Moose unload from downtown, fall short to Soldotna

PALMER —It was one of Palmer’s better shooting performances of the year.

The Moose drilled a season-high eight three-pointers, and Palmer didn’t miss a shot for the first five minutes of the season half.

But Palmer’s efforts came while playing catch-up, and after falling behind early, Soldotna had an answer for every Palmer run.

The Stars withstood a second-half Palmer push to claim the 64-57 Northern Lights Conference victory at Palmer High School on Friday.

“Every time we’d crawl within two, or three or four, they’d have two or three big plays,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said.

Soldotna guards Matt Grubb and Blaine Carver combined for 31 points and forwards Daniel Geller and Liam Andrus combined for 26 in the paint to help keep the Stars (9-0) perfect in Northern Lights Conference play and drop the Moose to 6-3 in the NLC.

Soldotna’s combination of the inside presence and outside threats prompted Marvel to tab the Stars as the best team he’s seen in the conference this season.

“That’s a very good team,” Marvel said. “They’re senior-laden. They don’t turn the ball over.”

Soldotna’s outside shooting allowed the Stars to turn a two-point first-quarter advantage into a 10-point halftime lead. Carver hit midrange jumpers and Boomer Blossom buried a long three during Soldotna’s 15-point second quarter.

Grubb helped Soldotna gain an early lead with seven of his 15 points in the first.

The Stars holding a 10-point lead at the intermission, but a pair of Palmer sophomores helped the Moose drive back into the game.

Sophomore post Sean Niekamp scored 10 of his points 12 in the third quarter, and fellow sophomore Trey Fullmer scored all 12 of his points in the second half, draining four of Palmer’s eight threes during the final two quarters.

Niekamp, a typical regular in the rotation, has taken on much more of a prominent role since the loss of one of Palmer’s leaders, senior Shaq Odom, who was lost for the season after suffering a knee injury during the Valdez Elks Tournament earlier this month. During the third, Niekamp completed a pair of three-point plays and used four shots from within the paint to help the Moose chew into SoHi’s lead.

“I think he’s doing a nice job,” Marvel said. “He does some things differently offensively than Shaq, but we’re looking to him to fill that void.”

Fullmer, who is evolving into a legitimate three-point threat for the Moose, hit the first of his four threes with 56 seconds left in the third, and nailed three more in the fourth.

Fullmer hit a three to make it a six-point game with five minutes left, another to bring the Moose within three with 2:44 left and drilled his final shot from beyond the arc with less than a minute left in regulation.

“Our young guys can really shoot the ball,” Marvel said.

But each time Palmer hit a big shot, Soldotna answered.

After Fullmer cut Soldotna’s lead to a single possession at the 2:44 mark, Blossom used a jumper to extend the Stars’ advantage to 53-48.

When Palmer junior Brennan Bohman sank a free throw to cut Soldotna’s lead to 53-49, Grubb hit a jump shot of his own.

“I thought our kids did a good job of not hanging our heads,” Soldotna head coach Matthew Johnson said. “Palmer went on a couple of runs in the second half where our kids could have folded. But I thought they really responded well and got big baskets of their own.”

Soldotna 64, Palmer 57

Friday, Palmer High School

Soldotna 13-15-17-18—64

Palmer 11-7-20-19—57

Soldotna (64) — Blossom 3 0-0 7, Grubb 5 4-8 15, Carver 7 2-7 16, Geller 3 5-6 11, Andrus 6 3-3 15; Totals 24 13-24 64.

Palmer (57) — Fullmer 4 0-0 12, Hillis 4 0-2 10, Swetzof 5 0-2 11, Bohman 4 1-2 10, Montgomery 1 0-0 2, Niekamp 5 2-2 12; Totals: 23 3-8 57.

Three-point field goals: Soldotna 2 (Blossom, Grubb 1), Palmer 8 (Fullmer 4) ; Total fouls: Soldotna 10, Palmer 19; Fouled out: Palmer- Hillis, Bohman.

Moose top Kardinals

PALMER — Palmer used an 18-point third quarter to claim a 42-36 victory over the Kenai Kardinals at Palmer High School on Saturday and end the regular season on a winning note.

Senior Jake Hillis scored 12 points to lead the Moose. Senior Mitch Swetzof added seven.

Palmer finished the season at 7-3 in NLC, and are left in a tie with Wasilla for second place in the NLC North.

Palmer 42, Kenai 36

Saturday, Palmer High School

Kenai 10 5 7 14 —36

Palmer 8 9 18 7 —42

Kenai (36) — Lowe 0 2-2 2, Rabung 4 1-2 9, Hull 0 1-2 1, Kiefer 0 0-0 0, Spalding 3 1-1 7, Lazaro 7 1-2 15, Barnes 1 0-0 2, Bisset 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 6-9 36.

Palmer (42) — Fullmer 2 0-0 6, Titus 0 0-0 0, Dean 1 1-2 4, Hillis 6 0-0 12, Swetzof 3 1-2 7, Bohman 0 5-6 5, Nieramp 1 0-0 2, Odom 2 2-2 6. Totals — 15 9-12 42.

Three-point goals — Palmer 3 (Fullmer 2, Dean 1). Team fouls — Kenai 14, Palmer 15. Fouled out — Lazaro, Hillis.