NLC could be anyone’s to win

PALMER — One thing is certain in the Northern Lights Conference this year. Nobody can be certain about which boys’ basketball team will ultimately rise to the top.

“It’s a tough conference,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said. “Talent-wise, it’s spread around. I think it’s probably the first year where we have seen that in a while. The talent is pretty spread around between all the six teams.”

The conference itself has undergone change. Former members Skyview and Homer dropped to the 3A Southcentral Conference, leaving Palmer, Colony, Kodiak, Kenai, Soldotna and four-time defending conference champion Wasilla in the NLC. But the absence of those two programs may make things more interesting.

Wasilla, arguably, took the biggest hit from graduation. Last season’s player of the year, Connor Devine, has graduated to the Davison I level. Second-team all-stater Braydon Kuiper is also playing at the next level, and former starting point guard Dillon Ferro also graduated.

“There are a few new faces,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of the league, while noting the loss of graduated players such as former Soldotna guard Evan Withrow, former Kenai guard AJ Hull and Wasilla’s big trio. “But it will still be competitive again.”

Berg agreed with Marvel, it could be anyone’s conference to win.

“It’s certainly open,” Berg said.

Colony (3-0) is off to a good start, with road wins over Kenai, Soldotna and Wasilla. The Warriors (2-1) beat both Kenai and Soldotna. Palmer (1-1) topped the Kards, but fell to the Stars. Soldotna (1-2) meets rival Kenai today on the Peninsula.

The wild card could be Kodiak, which sports a 7-4 overall record and quality 4A nonconference wins over teams such as Juneau-Douglas and Lathrop.

“The scariest team for me is Kodiak, because I haven’t seen them,” Berg said.

With the new six-team format, five of the teams (Soldotna, Kenai, Palmer, Wasilla and Colony) face each other in a two-game home-and-home series. But to reduce travel costs, those five teams face Kodiak on back-to-back nights at one location.

“I think that’s the tough part, you play them on back-to-back nights,” Marvel said. “You don’t get to spread it out over a couple weeks. They could sneak up and do some damage.”

Despite the loss of a senior class that included Devine, Kuiper and Ferro, Wasilla did return one of the top underclassmen in the state, sophomore Dane Kuiper.

“It was a big hit from our roster for sure, but kids are in the gym working their tail off to create our identity,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said earlier this year.

In addition to Kuiper, the Warriors also have junior Cash McGregor, a key player off the bench last year. The Warriors are also excited about the new members to the varsity squad, players like Cameron Brown, Stone Krueper and Dustin Cook.

Palmer and Colony had smaller voids to fill. The Moose lost two key seniors, Jackson Buresh and Jared Straight, but return one of the top players in the conference, senior Connor Looney.

“He’s definitely one of the most talented kids I’ve ever coached,” Marvel said of Looney, who is averaging well more than 20 points per game.

Looney has accounted for the bulk of Palmer’s scoring this season. During a loss to Soldotna, Looney scored 35 of Palmer’s 41 points. Marvel said establishing consistent scoring from Palmer’s supporting cast is key to the long-term success of the Moose.

“We can’t just have Connor Looney score all of the points. We’ve got to have a balanced attack,” Marvel said. “Everyone knows Connor’s going to get his points. He has to get his points for us to be competitive and win. But it’s crucial to get other guys scoring.”

Recent performances such as a 17-point performance by Brian Selmer during a win over Juneau-Douglas are promising to the Moose. Marvel said Selmer, James Nisbett and Hayden Niekamp can play key roles at both sides of the floor for Palmer.

Colony also had a small senior class, but has had to replace NLC first-teamers Jared Turner and Tim Smith. Helping the Knights cause is the availability of three-year varsity veterans Hunter Eisenhower and Nathan Umbarger. Seniors Joe Gray and Tanner Menard, and junior Damien Fulp are also key to the Knights program.

Overall, Berg said he likes his team’s depth.

The three Valley teams are all entering a big stretch of the season. Palmer and Wasilla face off Friday at 7 p.m., and Palmer meets Colony next Tuesday.

Soldotna will be in the Valley to visit Colony on Friday and Wasilla on Saturday.

Colony makes the trip to Kodiak late next week.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.