Palmer boys, girls have Kardinals'€™ number on the road

KENAI — If Paul Reid’s prediction is correct, he better have nerves of steel.

Following a 45-43 overtime victory over Kenai Central on Friday, the Palmer girls basketball coach said he expects many similar Northern Lights Conference games this season.

“It will be a battle every night,” Reid said. “The team that does the little things will win.”

Palmer’s boys completed a sweep over Kenai with a 63-50 victory on Friday, while Colony defeated Kenai’s boys 62-32 on Saturday and the Colony girls beat Kenai 56-34.

Holding a 41-40 lead in overtime, Palmer’s Erin LaMere went to the line. Despite the best efforts of Kardinals fans to distract her by pounding their feet against the bleachers, LaMere made both free throws.

Kenai’s Morgan Wensley nailed a shot from 3-point land to tie the game with under a minute left. Palmer’s Anna Koehn then gave her team the go-ahead bucket with 20 seconds on the clock.

After a timeout, Wensley put up a shot from the top of the 3-point line, but came up just short and hit the front of the rim. Bailey Beeson fouled Palmer’s Shawna Thein to conserve time. There was just six seconds left.

Thein, shooting one-on-one, missed her only free throw of the night out of five attempts. Lexi Beeson grabbed the rebound and was fouled.

Also shooting one-on-one, Lexi missed her first foul shot and Kenai once again fouled. That put Kendal Venzke at the line. She missed and Samantha Hull threw up a full-court buzzer beater, but came up short.

“I thought we played a sloppy game in general,” Reid said. Hence, Reid’s message to his team prior to the extra period was to play clean basketball, which they did. Reid said his girls had tighter defense and grabbed more defensive rebounds in overtime.

Kards head coach Stacia Rustad said she scrapped the Xs and Os talk and stressed rising to the challenge to her team before the overtime tipoff. She said her girls were given a second chance to beat the Moose and wanted them to take advantage of it.

Kenai finished the last 1:18 of the fourth quarter and the entire overtime without Raquel Young, one of their top players. Late in the fourth, Young was called for a push. It was her fifth foul.

“It was a tough fifth foul,” Rustad said.

However, her team was able to maintain scoring points, she said. Hull was also in foul trouble. She committed her third foul early in the second quarter.

Thein paced the Moose with 16 points. LaMere had 11. With two and a half to play in the fourth quarter, Hull drained a 3-pointer to knot the game at 37. After the Moose took back the lead, Bailey tied it up at 39.

The Moose called timeout with 32 seconds left. Off of the inbound pass, Bailey got a steal and drew a foul with 23 ticks to go. Then Kenai called timeout. The play didn’t develop as Rustad had hoped, and she burned another timeout with three seconds left.

Wensley lost control of the inbounds pass and possession went to Palmer. Kenai’s defense prevented the Moose from getting a shot off before time expired, forcing overtime.

Palmer boys 63,

Kenai 50

Palmer’s boys built a 13-point lead by halftime, a deficit that would prove too great for Kenai Central.

“I thought we executed well,” said Palmer head coach Jason Marvel. “When we do that, we get into a rhythm.”

The Moose opened the game with five straight 3-pointers and made seven in the game.

Kyle Titus hit four from 3-point land, three in the opening eight minutes. He had a team-high 18 points. Christian Odom followed with 15. Seven Moose players contributed to the scoring.

Tyler Spalding led Kenai with 20 points. Six Kardinals recorded points in the game.

Kenai head coach Ken Felchle said the game was a measuring stick for his squad.

“We lost to a very good basketball team that was fundamentally sound,” Felchle said.

The Moose, which went 16-of-24 from the line, made more free throws and more shots, Felchle said. But Kenai gave all they had.

“It wasn’t for a lack of effort,” Felchle said. “Our kids never quit. We never lost focus, we never hung our heads.”

Marvel agreed.

“Kenai always plays hard,” he said. “They’re going to be a scary team in a couple of years.”

Colony boys 62,

Kardinals 32

Scott Herman paced Colony’s boys with 14 points. Ten different players contributed to the scoring for the Knights. Kenai was led by Tyler Spalding with seven points. Nine Kardinals tallied points.

Colony girls 56,

Kardinals 34

Mary Klapperich socred a team-high 15 points for Colony. Alyssa Hutchins followed with 14. Raquel Young paced the Kards with 17 points. Morgan Wensley chipped in 11.

