Moose rebound against Wolfpack

PALMER — After his team got doubled-up on the boards in a lopsided tournament loss to Colony last week, Palmer head coach Paul Reid spent the past week putting his team through endless rebounding drills.

“That's all we've been working on for the last week or so,” Moose forward Ashley Swetzof said Saturday after the Moose used a dominant effort on the boards to overcome a poor shooting performance to get a 45-34 win over the visiting West Valley Wolfpack.

Swetzof led Palmer with 12 points and 12 rebounds, one of three Moose forwards with at least eight boards. Amy Tzou had 10 points and eight rebounds off the bench, while Geneva Ratcliff pulled down nine boards.

Guard Kelsey Campbell scored seven points for a balanced Moose attack that also got five points from Jaimi Cox, four from Mattie Cox, three from Ratcliff and two each from Julie Mangelsdorf and Katie Stratton.

Palmer started off the 11 a.m. game by sleepwalking through the first quarter, missing their first 13 shots from the floor and hitting just two field goals, trailing the Wolfpack 8-5 through the first eight minutes of play.

“I think it was an eleven in the morning kind of thing,” Swetzof said of Palmer's shooting woes.

But the Moose stayed in the game by playing the Wolfpack tough defensively, forcing West Valley into tough shots and cutting down on second-chance opportunities.

“That was probably the difference in the game,” Reid said. “Even with the poor shooting, if you rebound the ball and hold them to one shot per possession, it's always going to help your cause.”

Reid said he put extra emphasis on rebounding fundamentals after the Moose were embarrassed on the boards by the Knights in the finals of the East Lady T-Bird Classic last Saturday.

“A lot of it was just the mental part of being able to recognize immediately when a shot goes up and finding the nearest player to block out,” Reid said.

Palmer took the lead midway through the second quarter on a Jaimi Cox bucket, part of a 13-2 run Moose run to end the half. They never trailed again, as the Wolf Pack were never able to mount much of a challenge down the stretch. Rose Mattson led West Valley with nine points before leaving midway through the fourth quarter after taking an inadvertent elbow to the head. Katie Oates added seven for the Wolfpack and Shelby Barton had six.

Reid said the non conference win was much-needed for the Moose, which had dropped two games in a row and are heading toward the meaty part of the Northern Lights Conference schedule.

“We really wanted to get a win here,” he said. “We've got to start building some momentum.”

The win improved Palmer's season record to 8-3 overall.

MOOSE 45, WOLFPACK 34

Saturday, Palmer High

Palmer 5 15 10 15 — 45

West Valley 8 4 11 11 — 34

PALMER (45) - Swetzof 3 5-6 12, J. Cox 2 1-6 5, Stratton 1 0-0 2, Campbell 1 4-4 7, Mangelsdorf 1 0-0 2, M. Cox 2 0-0 4, Tzou 3 4-4 10, Ratcliff 1 1-2 3. Totals: 14 15-22 45.

WEST VALLEY (34) - K. Oates 2 2-2 7, Mattson 4 1-2 9, Blackburn 1 1-3 3, A. Oates 1 2-5 4, Slater 1 0-0 2, Kakinya 0 3-6 3, Barton 3 0-0 6. Totals: 12 9-18 34.

Three point goals: Palmer 2 (Swetzof, Campbell), West Valley 1 (K. Oates). Total fouls: Palmer 19, West Valley 18. Fouled out: Blackburn.

Wasilla boys, girls fall

to Ketchikan Friday

Wasilla’s weekend trip to Ketchikan got off to a rough start Friday.

In the boys game, Ketchikan outscored Wasilla 19-9 in the first quarter, then hung on for a 66-61 win over the Warriors Friday in Ketchikan.

Jase Scudero scored 12 of his 16 points in the first quarter for the Kings, which also got 22 points from Damen Bell-Holter.

Dexter Pearce led all scorers with 23 points, while Tyler Johannes added 13 and Adrese LaVern had 12.

The Wasilla girls also dropped a close one, as Ketchikan’s Alexis Edwardson poured in a game-high 23 points to lead the Kings to a 60-56 non conference win.

Senior guard Shelby Fulton went 9-for-9 from the free throw line and scored 18 points to lead the Warriors, while Celeste Colegrove added 14 points, Skyler Ness had 12, Jenna Johnson had eight and Kelsey Cottle chipped-in four.

