Palmer boys notch first win

PALMER -- If the Palmer boys' were sloppy in their 63-43 win over Seward Thursday, a crisp Palmer

offense is likely to cause some problems for opposing teams this year.

Despite the 20-point victory, Palmer shot just 7-27 in the second half.

"We were sloppy," Palmer head coach Brandon Blake said.

The Moose showed both their ability to run the floor and a tenacious defense in their first contest of the 2002-03 season. The only problem was, the Moose showcased only one talent per half. Palmer showed one strength in the first half and the other in the second.

"Early it was our offense that was effective," Blake said. "I felt like in the first half our offense was good and our defense was poor.

"We played exceptional defense in the second half, but shooting 7-27 is just frustrating."

The Moose were able to maintain a comfortable cushion over Seward for most of the game. The Seahawks only held the lead once in the contest, enjoying just a brief 8-6 advantage early in the first period.

Blake Pullins pulled down a Seward rebound and quickly lofted the ball down to teammate Jonah Swiderski who put in the bucket to break the 6-6 tie.

The Moose quickly erased

Seward's lone lead in the contest with a Charlie Bentti jumper.

Seward tried to creep back into the contest in the second quarter as Seth Price hit a pair of threes to shorten the gap.

Each time Price nailed a trey, the Moose would come back with a trifecta of their own.

Bentti, Jesse Prins and Dustin Dubois each nailed buckets from behind the arc to help the Palmer cause.

Palmer went into the half with a 39-30 lead.

With a cold shooting performance in the second half, the Moose relied on their defense to reel in the win. Palmer's stifling defense held Seward to just five third-quarter points and eight points in the final frame.

Though they shot poorly, the Moose did hit shots at opportune times.

Midway through the third, Swiderski hit a lay-up to cut the Palmer lead to nine and Prins immediately followed with a three-pointer for the Moose to stretch his team's lead to 12.

Prins showed solid range for his 6-foot 7-inch frame, hitting a pair of treys en route to a 10-point performance.

Luckily for the Moose, Prins was in the lineup. The junior had been sidelined since the third practice of the season with a slight cartilage tear in his knee. Doctors gave Prins the green light to play on Tuesday.

"Jesse came off that knee injury and sparked us both offensively and defensively," Blake said. "He did a great job. He is a good shooter; there are not that many people that can hit one from the outside and then post someone up inside."

Late in the third quarter, Prins put up a three-point attempt on the right side of the Palmer zone and after the ball bounced off the side of the rim, Prins hustled over to the opposite side of the zone and grabbed the rebound for Palmer. Prins quickly shuffled the ball over to Bentti who hit a three-pointer of his own, giving Palmer a 49-35 lead.

Bentti led the Moose with 12 points and three steals in the contest.

Four different Palmer players hit double digits in scoring. Dubois and Stanley Ratcliffe each scored 11 points and Prins poured in 10.

Swiderski led Seward with 15 points.