Girls

Palmer 45, Kardinals 43, OT

At Kenai, Friday

Palmer 10 8 13 8 6 —45

Kenai 7 11 11 10 4—43

PALMER (45) — A. VanHoomissen 0 0-0 0, K. Venzke 2 0-1 4, E. MaMere 3 5-8 11, S. Thein 6 4-5 16, A. Koehn 3 2-2 8, T. Blake 1 0-0 3, K. Brandenburg 1 1-4 3, M. Neurenberg 0 0-2 0. Totals — 16 12-22 45.

KENAI (43) — S. Hull 2 1-2 7, A. McGahan 0 1-2 1, L. Beeson 4 0-3 8, B. Beeson 1 0-0 2, L. Flanagan 0 0-0 0, M. Wensley 3 0-0 7, S. Dunlap 0 0-0 0, R. Young 8 2-2 18, K. Cabot 0 0-0 0. Totals — 18 4-9 43.

3-point goals — Palmer 1 (Blake 1); Kenai 3 (Hull 2, Wensley 1). Team fouls — Palmer 14; Kenai 19. Fouled out — Young.

Colony girls 56, Kardinals 34

At Kenai, Saturday

Colony 6 10 25 15—56

Kenai 7 0 15 12—34

COLONY (56) —M. Klapperich 6 3-5 15, A. Hutchins 3 5-6 14, K. Klapperich 5 3-4 13, D. Trudeau 1 0-0 2, M. Bowker 1 0-2 2, S. Stefanski 0 0-0 0, T. Forstner 4 0-1 8, A. Booth 1 0-0 2. Totals —21 11-18 56.

KENAI (34) — S. Hull 0 1-2 1, A. McGahan 0 0-0 0, L. Beeson 0 0-0 0, B. Beeson 0 0-0 0, L. Flanagan 0 0-0 0, M. Wensley 4 0-0 11, S. Dunlap 1 0-0 3, R. Young 8 1-3 17, K. Cabot 1 0-0 2. Totals —13 2-6 34.

3-point goals —Colony 3 (A. Hutchins 3); Kenai 4 (Wensley 3, Dunlap 1). Team fouls — Colony 13; Kenai 14. Fouled out — None.

Boys

Palmer 63, Kardinals 50

At Kenai, Friday

Palmer 19 14 15 15—63

Kenai 13 7 13 17—50

PALMER (63) — W. Peltier 0 0-0 0, H. Dean 1 0-0 3, J. Buresh 2 0-2 6, B. Bohman 2 3-4 7, K. Titus 5 4-4 18, K. Montgomery 1 0-0 2, S. Niekamp 3 6-8 12, C. Odom 5 5-6 15, B. Brown 0 0-0 0. Totals — 19 16-24 63.

KENAI (50) — B. Lowe 2 2-3 6, R. Ziehmer 0 0-0 0, A. Hull 3 2-3 8, B. Kiefer 1 0-0 3, T. Spalding 9 2-5 20, T. Landry 0 0-0 0, K. Risung 0 0-0 0, J. Sandahl 0 0-0 0, B. Reilly 4 0-1 9, M. Rouswell 0 0-0 0, C. Hayes 0 0-0 0, L. Wensley 0 0-0 0, K. Rogers 2 0-1 4. Totals — 21 6-10 50.

3-point goals — Palmer 7 (Dean 1, Buresh 2, Titus 4); Kenai 2 (Kiefer 1, Reilly 1). Team fouls — Palmer 16; Kenai 13. Fouled out — None.

COLONY 62, Kardinals 32

At Kenai, Saturday

Colony 17 20 12 11—62

Kenai 8 6 6 12—32

COLONY (62) —H. Eisenhower 1 1-1 3, M. Lanners 3 2-2 8, J. Turner 3 0-0 8, P. McCann 2 2-2 6, J. Palmer 2 2-2 6, S. Herman 5 2-3 14, B. Niver 0 2-2 2, C. Weihs 0 0-0 0, K. Depriest 2 0-0 4, C. Ray 1 3-4 5, H. Summers 3 0-2 6.

KENAI (32) — B. Lowe 0 1-2 1, R. Ziehmer 0 0-0 0, A. Hull 2 1-2 5, B. Kiefer 3 0-0 6, T. Spalding 2 3-4 7, T. Landry 0 0-0 0, K. Risung 0 2-2 2, J. Sandahl 0 1-2 1, B. Reilly 1 0-0 3, N. Rouswell 0 0-0 0, C. Hayes 2 0-0 4, L. Wensley 0 0-0 0, K. Rogers 1 1-1 3. Totals —11 9-13 32.

3-point goals — Colony 4 (Turner 2, Herman 2); Kenai 1 (Reilly 1). Team fouls — Colony 14; Kenai 19. Fouled out —None.