Palmer boys win NLC title

PALMER — The Palmer boys’ basketball team took a page from the Moose football playbook.

With less than two minutes remaining in regulation, and the Moose leading rival Wasilla by two possessions, Palmer sophomore Clayton Southwick stood at the base line, ready to inbound the basketball, as senior Chase Ferris sprinted down the floor beyond the defense. Southwick, who doubles as the starting quarterback for the Palmer varsity football program, heaved a perfect pass the length of the floor to Ferris, an all-state player on the gridiron, and Ferris caught the ball in stride, and put in the easy basket to push Palmer’s lead back to seven points.

The basket, Palmer’s final field goal of the game, helped provide enough of a lead for the Moose, who held on to score a 55-47 win over the Warriors during the Northern Lights Conference title game Saturday evening at Palmer High School.

“It’s something we’ve done a few times this year,” Ferris said of the play as his teammates took turns cutting down a piece of the net in celebration of Palmer’s first NLC basketball title since 2013. “It kind of highlights two things him and I do well. He’s a quarterback and I’m a receiver. Coach drew it up, and it worked.”

The victory marked Palmer’s first win of the season against the Warriors, and it came a night after Palmer used its first victory of the season over Colony to advance to the NLC championship game. The Moose were a combined 0-4 against the Warriors and Knights during the regular season. Ferris used another comparison to football, likening the Palmer basketball’s lack of success against the Warriors and Knights to the Palmer football team’s struggles against Alaska prep football power Soldotna.

“It’s almost like the Soldotna thing in football. It’s kind of a mental thing,” Ferris said. “(Wasilla) was really good this year, really tough. But we finally came over the hump and showed how we can play.”

Palmer’s title comes in Chuck Martin’s first year as head coach of the Moose. Martin, who has nearly 30 years of coaching experience at the high school and college level, has now won nine region titles during his 15 years as a high school head coach in the Valley. Martin spent a combined 14 years at Houston, Colony and Wasilla.

“It’s awesome,” Ferris said of Martin leading the program. “He brings a lot of knowledge, a lot of experience. He’s been in just about every situation you can be in on a basketball court.”

Southwick, who has been hobbled by a late-season ankle injury, scored a game-high 18 points in the victory. Southwick hit a pair of three-pointers in the second quarter for the Moose as the Warriors, who led 25-22 at halftime, tried to take control of the game. Southwick also drained a fade away jumper at the buzzer in the third quarter to give Palmer a 39-36 lead. He had six points in the fourth, and was 4 of 6 from the free throw line in the final frame. All of this came from a player who was questionable to play.

After the win over Colony on Friday, Martin said it was a miracle that Southwick was able to take the court during the semifinals, and if it were any other game, Southwick would most likely sit out.

“He’s hurt,” Martin said Friday. “But he’s in good hands. He’s not doing any damage.”

Southwick suffered the injury late in a loss to Colony March 4.

Junior Payton Martin finished with 14 points for the Moose, hitting four of Palmer’s nine three-pointers in the game. Martin drained a pair of threes in both the first and third quarters. His second three of the third, a shot from NBA range, snapped a 34-34 tie with 90 seconds to go in the quarter.

Michael Kluting added a dozen for Palmer, scoring nine of his 12 in the third quarter.

The Warriors, who advance to the state tournament along with Palmer, used a 15-point second quarter to take a lead into halftime. Freshman Daniel Headdings scored nine of his 13 points in the second. He hit a three at the buzzer to end the half.

Reilly Devine led the Warriors with 14 points. Devine and Isaac Houck grabbed a game-high eight boards for the Warriors, who outrebounded Palmer 32-27.

In addition to outrebounding the Moose, Wasilla only had six turnovers. But the Moose held Wasilla to 33 percent shooting in the game, and 16 percent from behind the arc. Palmer shot 47 percent from the field.

Knights finish third

The second-seeded Knights toppled the No. 5 Kardinals 63-56 in the third-place game Saturday.

Colony led 31-21 at halftime, but Kenai cut it to 47-42 after three before the Knights put together a solid fourth quarter.

Joshua James pumped in 15 points to lead the Knights, while Anton Chamblee and Tyler Boyer each added 12.

Seniors Keith Ivy and Marshall Vest both had big games in their finale for the Kards. Ivy had 25 points, while Vest had 13.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer 55, Wasilla 47

NLC title game

Saturday, Palmer High

Wasilla 10-15-11-11—47

Palmer 8-13-18-16—55

Wasilla (47) ¬— Brown 4 1-4 9, Headdings 4 4-6 13, Devine 5 4-4 14, Houck 3 0-0 7, Milliron 2 0-0 4; Totals: 18 9-15 47.

Palmer (50) — Hughes-Duffy 1 0-0 2, Martin 4 2-4 14, Ferris 3 1-2 9, C. Southwick 6 4-6 18, Kluting 4 3-4 12; Totals: 18 10-16 55.