NLC tourney: Moose stun top-seeded Knights

PALMER — The Palmer Moose entered the region tournament as the lowest seed in the boys’ bracket. Now the Moose are headed to the state tournament.

Palmer stunned top-seeded Colony 58-55 in the Northern Lights Conference Championships semifinals Friday afternoon at Soldotna High School. With the win, Palmer earns a trip to the state tournament and the NLC title game for the first time since 2016.

“They played well today,” Palmer head coach Jeremy Arnhart said of his players by cell phone early Friday evening.

Arnhart said the Moose established two goals before they hit the floor.

“We were preaching we can’t turn the ball over, we can’t give up transition points,” Arnhart said. “We played very good defense. We didn’t give up a lot on transition, and we eliminated our turnovers.”

Palmer’s win Friday came a night after the Moose got past fourth-seeded Kodiak during the first day of the tourney and a week after the Knights handed the Moose a 25-point loss on their senior night.

“It takes just one game to beat a good team,” Arnhart said.

Arnhart said his players showed high character, bought into the game plan and believed in themselves.

Palmer is now in the region title game for the third time since 2013. The Moose won the championship in both 2013 and 2016. The Moose will face third-seeded Soldotna Saturday at 4 p.m. in the boys’ title game. The Stars used a bucket in the final seconds to upset second-seeded Wasilla in the other semifinal.

Ronny Marshall scored eight of his game-high 24 points in the second quarter to help the Moose beat Colony for the first time since the 2016 NLC tournament. Dae Osiensky added 14 and Lavar Marshall chipped in a dozen.

Palmer led 15-12 after the first and owned a five-point advantage at halftime. Colony was able to take the lead twice in the second half, but each time Palmer had an answer.

“We had a pretty good start, and we kept battling,” Arnhart said.

Colony’s Patrick McMahon slashed to the basket to give Colony a 37-36 advantage, its only lead of the third quarter, with 1:47 left in the frame. On Palmer’s ensuing possession, Lavar Marshall gave the lead back to the Moose.

Colton Spencer knocked down an open look with 5:45 left in the fourth, and the jumper gave the Knights the 47-46 lead. But after a Ronny Marshall layup about 25 seconds later, the Knights would never lead again.

“We made the plays to win,” Arnhart said. “We didn’t play not to lose.”

Overall, Arnhart said his team put four quarters of good basketball together.

“We finally finished a game,” Arnhart said.

Colton Spencer led Colony with 23 points in the loss. McMahon added 13 and Sullivan Menard finished with 10.

Despite the loss, Colony remains alive for one of two at-large berths to the 4A state tournament. ASAA will select the at-large teams Sunday.

The Palmer girls also played in the semifinals, but suffered a 62-22 loss to top-seeded Soldotna. Ellyse Russell led Palmer with eight. The Moose play Kodiak in an elimination game Saturday.

Moose sweep Kodiak on first day of tourney

The Palmer boys rallied late, the girls cruised in the second half and both squads knocked off higher seeded Kodiak during the first day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships Thursday in Soldotna.

On the boys’ side, No. 5 Palmer bested No. 4 Kodiak 47-43 to advance to Friday's semifinals.

The fifth-seeded Palmer girls defeated fourth-seeded Kodiak 67-39 to advance to a semifinal matchup with the top-seeded Soldotna.

Lavar Marshall sparked the Moose late as Palmer closed the game on an 11-2 run. Palmer trailed 41-36, but Marshall drained three-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Palmer the lead. Marshall’s second three came with 2:30 to play. Ronny Marshall followed with a basket with 1:15 left. Lavar Marshall hit a free throw during the final seconds of the game to give Palmer the two-possession advantage.

Jacob Titus had the hot hand in the third quarter, scoring 10 of his game-high 16 points for the Moose, but Kodiak still entered the fourth quarter up 34-28. Palmer outscored Kodiak 19-9 in the fourth. Lavar Marshall scored nine of his 13 in the final frame.

The Palmer girls got scoring from 11 different players, led by Catherine Uschmann's 16 and Abriana Busbey's 14. Palmer used a 23-11 spurt in the second quarter to build a 34-23 halftime lead, then won the second half 33-16 to seal the win.

Contact Frontiersman managing editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.