Moose girls, boys beat Bears to open NLC tourney

PALMER — The Palmer Moose boys and girls basketball squads are sharing the same path in the Northern Lights Conference tournament.

Both Palmer squads finished third in the NLC during the regular season. Both Moose teams drew a winless Kodiak team in the tournament quarterfinals. And both Palmer teams needed a couple of quarters to shake off the scrappy Bears to move forward to the semifinals for a date with rival Colony.

The Palmer girls used a 17-4 run to break away from the Bears, and scored a 62-40 victory over Kodiak Thursday, during the first day of the NLC tourney at Palmer High School. Later in the evening, the Palmer boys allowed only eight second-half points in a 57-34 win over the Bears.

After holding just a five-point lead after the first quarter, seven different players scored at least two points during the second quarter for the Moose girls.

Abrianna Busbey scored a team-high 16 points to lead the Moose into the semifinal round. Busbey hit seven shots from the floor, including a pair of three-pointers. Julia Benshetler added 13 points in the victory, and Kiana Till added nine.

The Palmer boys led by three points after the first quarter and seven at halftime, but outscored the Bears 24-8 in the second half. Payton Martin led Palmer with 22 points in the victory. Martin hit four three-pointers, and scored 10 of Palmer’s 12 third-quarter points. Michael Kluting hit a pair of threes, and added 18 points.

In other first-round action, the Kenai boys bounced Soldotna 49-32. The Soldotna girls slipped by Kenai 31-25.

Friday marks the busiest day of the three-day tournament at Palmer High, with six games on the slate. The day starts with a pair of consolation games. The Kenai girls meet Kodiak at 10 a.m. and the Soldotna boys face Kodiak at noon.

The Wasilla and Colony teams will also make their tournament debuts Friday. Both of the Wasilla teams are the No. 1 seeds in their respective brackets. The Colony squads are the No. 2 seeds. The top 2 seeds in each bracket receive a first-round bye.

The semifinal round starts at 1:30 p.m. with the third-seeded Palmer girls hosting second-seeded Colony. The top-seeded Wasilla girls play fourth-seeded Soldotna at 3:15 p.m. The top-seeded Wasilla boys follow against Kenai at 5 p.m. The final semifinal game pits the second-seeded Colony boys against third-seeded Palmer at 6:45 p.m.