Mental miscues murder Moose

PALMER -- A win for the Moose Friday was just not in the cards.

Palmer held a three-point lead after three quarters, but the Kenai Kardinals outscored the Moose 26-13 in the final period of play to earn a crucial Region III victory over the Moose at Palmer High School.

The Moose led 37-34 at the end of the third quarter, but Kenai opened the fourth period with a 7-0 run to take over the lead, a lead they would not relinquish.

The Kardinal shooters peaked in the final frame, while Palmer's shooting percentage slowly went from bad to worse in the second half. The Moose missed eight shots in the fourth quarter, including two botched dunk attempts.

Turnovers and mental errors plagued the Moose through the final 16 minutes of play.

Down by just four points with three minutes remaining in regulation, Palmer's Stanley Ratcliff registered a steal and took the ball the length of the court. With all five Kenai defenders behind him, Ratcliff had no one in the way of an easy two points. Rather than going for the routine lay-up, Ratcliff tried to take out a page from the book of Jordan and dunk the ball home. Ratcliff's short flight took a crash landing as the ball bounced off the rim. To add insult to injury, Ratcliff was given a technical foul for hanging on the rim.

Kenai's Steve Steiner nailed both free throws to give the Kardinals a 45-39. Kenai was also awarded the ball due to the technical violation and scored on the next possession to increase their lead to eight.

Earlier in the half, Palmer Jesse Prins was also rejected by the rim while attempting to dunk.

"That six point swing was the key," Kenai head coach Rich Bartolowits said. "They were going for the glory shot, when they should have just got the easy two points. You have got to play smart basketball. No personal glory."

"Mental stuff hurt us," Palmer head coach Brandon Blake said. "This is the most disappointing loss of the season. It is not the time of the season to start going the wrong way. We just have to accept it and try to regroup."

Kenai took their first lead of the game early in the fourth quarter. Caleb Schooley hit fellow forward Geoffrey Gemmell with a backdoor pass and Gemmell converted the bucket to give the Kardinals a 38-37 lead. Schooley hit a three-pointer just seconds later to give Kenai a five point advantage.

Palmer was able to cut the score to four with a Prins jumper, but the Ratcliffe technical gave Kenai the opportunity to increase their advantage.

With 55 seconds in regulation Prins grabbed a rebound for the Moose on the defensive end and raced up the court and dished the ball off to Tav Amu. Amu converted the lay-up to bring the Moose within two possessions, but it would be the closest Palmer would get.

Kenai hit six free throws in the final 40 seconds to seal the victory.

Steiner led the Kardinals with 24 points. The Kenai guard hit 13 of 18 free throw attempts.

Ratcliff led Palmer with 15 points.

The Moose entered the contest as the third ranked team in the 4A class. Palmer dropped to 8-5 overall with the loss.

Kenai improved 6-7 against 4A foes. The win may prove to be crucial for the Kards, who are in search of the top position in the southern district of the region.

"This is a very big region win for us," Bartolowits said. "Anytime we can come up here and get a win against a bigger school in the region it is good, particularly when we are in the running for the top position in the southern

district."

Moose hammer Stars

Palmer outscored Soldotna 39-8 en route to an easy 70-31 victory over the visiting Stars Saturday.

Palmer improved to 9-5 with the win.

Prins led the Moose with a game-high 17 points.

Dustin Dubois added 14 points and Ratcliff chipped in 10.