Palmer boys top Kenai in OT

PALMER — The Palmer Moose sport three underclassmen in the starting lineup every night, and could have as many as four on the floor at any time. The young squad has experienced some growing pains this season. But Saturday, in a big moment, Palmer’s underclassmen came through for the Moose.

Freshman Clayton Southwick and sophomore James Blake combined for eight points during the extra period to lead Palmer to a 59-54 overtime win over Kenai Central at Palmer High School. Sophomore Nick DeBach also had a big basket in overtime for Palmer, which improved to 2-5 in NLC play.

Tye Ramoth, another sophomore, led all scorers with 18 points. Southwick and Blake scored 15 each.

“We needed that win, a feel good win,” Palmer head coach Brandon Blake said after the win.

Blake praised the work of his young players who helped Palmer grab the victory, and sweep the two-game regular season series against the Kards.

“Clayton made some really nice plays. Tye, I thought, throughout the game was very solid, made some big shots. James made some big plays. Nick DeBach had a really big bucket,” Blake said.

Thanks in part to a half-dozen three-pointers during the first two quarters, Palmer held the halftime lead. But Kenai was able to chip away at its deficit, and held the Moose scoreless for a long chunk of the third quarter. Kenai’s Jonah Theisen helped pull the Kards back into the game during the second half. Theisen scored 11 of his team-high 13 points during the second half. Theisen also hit a free throw with 46 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 49.

Josh Jackman hit a key three-pointer earlier in the quarter that tied the game at 48.

Jackman also struck early for the Kards in overtime. During the opening seconds of the tiebreaker, Jackman got a basket, drew the foul and hit the free-throw to complete the three-point play. That gave Kenai the 52-49 advantage.

But the young Moose prevailed.

DeBach used his lone bucket of the game to bring the Moose within one, and James Blake hit a pair of free throws to give Palmer the 53-52 overtime lead.

Keith Ivy used a bucket to put the Kards back on top 54-53. But Blake came through again for the Moose. Blake hit a short jumper with about a minute left in the tiebreaker to give the Moose the 55-54 advantage.

Southwick hit four late free throws to ice the game for the Moose.

“The composure and poise they showed in overtime to go down three right off the bat, and to really suck it up and execute and make big plays. it was good execution when we needed it,” Blake said.

Blake also praised junior captain Chase Ferris, who finished with seven points.

“Chase, I felt like he kept every ball alive there,” Blake said.

Palmer girls fall

The Kards used an 18-point second quarter to grab a 47-42 Northern Lights Conference win over the Palmer Moose Saturday at Palmer High School.

“Three games in the Valley is extremely tough. It’s very deflating to go home (0-3). We struggled offensively against Wasilla and Colony. The only difference between tonight, and last night and Thursday is we made shots,” Kenai head coach Stacia Rustad said Saturday evening after the win over Palmer. “Defensively, we’re a sound team. For the most part we do a good job on the boards, even though most nights we’re at a size disadvantage. We just struggle putting the ball in the hoop. We struggled Thursday and Friday, and we didn’t tonight.”

After a dreadful first quarter in which the Moose outscored Kenai 4-2, Kenai capitalized in the second. Allie Ostrander hit a three-pointer early to give Kenai it’s first lead of the game. Late in the quarter, Baker came off the bench to spark the Kards.

After Katy Bowman hit a three-pointer for Palmer to tie the game at 15, Baker capped the quarter by going on a five-point run on her own. She hit a jumper, drew the foul and hit three free-throw for the three-point play. That gave Kenai an 18-15 advantage. Baker added another jumper during the final moments of the half to push Kenai’s lead to 20-15.

Baker scored seven of her nine points in the second quarter.

“She gave us that little momentum and cushion. It was absolutely huge,” Rusted said of Baker.

Kenai pushed its lead to as much as 10 in the second half, with a Sarah Every three-pointer. Palmer was able to trim Kenai’s lead to just two points midway through the fourth quarter, but Kenai answered with baskets by Beck and Barcus.

Bowman and Carly Venzke each hit a pair of three-pointers for the Moose, and scored 10 a piece. Kiana Till chipped in nine.

Kenai girls 47, Palmer 42

Saturday, Palmer

Kenai 2-18-16-11—47

Palmer 4-11-14-13—42

Kenai (47) — Ostrander 1 1-2 4, Drury 1 1-2 3, Steinbeck 2 2-4 6, Baker 4 1-1 9, Barcus 2 3-4 7, Beck 3 5-6 11, Every 3 0-0 7; Totals: 16 13-19 47.

Palmer (42) — Venzke 4 0-0 10, Bowman 3 1-2 10, King 2 0-0 4, Uschmann 2 1-2 5, Smylie 0 1-2 1, Till 3 3-3 9, Sherman 1 0-0 3; Totals: 15 6-12 42.

3-point field goals: Kenai 2 (Ostrander, Every 1), Palmer 6 (Bowman 3); Total fouls: Kenai 13, Palmer 20.

Palmer 59, Kenai 54 OT

Saturday, Palmer

Kenai 8-13-15-13-4—54

Palmer 12-18-10-9-10—59

Kenai (54) — Theisen 5 1-3 13, Ivy 4 0-2 8, Ta. Landry 1 1-2 3, Jackman 3 5-5 12, Foree 4 0-2 9, Wortham 2 3-3 8; Totals: 19 10-17 54.

Palmer (59) — Ramoth 6 2-2 18, DeBach 1 0-0 2, Ferris 1 4-4 7, Southwick 3 8-10 15, Blake 4 5-6 15, Yanez 1 0-4 2; Totals: 16 19-26 59.