Moose madness

PALMER — Palmer held up its part of the bargain, pulling away from Kenai Central with a 15-2 run in the second quarter to set up a semifinal showdown Friday night against arch rival Wasilla with a berth at state on the line.

Following his team’s 52-33 win over the Kardinals, Palmer girls’ basketball coach Paul Reid said his team will need to be “relentless” to have a shot against the Warriors, the defending NLC and Alaska Class 4A champions.

“We need to put together four quarters together, take care of the basketball and play smart,” Reid said of Friday’s showdown.

Palmer didn’t put a whole game together against the Kardinals, but it was still enough to get past the No. 2 seed from the Southern Division.

The Kardinals hung tough in the first quarter behind eight points from Megan Gabriel, trailing the Moose just 13-12 after one quarter.

But Palmer came firing back, closing out the half on a 15-2 run to put the Kardinals in a big hole heading into the half.

The Kardinals never recovered, as Palmer cruised in the second half for the victory. The Moose shot 46 percent from the floor in the game and forced 23 Kenai turnovers while committing just 13 of their own.

Ashley Swetzof had a team-high 11 points and six rebounds to lead a balanced Palmer attack that got was bolstered by points each from Matti Cox and Geneva Ratcliff and eight each from Mikaela Bolling and Amy Tzou.

Kyla Steward scored 11 of her game-high 15 points to lead the Kardinals, while Gabriel finished with 10. Steward also led all players with seven rebounds.

Reid said he was surprised by Kenai’s offensive approach early in the game. Normally a run-and-gun outfit, the Kardinals slowed things down, picking up easy baskets in the half-court offense.

“They played a very different game than when we saw them a couple weeks ago,” Reid said.

The Palmer coach said he was proud of his team’s ability to adjust to Kenai’s change in tactics.

“I was happy with the way the girls came out in the second quarter and made some adjustments,” he said.

Palmer and Wasilla play at 6:30 p.m. tonight at PHS.

Contact Frontiersman sports reporter Matt Tunseth at matt.tunseth@frontiersman.com.

MOOSE 52, KARDINALS 33

Thursday, Palmer High School

Palmer 13 15 10 14 — 52

Kenai 12 2 12 7 — 33

PALMER (52) — Swetzof 4 2-2 11, J. Cox 2 0-0 4, Stratton 1 0-0 3, M. Cox 4 0-0 9, Bolling 4 0-0 8, Tzou 4 0-0 8, Ratcliff 4 1-3 9. Totals: 23 3-5 52.

KENAI (33) — Delaney 1 0-0 2, Gabriel 4 0-0 10, Mills 1 0-0 2, Wortham 0 1-2 1, Steward 7 0-0 15, Garcia 1 0-0 3. Totals: 14 1-2 33.

Three-point field goals — Palmer 3 (Swetzof, Stratton, M. Cox), Kenai 4 (Gabriel 2, Steward, Garcia). Total fouls — Palmer 8, Kenai 4. Fouled out — none.