Palmer boys, girls open Elks Showdown with wins

PALMER — The Palmer boys used an early lead to open their annual round-robin tournament with a victory.

Sparked by a 26-point first quarter, Palmer scored a 56-40 win over Houston during the first day of the Palmer Elks Showdown Thursday night at Palmer High.

Payton Martin hit two of Palmer’s three-pointers in the opening quarter, and scored eight of his team-high 18 points in the first. Dae Osiensky also knocked down an early try for the Moose. Clayton Southwick added 13 points for the Moose, who led 29-19 at halftime.

Ben Bitler led Houston with a game-high 19 points in the loss. Bitler scored eight of Houston’s 11 points in the second quarter, and nine of Houston’s 13 in the third. Kolby Taylor added seven for the Hawks.

The Palmer girls also earned a victory on the first-day of the three-day Showdown. Emma Uschmann scored 17 points to lead the Moose to a 54-40 win over Juneau-Douglas. Uschmann knocked down a half-dozen shots from the field, including two from behind the arc. Abriana Busbey also had a pair of three pointers.

In other tournament action Thursday, the Bartlett girls beat Grace Christian 48-37 and the Soldotna boys edged Juneau-Douglas 48-45.

Action continues Friday with the Houston boys facing Juneau at 2:30 p.m. The Grace and Juneau girls meet at 4:15 p.m. Palmer follows against the Soldotna boys at 6 p.m. The Palmer girls cap the night against Bartlett at 7:30 p.m.

Palmer boys 56, Houston 40

Palmer Elks Showdown

Friday, Palmer High

Palmer 26-13-13-9—56

Houston 8-11-13-8—40

Palmer (56) — Osiensky 1 4-5 7, Martin 6 2-2 18, Hawkins 2 0-0 4, Hughes-Duffy 2 3-5 8, Southwick 6 1-3 13, Eiman 3 0-0 6; Totals: 20 10-15 56.

Houston (40) — Werts 1 0-0 3, Ka. Taylor 1 3-4 5, Ko. Taylor 2 3-5 7, Ritter 0 0-2 0, Ross 2 0-0 4, Pelesasa 1 0-0 2, Bitler 9 1-7 19; Totals: 16 7-18 40.

3-point field goals: Houston 1 (Werts 1); Total fouls: Houston 17,

Palmer girls 54, Juneau 50

Palmer Elks Showdown

Thursday, Palmer High

Juneau 11-10-10-19—50

Palmer 17-15-12-10—54

Juneau (50) — Carsons 6 7-11 19, Bohulean 1 2-2 4, Posich 6 6-9 20, Dzwick 2 2-2 6, Hickok 0 1-4 1; Totals: 15 18-28 50.

Palmer (54) — Pettingill 1 0-0 2, Busbey 2 2-4 8, Bowman 2 0-0 6, Suava 4 3-8 11, Sutton 1 0-1 2, Uschmann 17, Alley 1 0-0 2, Dixon 3 0-0 6; Totals: 20 8-17 54.

3-point field goals: Juneau 2 (Posich 2); Palmer 4 (Busbey, Uschmann 2); Total fouls: Juneau 20, Palmer 21