Moose boys, girls stay alive in second day of NLC tourney; Both Palmer teams to play for fourth place

By JEREMIAH BARTZ

Frontiersman.com

WASILLA — The Palmer Moose and Soldotna Stars both know a thing or two about tough luck.

Earlier in the year, but appeared to be headed for at least a No. 2 seed. But both teams tumbled during the final week of the season.

And the conference tournament didn’t start well for either team. Locked in a brutal bottom half of the bracket, both squads suffered overtime losses during the first round.

The Palmer Moose managed to push a side a little of that poor luck, and stay alive for another day. But the Stars saw their season end a day early with a 42-31 loss to Palmer during the consolation semifinal round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Wasilla High School Friday morning.

With perrinneal contenders Kenai and Colony sharing the same side of the bracket, both coaches said they knew a good team would be heading home early.

“Absolutely,” Soldotna head coach Matt Johnson said. “Our side of the bracket I thought was really loaded. All four of us have played tight all year. Our games with Colony, Palmer, Kenai were all tight.”

Soldotna suffered an overtime loss to Colony in the semifinals, while Palmer fell to Kenai in the extra period.

“It’s a bummer to be two-and-out,” Johnson said. “Yesterday’s loss was emotional. It’s tough to come back from.”

Palmer managed to use an early run to gain momentum in the game.

“Palmer was in the same situation. Credit to (head coach Jason Marvel). His kids came out and played hard.”

Marvel agreed with Johnson about the strength of the bottom half of the bracket.

“It’s too bad one good team has to go home early, but I think it’s a testament to how strong our league is this year,” Marvel said. “You’ve got the top in Wasilla and you’ve got Skyview, but then you’ve got everyone else who can beat each other on any given night.”

Senior Jared Straight and junior Connor Looney combined for 19 first-half points to help Palmer earn the 21-12 halftime lead. But more importantly for the Moose, Marvel said, Palmer kept the lead.

“Finally. We’ve had the tendency of late, the last three weeks, the tendency to make runs and do real good, and then not maintain the lead,” Marvel said.

Palmer led 33-19 at the half Thursday, but watched Kenai steal the game away with an 18-8 run during the fourth quarter and overtime. Palmer also saw first-half leads erased during recent losses to Colony and Kodiak.

Marvel said sophomore point guard James Nisbett said it best after the win.

“I said it’s like getting a monkey off our back. He said coach, it’s like a gorilla,” Marvel said. “I agree with him.”

Looney led the Moose with 18 points in the win, on 50 percent shooting. Straight was 5 of 9 from the field, and added 14. Looney also grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds and three steals.

Marvel said a key for the Moose was their approach offensively.

“We shot only four three-pointers,” Marvel said. “We tried to get to the basket, get to the rim and it was a whole different ball game.”

Palmer was 1 for 4 from behind the arc, and shot 43 percent from the field in the game.

Evan Withrow led Soldotna with 11 points and five rebounds in the loss. Withrow capped Soldotna’s best run of the day, a seven-point stretch to start the fourth quarter, with a rebound and putback. That cut the Palmer lead to 10 points.

Johnson said the Stars simply had a tough time getting going.

“We never really did,” Johnson said. “We tried a couple of different lineups, but we had a hard time getting going today.”

Garrett Bosick added six points and four steals. The loss marked for the final game for Soldotna’s four seniors — Withrow, Bosick, Tanner Folwer and Jake Darrow.

“I’m really proud of this group. There are four kids that have given so much to this program,” Johnson said. “They’re a great group of kids. They’ll be greatly missed.”

Palmer now moves into the fourth-place game, and will play Skyview Saturday at 10:45 a.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Palmer 42, Soldotna 31

NLC consolation quarterfinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Palmer 13-8-14-7—42

Soldotna 4-8-11-8—31

Palmer (42) — Nisbett 0 2-2 2, Looney 9 0-0 18, Straight 5 2-4 13, Buresh 1 1-2 3, Niekamp 2 0-0 4, Mayer 1 0-0 2; Totals: 18 5-8 42.

Soldotna (31) — T. Fowler 0 1-2 1, Carver 3 1-2 7, Daugherty 2 0-0 4, Withrow 4 1-2 11, N. Fowler 1 0-0 2, Bosick 3 0-0 6; Totals: 13 3-6 31.

