Moose rally for first title since ’04

SOLDOTNA — The Palmer Moose have spent their entire careers watching their rivals play in the big game.

But Saturday, the Moose had their chance in the spotlight, and Palmer cashed in on the opportunity.

Palmer used a second half rally to score a 63-54 come-from-behind victory over the rival Colony Knights during the Northern Lights Conference Championships boys’ final at Soldotna High School Saturday.

“It’s the best feeling ever,” Palmer senior Connor Looney said after the win. “We’ve shown we can play with the top of the state.”

Looney scored 25 points to help the Moose erase a first-half deficit and rally to win their first conference title since 2004.

“We never gave up, stuck to the game plane, played hard and tried to shut down their main guys,” Looney said.

The Moose trailed by five at the half and as many as eight in the second quarter, but Palmer senior Brian Selmer hit a three-pointer just inside the third quarter to spark the Palmer rally.

“We ran that set to him to get him going in the second half,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said of Selmer. “His second-half performance was just stellar.”

Selmer hit a jumper early in the fourth quarter to give the Moose a 42-41 lead.

“It was huge for momentum,” Looney said of Selmer’s shots early in periods. “He’s going, we all go.”

Selmer’s early third-quarter three-pointer cut Colony’s lead to a possession, but Palmer didn’t take its first lead until Nathan Mayer hit a three-pointer with 2:40 left in the third. That gave Palmer the 36-33 advantage. A pair of James Nisbett free throws pushed Palmer’s advantage to five points.

Colony senior Joe Gray drilled a three-pointer and senior Hunter Eisenhower buried a jumper to give Colony leads late in the third quarter, but the Moose would maintain the advantage once Selmer dropped in a jump shot early in the fourth.

Looney followed by driving the lane and spinning to the basket to give the Moose the 44-41 advantage less than a minute into the final frame.

The plays sparked a Palmer 10-point run.

“Great teams finish games,” Selmer said. “Getting those shots helped us with momentum, and getting those defensive stops.”

Eisenhower and senior Tanner Menard both hit three-pointers during the final three minutes of the game, and both shots cut a Palmer lead to 5. But the Moose were able to hold on to their advantage. Palmer was 10 for 10 from the free throw line during the final three minutes.

“Free throws, Adam (Ramoth), James, everyone was contributing,” Looney said.

Marvel praised his team for its work during the second half.

“I thought we were real resilient. I thought our seniors really stepped up and made some crucial plays. Adam Ramoth came in and gave us some real quality minutes and hit two big free throws down the stretch,” Marvel said. “I’m real proud of my guys. I think we’re peaking at the right time.”

Colony took a lead very early in the game, and held it until deep into the third quarter.

Eisenhower drilled a three-pointer to break a 7-7 tie and spark a 7-2 run late in the first quarter. That run allowed the Knights to hold a seven-point lead after the first. After Palmer pulled within a possession in the second quarter, Colony’s Boyd Huffman used a rebound and putback to give the Knights a five-point advantage. Damien Fulp drove to the basket to stretch Colony’s lead to eight.

That would be Colony’s largest advantage of the game.

“I certainly think there were some possessions, even in the first half, where we made some shots and they countered back,” said Colony head coach Tom Berg, who was named the NLC Coach of the Year following the tournament. “They kept it at five, sevent, eight, nine points. We made a lot of shots in the first half. It could have easily been 14, 16, 18.”

Berg agreed that Palmer was able to capture the momentum at the right time.

“There’ve been battles, both at our place and their place,” Berg said of the regular-season series between the cross-town rivals. “The difference was, they were able to swing momentum (tonight), where as the first two times, we were able to swing momentum. Part of that’s on me. We got outplayed late, I got outcoached. They were good tonight.”

Looney added seven rebounds and four assists to his 25 points. Selmer finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Hayden Niekamp also had seven rebounds for PHS.

Eisenhower led Colony with 19 points. Gray had 11 and Fulp chipped in 10.

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

Palmer 63, Colony 54

NLC title game

Saturday, Soldotna

Palmer 11-15-14-23—63

Colony 18-13-10-13—54

Palmer (63) — Ramoth 1 2-2 4, Looney 9 6-6 25, Mayer 2 1-2 6, Nisbett 0 5-7 5, Selmer 7 2-2 17, Niekamp 3 0-2 6; Totals: 22 16-21 63.

Colony (54) — Gray 4 0-0 11, Fulp 4 1-2 10, Menard 1 0-0 3, Umbarger 2 3-3 7, Huffman 1 0-0 2, Bush 1 0-2 2, Eisenhower 7 3-4 19; Totals: 20 7-11 54.

All-Northern Lights Conference

MVP: Damien Fulp, Colony

Coach of Year: Tom Berg, Colony

First team:

Cory Carver, Soldotna; Joe Gray, Colony; Brian Selmer, Palmer; Austin Frick, Kodiak; Dane Kuiper, Wasilla; Connor Looney, Palmer; Antonio Bush, Colony; Hunter Eisenhower, Colony; Jemuel Medina, Kodiak; Damien Fulp, Colony.

Second team:

Nathan Umbarger, Colony; Wyatt Fitt, Kenai; Nathan Mayer, Palmer; Hayden Niekamp, Palmer; Colton Young, Soldotna; Cash McGregor, Wasilla.