Palmer boys notch victory while girls lose

PALMER — The Colony girls' basketball team extended its winning streak to seven games by defeating the Palmer Moose 59-55 on Palmer's home court.

The 10-5 Knights racked up 39 first-half points, marching to a 19-point lead over the Moose, who were playing without their starting guard, Tami Callison.

Palmer's Richell Knapp and freshman Emily Bolling assumed the ball-handling responsibilities for the Moose while Callison is in Arizona competing on an all-star Alaskan soccer team.

The same Colony full-court press which tormented Wasilla last Tuesday carried over into an efficient manner during the first half of the contest, converting nearly a dozen half-court turnovers into points to jump out in front of the Moose 39-20.

Palmer was able to find its post player under the net and avoid turning the ball over to the Knights' pressing guards in the third quarter, going on a 19-11 run to close the gap to five after three quarters of play.

"We got the ball more to Lisa [Thomas], Palmer coach Lyle Busby said of the second half. "That's how we got back into the game — layup, layup, layup."

Thomas scored 12 of her 27 points in the third quarter.

The Moose held Colony to just one field goal in the fourth frame, outscoring them 16-3, but it wasn't enough to overcome the 19-point deficit Palmer suffered in the first half. Kristina Klapperich, who is just a freshman, tossed in 14 points to help the Knights cling to their lead. Colony sharpshooter, Sam Gatto, drained 17 points in the game with nine of them coming from the three-point arc.

Sara Bergeron netted 10 points for the Moose.

"Colony is a very good team at capitalizing on your mistakes," Busby said.

Palmer

squashes Knights' streak

The Palmer boys' basketball team overcame Cole Magner's 34-point performance for the Colony Knights and won in overtime 54-52. Adam Nielsen helped the Moose avoid double-overtime by putting the Knights away with a jumper at the buzzer.

The Knights came into the game with an eight-game

winning streak as they fell to 10-6 on the season. C. J. Hooker netted 18 points for the Moose while Nielsen added 20 points.

COLONY GIRLS (59) — Colberg 0 0-0 0; Williams 0 0-0 0; Quinn 2 0-1 4; Menard 3 5-6 11; Thaggard 3 0-0 6; Beckman 3 1-2 7; Garrod 0 0-0 0; Gatto 7 0-1 17; Klapperich 7 0-0 14. Totals — 25 6-10 59.

PALMER ( 55) — Kendall 0 0-0 0; Lee 0 0-0 0; Knapp 1 0-0 2; Bolling 4 0-1 9; Sakis 0 0-0 0; Dixon 0 1-2 1; Bergeron 4 2-2 10; Hillis 3 0-0 6; Virgin 0 0-0 0; Thomas 13 1-2 27. Totals — 25 4-7 55.

Total fouls — Colony 15, Palmer 12. Fouled out — None. Three-point goals — Gatto 3, Bolling.

Palmer 10 10 19 16 — 55

Colony 20 19 15 3 — 59

COLONY BOYS (52) — Swank 1 2-6 4; Williams 2 4-4 8; Davies 0 00-0 0; Wright 1 0-1 2; Magner 13 7-11 34; Elliott 0 0-0 0; Christensen 1 2-3 4. Totals — 18 15-25 52.

PALMER (54) — Wells 0 0-0 0; Rapp 0 0-0 0; Forsyth 3 0-0 7; Arcala 0 0-0 0; Pettit 1 1-4 4; Hill 1 0-0 3; Perkins 1 0-1 2; Hooker 7 4-4 18; Nielsen 8 3-6 20. Totals — 21 8-15 54.

Total fouls — Colony 16, Palmer 20. Fouled out — Forsyth. Three-point goals — Magner, Forsyth, Pettit, Hill, Perkins, Nielsen.

Palmer 12 10 17 8 7 — 54

Colony 8 12 13 14 5 — 52