Palmer girls cap season with victory

WASILLA — After suffering a heartbreaking loss in the first round, the Palmer Moose capped their season with a win.

Palmer scored a 56-24 win over Kodiak in the girls’ consolation game during the second day of the Northern Lights Conference Championships, Friday afternoon at Kodiak High School.

Abriana Busbey netted a game-high 14 points in the victory. The junior scored eight during Palmer’s 20-point surge in the third quarter. Kassidy Bowman scored all seven of her points in the third quarter.

Palmer’s 20-5 third-quarter run gave the Moose a 42-15 lead after three quarters.

Lorna Suaava added 11 for the Moose.

Thursday, the Kenai Kardinals held on to score a slim 38-37 win over the Moose in the first round of the NLC tournament.

Kenai never trailed in the game, but the Moose, the No. 5 seed, had opportunities to get the lead, including a missed layup attempt with six second left in the fourth quarter.

The Moose did hit shots to keep them in the game. Early in the fourth quarter, Bowman buried a three to cut Kenai’s lead to a pair. Emma Uschmann hit another threee-pointer for the Moose with 1:20 left to tie the game at 36.

Uschmann, a senior captain, led Palmer with 13 points in the loss. Busbey chipped in 10 and Suaava added nine.

Palmer finished 3-7 in the NLC during the regular season and 1-1 in the tournament.

Palmer girls 56, Kodiak 24

NLC consolation

Friday, Kodiak High

Palmer 9-13-20-14—56

Kodiak 5-5-5-9—24

Palmer (56) — Pettingill 2 0-0 5, Busbey 5 1-1 14, Kinger 1 3-4 5, S. Benshetler 1 0-0 2, Bowman 3 0-0 7, Suaava 5 1-3 11, Sutton 0 2-2 2; Uschmann 1 2-4 4, Alley 2 2-5 6; 20 11-19 56.

Kodiak (24) — Delacruz 3 0-0 6, Kernan 1 2-4 4, Mactuno 0 1-2 1, Nacon 3 0-0 8, Mutch 1 0-0 3, Carstens 1 0-0 2; Totals: 8 3-5 24.

Kenai girls 38, Palmer 37

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Kodiak High

Kenai 9-12-5-12—38

Palmer 9-10-6-12—37

Kenai (38) — Calvert 2 0-0 4, Miller 2 0-0 4, Creighton 1 0-4 2, Satathite 6 11-18 23, Beck 1 3-4 5; Totals: 12 14-26 38.

Palmer (37) — Pettingill 1 0-0 2, Busbey 3 2-3 10, Bowman 1 0-0 3, Suaava 4 0-0 9, Uschmann 4 3-9 13; Totals: 13 5-12 37.

3-point field goals: Palmer 6 (Busbey, Uschmann 2), Kenai 0, Total fouls: Palmer 19, Kenai 14