Palmer boys win, Moose girls fall during first day of NLC tourney

PALMER — In the current format of the six-team Northern Lights Conference tournament, players and coaches typically covet the first-round bye. But there could be a different advantage to playing during the first day, a chance to create some momentum. The Palmer Moose hope this theory proves true.

Palmer used a big first half to score a 77-61 win over Kodiak during the first round of the NLC Championships Thursday afternoon at Kenai Central High School. The victory moves Palmer into the semifinal round, where the Moose will face rival Wasilla today at 1:30 p.m at KCHS.

“It was a great team win. Everybody played with a lot of energy, a lot of passion,” Palmer head coach Brandon Blake said by cell phone from Kenai.

The Moose (3-7 in NLC play during the regular season) entered the conference tournament as the No. 5 seed. Throughout the final weeks of the regular season, Blake consistently told his players there’s a chance to put themselves in a position to play for the opportunity to qualify for the state tournament. The winner of the Palmer-Wasilla semifinal earns one of the conference’s two automatic bids to the state tourney.

“Tomorrow is a big one,” Blake said of his team’s match with Wasilla, the top seed in the tourney. “Obviously we’re going to have our hands full, but the kids are feeling good. We’ve got a shot.”

And the Moose are playing well at the right time, Blake said.

“It’s nice to be playing well at the right time of the season,” Blake said.

Sophomore Tye Ramoth helped fuel the Moose offense with a game-high 25 points. Remote hit 10 shots from the field, and knocked down four three-pointers.

“He got us going in the right direction,” Blake said of Ramoth.

Blake said Palmer freshman Clayton Southwick was a focus for the Kodiak defense. With the added pressure on Southwick, Blake said Ramoth provided a different way for Palmer to score. “It really put them in a situation to have to make a decision on who they were going to guard,” Blake said of Kodiak. “(Our) kids did a really great job and executed (our) game plan.”

Ramoth hit a pair of threes early, and scored eight first-quarter points. The sophomore added eight more in the second quarter. The Moose led 20-6 after the first eight minutes and 42-20 at halftime.

Sophomore James Blake added 17 points. The Palmer point guard was 12 of 13 from the free throw line. Despite all the extra attention from the Kodiak defense, Southwick chipped in 11 points.

Jemuel Mangalus led Kodiak with 13 points. Max Mutch and Billy Alcaide added a dozen each. Kodiak scored 33 of its 61 points during the fourth quarter.

Palmer girls fall

The Palmer boys raced into the semifinal round, but the Palmer girls fell just short of securing the chance to move forward.

Kodiak used a five-point run during the final minute of play to score a 35-30 girls’ basketball win over Palmer during the first round of the NLC Championships in Kenai.

“We played hard, but didn’t get a couple of bounces at the end of the game,” Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey said by cell phone from Kenai Thursday evening.

The game was tied at 30 late. Kodiak managed to get a bucket to take the 32-30 lead. After a Palmer foul, the Bears hit 1 of 2 attempts from the free throw line. Kodiak cemented the win, getting a rebound and outback after a Bears’ free throw miss with 22 seconds left.

“It went down to the wire,” Busbey said.

The game was tight throughout, Busbey said.

“The biggest lead in the whole game was four points,” Busbey said.

Emma Uschmann led Palmer with 13 points. Kiana Till added seven points, and Carly Venzke chipped in six.

With the loss, Palmer moves to the back side of the bracket and will play either fourth-seeded Soldotna or fifth-seeded Kenai today at 11:45 a.m. Soldotna and Kenai played in the other quarterfinal late Thursday night.

Palmer boys 77, Kodiak 61

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Kenai

Kodiak 6-14-8-33—61

Palmer 20-22-17-18—77

Kodiak (61) — Mangalus 5 0-0 13, Mange 1 1-2 3, Alcaide 4 0-0 12, Levi Fried 3 2-2 10; Totals: 22 6-12 61.

Palmer (77) — Ramoth 10 1-1 25, Calderon 0 1-2 1, Roth 0 2-4 2, DeBach 0 1-2 1, Ferris 2 0-0 5, Hughes-Duffy 1 0-0 2, Witz 1 0-2 2, Southwick 5 1-2 11, Blake 2 12- 13 17, Snickers 3 1-2 8, Yanez 1 1-2 3; Totals: 25 20-28 77.

3-point field goals: Kodiak 11 (Alcaide 4), Palmer 7 (Ramoth 4); Total fouls: Kodiak 22, Palmer 12.

Kodiak girls 35, Palmer 30

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Kenai

Palmer 9-9-6-6—30

Kodiak 9-5-9-11—35

Palmer (30) — Venzke 3 0-1 6, King 1 0-2 2, Uschmann 4 4-5 13, Smylie 1 0-2 2, Till 3 0-0 7; Totals: 12 4-12 30.

Kodiak (35) — Walker 3 0-0 6, Fangolino 0 1-4 1, Hughes 3 1-2 8, Price 4 0-2 8, Fabriante 2 1-6 5, Gongora 0 1-2 1, Catt 2 2-6 6; Totals: 14 6-22 35.

3-point field goals: Palmer 2 (Uschmann, Till 1), Kodiak 1 (Hughes 1); Total fouls: Palmer 17, Kodiak 16