Moose win tourney titles

JUNEAU — Off to a good start, the Palmer Moose are eager to prove they’re a team to contend with this season.

Palmer suffered a tough loss to defending state champion Wasilla last week, but on Friday the Moose knocked of the second-ranked team in the state.

Palmer, ranked third in the latest Alaska Association of Basketball Coaches 4A girls poll, beat second-ranked West Valley 43-37 during the second day of the Thunder Dome Basketball Tournament at Thunder Mountain High School.

“It was definitely a big win,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said. “It’s definitely the kind of win that builds your confidence.”

Fueled by that win, the Moose capped a perfect weekend in the tourney, beating host Thunder Mountain 53-35 on Saturday to win the Thunder Dome title.

“It definitely feels good,” Reid said of the championship. “We’ve been working hard all season.”

It’s the second tourney title of the season for the Moose, who also won the WYBT Holiday Classic in Kona, Hawaii, in December.

“It always feels good to win a tournament,” Reid said. “We’ve got a little momentum built back up. Hopefully it keeps rolling.”

Taylor Blake led Palmer with 14 points against the Falcons. Kasara Brandenburg added 13, Tress Whitfield scored seven and Rachel Hoffman chipped in six.

Blake and Brandenburg scored 13 each during the win over West Valley. Reid said rebounding and the play of Whitfield on defense were also key in the win.

“(Rebounding) was definitely a major factor of us being able to control the game,” Reid said.

Reid praised Whitfield, who help Palmer limit West Valley’s top player, Hannah Mattson, to 14 points.

“Tress did a real nice job,” Reid said about Whitfield.

Both Blake and Brandenburg were named all-tournament. Blake also won the tournament’s three-point shooting contest.

Palmer boys win title

JUNEAU — The Palmer boys stormed past host Thunder Mountain 68-22 Saturday night to win the Thunder Dome Basketball Tournament title in Juneau.

“We came out, we worked our defense and we were patient on offense,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said by cellphone from Juneau Saturday night. “It was a great team effort.”

Connor Looney led the Moose with 16 points in the win. Jackson Buresh added 14, Thomas Matik chipped in 11, and James Nisbett and Hayden Niekamp finished with nine each.

Palmer also beat Mt. Edgecumbe and West Valley en route to the title.

“The guys played hard. We won games we should have won, and I think we grew a little bit as a team,” Marvel said.

Looney scored 26 during a 68-45 win over West Valley on Friday. Brian Selmer added 16, and Buresh collected a dozen points for the Moose.

Palmer jumped out to a 24-10 lead against the Wolfpack in the first.

Looney was named the tournament’s most valuable player, and Buresh was named all-tournament.

The Moose have earned seven wins at three different tournaments this year. Palmer was 2-1 at the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic at Wasilla, 2-3 at the Alvarez Tire Classic in Arizona and 3-0 at the Thunder Dome tourney.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him at twitter.com/matsu_sports.