Moose seniors found good chemistry early on

PALMER — At the beginning of 2005, a tryout was held in the Palmer Junior Middle School gym.

Twenty middle-schoolers gave their best efforts to make the comp basketball team. Of the selected players, there are five — Hunter Dean, Trey Fullmer, Sean Niekamp, Kevin Montgomery and Christian Odom — who have spent the last seven years together on the hardwood. On Friday, these five were honored for their service to Palmer basketball.

“They do a fabulous job, they really work together well,” said Palmer High head coach Jason Marvel. “They played their hearts out tonight, and I’m very proud of them.”

This group has shared success all throughout their careers. In 2005, the team was comprised of sixth-graders playing in a seventh-grade league. Each season the teammates have been successful, perhaps mostly in their freshmen year. Each player decided to stick together and play C-team rather than stripping the group of the best players to play junior varsity. For head coach Shane Southwick, the five went 18-1, suffering their only loss in the final game of the season.

But the Moose are certainly not done. Marvel scheduled a string of games against Cook Inlet Conference teams down the stretch of the regular season to prepare the team for a tough run through the postseason.

“It prepares us pretty well. Play tough teams and they show you your weaknesses,” he said. “I think we’re in good shape going into region tournament.”

The seniors took the floor for the last time on a Palmer hardwood to play the Bartlett Golden Bears. The Bears head coach is Greg Fullmer. Yes, he’s father of the senior three-point specialist.

“It meant a lot for me playing with my four brothers. I could have been playing for Bartlett tonight, but it means more to play with this group” said Trey Fullmer. Fullmer led the Moose in scoring Friday with 14 points, 12 from beyond the arc — including one from the “Fullmer Line,” which is the volleyball line near half court.

Bartlett won the game 68-52, but even a loss on senior night would not break the bonds shared on the Palmer court Friday.

The Moose came off a buzzer-beater from Odom against rival Wasilla Thursday night, but the Bears were able to match the Moose the next evening. The Moose faced a tough matchup for the second night in a row against a team loaded with size and athleticism.

Palmer played excellent defense along Marvel’s trademark ball-control offense, and went into the locker room at halftime down 30-26.

But the second half would not go well for the Moose. Palmer scored just eight points in the fourth quarter. Bartlett’s 6-foot-4 Damon Newsome took over in the third quarter, scoring 11 of his game-high 20 points.

“We’re playing well. We’ve tweaked our defense a little bit, but the biggest thing for this team is that these guys don’t care who’s the leading scorer night in and night out, they have really good team chemistry,” said Bartlett head coach Greg Fullmer.

Palmer heads into the region tournament having avenged both of their losses within the region suffered early in the season.

Greg Fullmer said jokingly of the matchup against his son’s team that “it was a little awkward, I won’t lie to you. You know what? I think they need to let him shoot the ball more, just not against us.”

Tim Rockey is a senior at Palmer High School who also writes for the Frontiersman’s Sports section.

Bartlett 68, Palmer 52

Friday, Palmer High School

Bartlett 12-18-20-18—68

Palmer 10-16-18-8—52

Bartlett (68) — Anthony 3 1-1 8, Dunbar 2 0-0 4, Berry 4 0-0 10, Maduro 3 0-0 6, Johnson 1 0-0 2, J. Deng 3 0-0 6, D. Sherman-Newsome 9 1-2 20, I. Sherman-Newsome 4 2-3 10, King 1 0-0 2.

Palmer (52) — Odom 5 1-2 11, Looney 1 0-0 2, Nisbett 1 0-1 3, Dean 3 0-0 8, Buresh 1 0-0 2, Montgomery 2 0-0 4, Niekamp 3 0-0 8, Fullmer 5 0-0 14.

Palmer girls score win

PALMER — Sarah Houchen scored 10 points to lead the Palmer Moose to a 48-36 nonconference win over Bartlett. Taylor Blake added nine, and Kasara Brandenburg and Kendal Venzke chipped in eight each.

Palmer 48, Bartlett 36

Friday, Palmer High

Bartlett 7-9-10-10—36

Palmer 13-21-6-8—48

Bartlett (36) — Turner 3 1-1 7, Britt 4 3-4 11, Rykema 3 1-2 10, Pollard 2 0-0 4, Alo 1 2-4 4.

Palmer (48) — Van Hoomesen 0 2-2 2, Venzke 3 2-2 8, Houchen 5 0-0 10, Jensen 2 1-2 5, Koehn 1 0-0 2, Blake 4 0-0 9, LaMere 1 0-0 2, Brandenburg 4 0-0 8, Huffman 1 0-0 2.