Moose girls knock down Ketchikan

PALMER — The Ketchikan Kings learned a valuable lesson Saturday. Don’t give Abrianna Busbey extra looks from beyond the arc.

The Palmer junior hit five three-pointers and scored a game-high 22 points to lead the Moose to a 61-51 victory over the Kings during the final day of the Palmer Elks Showdown Saturday at Palmer High School.

“She’s a consistent shooter for us,” Palmer head coach Elgin Hollins said after the win. “You’ve got to make teams pay if they’re going to leave you open.”

Busbey hit a trio of her threes during Palmer’s 23-point seconds quarter, and helped turn a three-point first quarter deficit into a three-point halftime lead. Busbey hit a three-pointer early in the second quarter to tie the game at 15, and another late in the half that gave Palmer a 30-25 advantage.

“She works at it,” Hollins said of Busbey. “If they give you space, you’ve got to take it.”

Hollins said the play of both Busbey and senior Julie Benshetler was key in the victory.

“Having a senior leader like Julia Benshetler, who plays poised and slows the pace when we needed to take care of the ball, and having a player like Abrianna out there, who can hit shots, or go get a shot when we needed her to (is key),” Hollins said.

Overall, Hollins said he also liked to see how Palmer worked as a team during the win.

“Boxing out, rebounding as a collective group. That’s a huge step up for our program,” Hollins said. “Those are the little things we have to do — be great at — to be successful.”

Palmer was hitting shots. In addition to Busbey’s 22, Benshetler scored 12 and Kassidy Bowman added 11. The Moose followed the 23-point second, with a 19-point third. Busbey, Benshetler and Bekkah Alley had key three-pointers during the third. Freshman Catherine Uschmann also came through with six points during the third.

The Moose were also consistently able to get stops on the defensive side. Palmer held Ketchikan without a field goal in the second quarter until an Ashley Huffine layup with 4:13 left in the half. Huffine also had Ketchikan’s first field goal of the third quarter, a three-pointer about three minutes into the frame.

In the fourth, Ketchikan scored four quick points to start the quarter, but was held without a field goal for about the final 6:30 of play.

Hollins said it was good to see his team take what was a back-and-forth game early, and grab the momentum and run with it. Hollins attributed the success to Palmer’s ability to do the little things correctly.

“We stress it every day in practice. Box out, rebound, taking care of the ball,” Hollins said. “When you do those little things like that when you’re in a tight game, that’s the difference between winning and losing.”

Overall, Hollins said the win over Ketchikan marked his team’s best performance of the season so far.

“Playing a quality team like Ketchikan really put us in a good position to see where we are as a team,” Hollins said. “There’s always room for improvement, but we’re growing as a team.”

Palmer finished 2-1 in the Showdown. Busbey, Benshetler and Bowman were all named to the all-tournament team.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer girls 61, Ketchikan 51

Palmer Elks Showdown

Saturday, Palmer High School

Ketchikan 14-17-24-6—51

Palmer 11-23-19-8—61

Ketchikan (51) — Slick 2 0-0 4, Rose 1 1-3 3, Huffine 5 5-6 18, Maxwell 4 5-10 14, Zhuta 0 0-1 0, Simmons 3 5-6 12; Totals: 15 16-26 51.

Palmer (61) — Busbey 7 3-4 22, Pettingill 0 1-2 1, Uschmann 3 0-0 6, S. Benshetler 1 0-0 2, Bowman 4 3-4 11, Giese 1 0-0 2, J. Benshetler 5 1-2 12, Alley 2 0-0 5; Totals: 23 8-12 61.

3-point field goals: Ketchikan 5 (Huffine 3), Palmer 7 (Busbey 5); Total fouls: Ketchikan 12, Palmer 19.