Palmer boys punch state tourney ticket

PALMER — Talk about punching your state tourney ticket with authority.

Palmer senior Connor Looney swiped the ball from a Kodiak guard during the final seconds, drove to the basket and slammed it during the final seconds of regulation to ice Palmer’s 58-53 semifinal win over the Bears during the second day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Soldotna High School.

Palmer led by a possession with less than 10 seconds left in the fourth. As Kodiak tried to put together one last opportunity to tie the game and force overtime, Looney brought the visiting Palmer faithful to their feet with his last-second dunk — and with it, Looney helped ensure the Moose would make their first trip to the NLC title game since 2004.

“I was so pumped for that. That was big at the end there,” Palmer senior Brian Selmer said of the last-second fireworks.

Selmer is part of a five-player senior class that, until this weekend, had never had the chance to compete for a region title.

“It feels pretty good. I’ve been thinking about this since my freshman year,” Selmer said.

Palmer used an 18-point third quarter to build its biggest lead of the game, eight. The Moose led 42-34 after three quarters, thanks in part to a Nathan Mayer three late in the quarter. But Kodiak charged back with a 19-point fourth.

“They’re relentless,” Palmer head coach Jason Marvel said of the Bears, the third seed in the NLC. “They’re tough to stop.”

Seemingly overflowing with guards, Kodiak used its small lineup to create opportunities offensively.

“They’ve got some quick guards out there,” Selmer said. “I knew they were going to be pretty tough. They were coming in hard after the first round. I knew we had to give it all we had, and I think we did.”

Marvel praised Mayer specifically for his work on defense.

“The guy I’m really proud of is Nathan Mayer,” Marvel said. “If I had a game ball, I’d give that kid the game ball.”

Mayer held Kodiak’s top offensive threat, Austin Frick, to only four field goals and nine points in the game.

After trailing by eight heading into the final quarter, Kodiak whittled the Palmer lead to four points near the halfway mark of the fourth. Elijiah Hiner picked up a loose ball along the base line and found the basket at the 1:44 mark to cut Palmer’s advantage to 48-46, and Ryan Lenon pulled the Bears within one with 90 seconds to go.

The Bears were never able to grab the lead during the fourth, but continued to stay within reach of the Moose, the No. 2 seed in the NLC.

“The kids showed some resilience and made some free throws,” Marvel said.

James Nisebett, Adam Ramoth, Looney and Selmer all hit free throws down the stretch to help the Palmer cause.

Palmer stretched its lead to five points with a pair of Looney free throws with 48 seconds left, but saw its lead quickly cut to 53-51 when Josh Obas nailed a three-pointer with 35 seconds left.

Palmer did just enough at the line during the final minute to maintain the lead.

“We only shot (53 percent) from the free throw line, but we hit some crucial free throws at the end,” Marvel said.

Looney led the Moose with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and four steals in the victory. Selmer finished just short of a double-double with 15 points and nine boards. Nisbett collected 14 points and seven rebounds. Hayden Niekamp led the Moose with 11 rebounds in the win.

Jemuel Mangalus led Kodiak with a dozen and Obas finished with 11.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and follow him @matsu_sports.

Palmer 58, Kodiak 53

NLC semifinals

Friday, Soldotna

Palmer 13-11-18-16—58

Kodiak 13-8-13-19—53

Palmer (58) — Ramoth 0 1-2 1, Looney 6 3-6 16, Mayer 3 1-2 8, Nisbett 6 2-3 14, Selmer 6 2-4 15, Niekamp 2 0-0 4; Totals: 23 9-17 58.

Kodiak (53) — Mangalus 6 0-3 12, Frick 4 0-0 9, Medina 2 1-2 5, Jimenez 0 2-2 2, Obas 5 0-0 11, Lenon 2 0-0 4, Himer 4 0-4 8, Canete-Hall 1 0-0 2; Totals: 24 3-11 53.