Three-point field goals: Palmer 1 (Straight 1), Soldotna 2 (Withrow 2); Total fouls: Palmer 8, Soldotna 9.

Palmer girls charge past Mariners

WASILLA — The Palmer Moose played their way into the girls’ fourth-place game with a 66-23 win over Homer Friday morning during the Northern Lights Conference Championships consolation semifinals at Wasilla High.

Palmer built a 19-6 lead in the first quarter and led 33-14 at halftime.

Junior Taylor Blake led the Moose with 19 points. She was 7 for 10 from the free-throw line. Junior Brooke Simmerman hit 4 of her 5 three-point attempts, and added 12 points.

Hailey Oliver led Homer with six points.

Palmer will play for fourth place against Kenai Saturday at 9 a.m. at Wasilla High.

Palmer girls 66, Homer 23

NLC consolation semifinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Homer (23) — Oliver 3 00 6, Gee 2 0-0 4, Tutt 2 0-1 4, Graham 1 1-2 3, Beach 1 0-0 2, Turner 1 0-0 2, Koplin 1 0-0 2; Totals: 11 1-5 23.

Palmer (66) — Southwick 1 0-0 2, Simmerman 4 0-0 12, DePriest 1 2-4 4, Scott 1 0-0 2, Jensen 0 3-4 3, Koehn 3 0-0 6, Blake 6 7-10 19, Whitfield 1 1-2 4, Straight 3 2-3 6, Brandenburg 1 1-4 3, Huffman 1 0-2 2; Totals: 22 16-29 66.

Three-point field goals: Homer 0, Palmer 6 (Simmerman 4); Total fouls: Homer 20, Palmer 8.

Homer boys, Skyview girls eliminated from NLC tourney

WASILLA — In a battle of future 3A teams, Skyview scored a 47-41 win over Homer during the consolation semifinal round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships on Friday at Wasilla High.

Skyview used a 17-0 first-quarter run to score its first NLC win of the season and move into the tournament’s fourth-place game. The Panthers now face Palmer Saturday at 10:45 a.m.

DJ Diaz led Skyview with 14 points and Richard Reynolds added 11.

Sam Reinert led Homer with 12.

This is the last NLC tournament for both teams.

In girls’ action, Kenai stayed alive with a 58-18 win over Skyview.

Morgan Wensley scored 17 points for Kenai to help lead KCHS into the fourth-place game against Palmer, which is slated for Saturday at 9 a.m. Carolyn Kiefer added 16.

Stefany Malatesta led the Panthers with eight. Skyview was eliminated from the tourney with the loss. It also marked the final NLC game for Skyview, which will drop to the 3A level next year.

Skyview boys 47, Homer 41

NLC consolation quarterfinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Homer 0-13-16-12—41

Skyview 17-4-17-9—47

Homer (41) — Reutov 1 0-0 2, Reytor 2 2-2 6, Daugharty 5 0-0 11, Reinert 3 6-6 12, Glosser 4 0-0 8, Hatt 1 0-0 2; Totals: 16 8-8 41.

Skyview (47) — Reynolds 3 4-6 11, Collier 1 0-0 2, Jones 3 0-0 7, Penrod 3 0-0 6, Schwartz 3 0-0 7, Diaz 6 2-11 14; Totals: 19 6-17 47.

Three-point field goals: Homer 1 (Daugherty 1), Skyview 3 (3 tied with 1); Total fouls: Homer 17, Skyview 11.

Kenai girls 58, Skyview 18

NLC consolation quarterfinals

Friday, Wasilla High

Kenai 16-7-16-19—58

Skyview 2-2-5-9—18

Kenai (58) — English 1 0-0 2, Beeson 5 3-9 13, Boyes 1 0-0 2, Kiefer 7 2-2 16, Taylor 1 0-0 2, Ross 1 0-0 2, Tieaskie 1 0-2 2, Wensley 6 4-5 17, Maurer 1 0-4 2; Totals: 24 9-22 58.

Skyview (18) — Reynolds 1 0-1 2, Ahlers 1 0-0 2, Ramsell 1 0-0 2, Malatesta 2 4-6 8, Pearsojn 1 2-2 4; Totals: 6 6-12 18.

Three-point field goals: Kenai 1 (Wensley 1), Skyview 0; Total fouls: Kenai 14, Skyview 17.