Palmer girls beat Colony for first time since 2008

PALMER — Palmer High School has boasted a quality girls’ basketball program in recent years, making a handful of trips to the state tournament.

But despite that success, the Moose have had difficulty finding a way to beat their primary rivals — Colony and Wasilla, a pair of perennial girls basketball powers in Alaska that have combined for five appearances in the 4A state title game in the last five years.

But Tuesday, after a long drought, the Moose were finally able to score a win over a Valley rival.

Sparked by an early run, Palmer scored a 43-40 win over Colony at Colony High School.

“We definitely feel that way with Wasilla. We’ve accumulated more wins over Colony. We know cross-Valley rivalries are such big games. We’ve been on the short end more than we’ve been on the better end,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said of the Moose, who beat the Knights Tuesday for the first time since Feb. 29, 2008.

Palmer’s seniors — Taylor Blake, Caitlin Scott, Kourtney Straight and Megin Southwick — were in the seventh grade the last time Palmer scored a win over Colony. Blake, a four-year varsity player for the Moose, had never been on a team that beat Wasilla or Colony until Tuesday night.

“It was good, it felt really good,” Reid said.

Scott scored a team-high 15 points for the Moose and Straight contributed all eight of her points in the second half to help Palmer improve to 3-1 in Northern Lights Conference play.

“It was a big breakout game for Caitlin and Kourtney,” Reid said.

Both guards hit a pair of three-pointers during the win. They were also a combined 5 of 6 from the free-throw line during the fourth quarter. The emergence of the two seniors came as Reid and his coaching staff tweaked the Palmer starting lineup. The Moose moved Blake, their standout shooting guard, to point guard. Blake, who averaged about 24 points per game entering the contest, was held to only nine. But Palmer’s overall success in the win, Reid said, had a lot to do with Blake’s play at point guard.

“She really got her other teammates involved,” Reid said of Blake.

Reid also credited Colony senior Mary Klapperich, who had the task of defending Blake throughout the game.

Palmer freshman Leya DePriest notched another double-double for Palmer, finishing with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Reid said the 6-foot-2 DePriest, who has at least a half-dozen double-doubles this season, has added a completely new dimension to his team.

Palmer held Colony scoreless for nearly the first six minutes of the first quarter. Palmer led 8-0 before Faith Farris drove to the basket to give the Knights their first points at the 2:18 mark of the first quarter.

Klapperich led the Knights with 16 points in the loss. She scored seven points in the fourth quarter.

Izzy Tweed and Audrey Michaelson added six each for Colony, which fell to 3-4 in NLC play.

In boys’ action, Colony scored 15 of its 17 fourth-quarter points at the free-throw line and posted a 64-51 win over Palmer.

“We expect those guys to make shots when they go to the free-throw line,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said. “I feel like if you get to the point you’ve got to start putting us at the line, that’s certainly advantage to us.”

Colony was 15 of 18 from the line during the final eight minutes. Joe Gray, who scored 11, was 6 of 7. Hunter Eisenhower was 4 for 4 from the line in the fourth and scored six of his 11 points during the final frame. Nate Umbarger was 5 of 6 from the line in the game and added 13 points.

Damien Fulp buried a trio of three-pointers and led the Knights with 18 points. Antonio Bush added 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Palmer’s Connor Looney scored a game-high 19 points, but Berg was pleased with his team’s work against Looney, one of the top scorers in the NLC.

Brian Selmer added 17 points for PHS.

The Palmer girls and Colony boys will both make the trip to Kodiak this weekend to play the Bears. Kodiak, still undefeated in NLC play, with meet the Moose tonight at 6 and Saturday at 4 p.m. Colony (5-0 in the NLC) meets Kodiak tonight at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 6.

The Palmer boys host 3A defending state champion Monroe tonight at 7 p.m.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com and find him by searching Valley Sports Huddle on Facebook.

Palmer girls 43,

Colony 40

Tuesday, Colony High

Palmer 10-9-10-13—43

Colony 3-15-8-14—40

Palmer (43) — Scott 3 7-8 15, Osiensky 0 1-3 1, Straight 2 2-2 8, Blake 4 1-5 9, DePriest 5 0-6 10; Totals: 14 11-24 40.

Colony (40) — Klapperich 7 1-7 16, Farris 2 0-0 5, Tweed 3 0-0 6, Tucotte 1 0-0 2, Brumbaugh 0 1-2 1, Michaelson 2 2-4 6, Solano 2 0-0 4; Totals: 17 4-13 40.

Colony boys 64,

Palmer 51

Tuesday, Colony High

Palmer 14-12-15-17—51

Colony 16-10-13-17—64

Palmer (51) — Looney 6 6-7 19, Mayer 3 2-2 9, Christiansen 0 0-2 0, Nisbett 2 1-2 6, Selmer 5 5-8 17; Totals: 16 14-21 51.

Colony (64) — Gray 2 6-7 11, Fulp 6 3-3 18, Umbarger 4 5-6 13, Bush 5 1-3 11, Eisenhower 3 4-6 11; Totals: 20 19-25 64.