 13-27 33.

Palmer (39) — Venzke 1 2-2 4, LaMere 1 3-4 5, Thein 4 5-8 13, Koehn 1 0-0 2, Blake 4 1-2 10, Brandenburg 2 1-2 5; Totals: 13 12-18 39.

3-point field goals: North Pole 0, Palmer 1 (Blake 1); Total fouls: North Pole 15, Palmer 23; Fouled out: North Pole- McIntosh, Palmer- Riggs.

Nonconference loss

PALMER — West Valley scored a 48-26 win over the Colony Knights during nonconference action at Colony High School on Saturday.