Moose boys, girls cap season with wins over Kenai

PALMER — Any hope of a trip to the state tournament for the Palmer Moose disappeared with a tough loss to Soldotna during the first round of the region tournament Thursday. But even though the Moose had no shot at qualifying for the state tourney, Palmer still had one last game on the schedule.

Palmer rebounded to score a 63-55 win over Kenai Friday during the second day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Colony High School.

“A game like that, you know it’s the last game of the season. For the seniors, it’s the last game of your career. It’s fairly tough sometimes to find that motivation and desire,” Palmer head coach Brandon Blake said after the win. “Total credit to them. They played hard. The seniors played hard the entire game. We got to play a bunch of the young kids. It was a nice way to finish.”

Senior Adam Ramoth capped his Moose career with a 30-point effort. He was 8 of 14 from the field, and a perfect 3 for 3 from behind the arc. Ramoth also drained 11 of 12 free throws.

“He had an unbelievable day,” Blake said of Ramoth.

Senior Cody Wells finished with 11 points and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds.

The seniors also helped spark Palmer’s 20-2 second-quarter run.

“We made a nice run in that second quarter there. Cody Wells and Adam Ramoth made some big plays defensively,” Blake said.

Kenai used a 20-10 third-quarter run to try to get back into the game, but Palmer was able to outscore the Kards 22-18 during the final quarter to secure the win.

Trevor Shirnberg posted a double-double and led his squad with a team-high 19 points and game-high 10 rebounds. Jonah Theisen hit a pair of threes and added a dozen points.

Moose girls win

PALMER — With a roster than includes seven sophomores and 10 players who could potentially return to the program, Palmer is building for the future.

Friday, the Moose capped their season with something to build on. Palmer scored a 44-36 win over Kenai during the second day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Colony High School.

Sophomore Leya DePriest collected game highs of 10 points and eight rebounds to lead the Moose. Sophomore Katie Bowman added nine points and two steals, while sophomore Carly Venzke chipped in four points and four steals.

Justice English led Kenai with 10 points. Allie Ostrander hit a pair of three-pointers and scored eight.

Palmer boys 63, Kenai 55

Friday, Colony High

Palmer 11-20-10-22—63

Kenai 15-2-20-18—55

Palmer (63) — A. Ramoth 8 11-12 30, Jones 1 3-4 5, Ferris 3 0-0 6, Southwick 0 2-5 2, Wells 3 5-9 11, Christiansen 2 1-2 5, Yanez 1 2-3 4; Totals: 18 24-35 63.

Kenai (55) — Theisen 3 4-4 12, Shirnberg 8 3-4 19, McKee 1 0-0 3, Jackson 2 0-0 5, Foree 1 2-2 5; Totals: 18 13-14 55.

3-point field goals: Palmer 3 (A. Ramoth 3), Kenai 6 (Theisen 2).

Palmer girls 44, Kenai 36

Friday, Colony High

Palmer 14-15-7-8—44

Kenai 6-9-15-6—36

Palmer (44) — Venzke 2 0-1 4, K. DePriest 1 3-4 5, Bowman 2 5-7 9, Osiensky 2 0-0 4, Ledger 0 4-8 4, McCall 0 2-2 2, Smylie 1 2-2 4, L. DePriest 4 2-2 10; Totals: 13 18-24 44.

Kenai (36) — Ostrander 3 0-0 8, English 3 4-6 10, Creighton 2 0-1 2, Steinbeck 2 1-2 5, Barcus 4 0-6 8, Beck 0 3-4 3; Totals: 13 8-19 36.

3-point field goals: Palmer 0, Kenai 2 (Ostrander 2).