The teams squared off against Saturday night, but results were unavailable as of press time.

Boys

KINGS 66, WARRIORS 61

Ketchikan 19 17 12 18 — 66

Wasilla 9 12 21 19 — 61

KETCHIKAN (66) — Farstad 0 2-2 2, Pihl 2 0-0 3, P. Manabat 0 1-2 1, Scudero 7 0-0 16, White 2 4-4 8, Bell-Holter 7 7-16 22, Shum 5 1-4 11. Totals: 23 15-28 66.

WASILLA (61) — Gray 0 0-1 0, Kroon 1 0-0 2, LaVern 4 3-3 12, Pearce 11 1-4 23, Johannes 5 2-4 13, Green 1 0-0 2, Flowers 1 0-0 2, Knowles 2 3-6 7. Totals: 25 9-18 61.

Three point goals: Ketchikan 5 (Pihl 2, Scudero 2, Bell-Holter), Wasilla 2 (LaVern, Johannes). Total fouls: Ketchikan 18, Wasilla 23. Fouled out: Shum, Knowles, Pearce.

Girls

KINGS 60, WARRIORS 56

Ketchikan 13 19 14 14 — 60

Wasilla 11 18 13 14 — 56

Ketchikan (60) — Peterson 4 1-1 10, Effenberger 4 5-5 14, Edwardson 6 10-12 23, Reno 3 3-7 9, Ortiz 1 0-0 2, Covault 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 19-25 60.

Wasilla (56) — Fulton 4 9-9 18, Ness 5 2-3 12, Naczi 0 0-1 0, Johnson 2 4-4 8, Colegrove 6 2-4 14, Cottle 2 0-0 4. Totals: 19 17-21 56.

Three point goals: Ketchikan 3 (Peterson, Effenberger, Edwardson), Wasilla 1 (Fulton). Total fouls: Ketchikan 18, Wasilla 19. Fouled out: Ortiz.

Nikiski picks up sweep over Su Valley

The host Bulldogs pulled out a pair of wins over the Su Valley Rams Friday in Nikiski.

In the girls game, Nikiski held Su Valley to just four points in the first half en route to a 46-16 win.

Kristjana Timmers led Su Valley with six points.

The boys game was closer, with the Bulldogs taking a 65-50 decision.

Levi Smith scored 19 of his game-high 23 points in the second half to pace the Rams.

BOYS

BULLDOGS 65, RAMS 50

Su Valley 15 6 16 13 —50

Nikiksi 17 19 13 16 —65

SU-VALLEY (50) — Bartel 2 3-4 8, Matthews 3 0-2 6, Curtis 0 0-0 0, Kolbeck 0 0-0 0, Kelly 4 0-3 9, Smith 10 3-3 23, Hicks 2 0-0 4, Hamler 0 0-0 0. Totals — 21 6-12 50.

NIKISKI (65) — Olson 1 1-2 3, B. Wik 5 2-2 12, Lofquist 2 0-0 4, Holloway 5 2-3 12, Seater 1 0-0 3, Bennett 1 1-2 3, J. Wik 5 0-0 12, Williams 0 0-0 0, Vance 5 1-2 12, Taylor 0 0-0 0, Oyler 2 0-0 4. Totals — 27 7-11 65.

3-point goals — Su-Valley 2 (Bartel, Kelly), Nikiski 4 (J. Wik 2, Seater 1, Vance 1). Team fouls — Su-Valley 12, Nikiski 17. Fouled out — none.

Girls

BULLDOGS 49, RAMS 16

Su Valley 3 1 10 2 —16

Nikiski 20 8 8 13 —49

SU VALLEY (16) — Timmers 6, Reynolds 4, Hunt 4, Wollet 2, Evans 0, J. Crosby 0, A. Crosby 0, Matthews 0, Maynard 0, Bartel 0.

NIKISKI (49) — Peek 14, Romans 9, Johnson 8, Carlson 6, E. Chadwick 6, Thompson 2, Rorrison 2, A. Chadwick 2, Anderson 0.

3-point goals — Nikiski 2. Team fouls — Su Valley 11, Nikiski 5. Fouled out — none.