Moose thwart Warrior rally

PALMER — With eight straight wins, a streak kept alive with a 60-59 win over the Wasilla Warriors on Tuesday, Palmer is marching into foreign territory, or at least an area unfamiliar to the current generation of the Moose boys’ basketball squad.

“This is the first time in a while we’ve beat them in region play,” Palmer senior Shaq Odom said of his team’s victory over the rival Warriors. “This is the first time we’ve been 6-1 in region for a long time.”

Odom, one of four Palmer players to hit double digits in scoring, finished with 13 points to help the Moose improve to 6-1 in Northern Lights Conference play. The win also guaranteed Palmer its first finish above .500 in conference action since the Moose won the NLC title in 2004.

“It’s that winning mentality, they’re starting to develop that and recognize what it takes to win and how good it feels,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said after the win. “They want to win.”

Senior Mitch Swetzof (16 points), senior Jake Hillis (14 points) and sophomore Christian Odom (14 points) also hit double-digits for the Moose, who used a 23-point third quarter to break a 29-29 halftime tie. The Moose did most of their damage driving the lanes and working toward the basket in the win.

“Attacking the basket,” Shaq Odom said. “That’s what we do.”

Wasilla senior Adrese LaVern, who scored a team-high 17 in the loss, hit a long three-pointer at the buzzer to force the halftime tie. It was LaVern’s third three-pointer of the half. Senior Tillerman Kroon, who added 13, also hit a three midway through period.

Sophomore Cole Schierman scored six of his 12 points for Wasilla, as the Warriors erased a lead Palmer had stretched to 10 in the third quarter.

“My kids aren’t going to roll over and bail,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said. “They’ve proved that a couple times now. It was a dogfight all the way to the end.”

Swetzof gave Palmer a five-point lead with 1:35 remaining, but Kroon and LaVern each hit shots during the final minute to bring Wasilla within one.

Sophomore David Green found LaVern slashing to the basket with 32 seconds left to cut the score to 60-59. After a Palmer turnover in the Wasilla offensive zone with 20 seconds left, the Warriors had one last opportunity to post the win. LaVern took a shot in the final seconds, but Hillis was able to pull down the rebound and secure the win.

“I was so excited,” Shaq Odom said of the rebound. “I don’t know how he got the ball. He just grabbed it.”

This is the second meeting of the year between the two Valley foes. In January, Wasilla scored a lopsided win over the Moose to open NLC play.

“I knew it was going to be a different than when we saw them the last time, they’ve got a lot of confidence since then and Jason’s got them prepared,” Engebretsen said.

Palmer 60, Wasilla 59

Tuesday, Palmer High School

Wasilla 15-14-14-16—59

Palmer 15-14-23-8—60

Wasilla (59) — Schierman 6 0-0 12, Kroon 5 2-2 13, Kuiper 1 0-0 2,

LaVern 7 0-3 17, Orr 0 1-2 1, Pfeifer 4 2-2 10, Knowles 2 0-0 4, Green

0 0-2 0; Total: 25 5-11 59.

Palmer (60) — Titus 1 0-0 3, Hillis 6 2-2 14, Swetzof 7 2-4 16, S. Odom

5 3-4 13, C. Odom 4 4-4 14; Totals: 23 11-14 60.

Three-point field goals: Wasilla 4 (LaVern 3), Palmer 3 (C. Odom 2);

Total fouls: Wasilla 14, Palmer 12; Fouled out: Palmer- Bohman.