Palmer girls escape with 10-point win

SOLDOTNA — Neither Skyview coach Cary Calvert nor Palmer head man Paul Reid believed their respective teams played strong for a full 32 minutes on Friday afternoon.

Luckily for Reid, though, the Moose strung together a solid 16 minutes in the middle.

Kelsey Campbell scored a team-high 14 points and Palmer turned a three-point, first-quarter lead into a 12-point cushion at halftime before holding on for a 49-39 Northern Lights Conference victory over the Panthers at Skyview High School.

“They fought hard,” Reid said of Skyview, playing in front of a packed student section during the unusual matinee affair before school was dismissed and most of them departed. “I think that my team, they didn’t quite bring it for 32 minutes. And we’ve got to do that.”

The first eight minutes was relatively even, with Palmer (2-5, 1-2 NLC) owning an 11-8 edge after a 4-for-10 performance from the field and six turnovers. Skyview, meanwhile, was 4-of-12 with four turnovers and got four points from senior Brittany Meyer, who dropped a game-high 21.

The second quarter, though, was a different story.

While Skyview was 1-of-7 in the frame, Campbell fueled a 10-0 Palmer run with one of her three treys on the game and Jaimi Cox capped the stretch with a baseline jumper with under a minute left in sending the Moose into the locker room with a 25-13 lead.

“Palmer keeps the court spread well,” Calvert said. “(Campbell), I don’t think she missed all night long. She’s a heck of a player and they just move the ball very well.

“Palmer did not make any mistakes,” he added. “They just played patient, very good basketball. We haven’t got 32 minutes yet.”

The Moose continued their mid-game surge in the third, ballooning the lead to 18 on the heels of a layup and free throw from senior Mikaela Bolling and another 3-pointer from Campbell. Following a trey from Meyer that made it 31-16, Palmer turned consecutive Skyview turnovers into four points and a 19-point cushion, it’s largest of the game.

Bolling, who was on the bench for nearly 15 minutes in the first half after picking up two quick fouls to open the game, delivered four points off the Panthers’ 19th and 20th turnovers in making it 45-29 with 4:48 remaining.

“She was hungry,” Reid said. “I just told her, ‘Watch what you can take advantage of while you’re on the bench and be ready to go in the second half.’ She definitely gave us a little spark in the third quarter.”

Skyview (3-8, 0-4 NLC) bookended a bucket from Julianna Mangelsdorf with a putback from Jessica Stewart and another trey from Meyer in slicing the deficit to 13 with three minutes left. A baseline drive from senior Melissa Massey and Meyer’s third and final 3-pointer of the game culminated an 8-2 Skyview run that allowed the Panthers to creep within 49-39.

But three turnovers and no shots in the final minute eventually did them in as the Moose won for just the second time this season and the first over a Class 4A school.

“We’ve had a very, very tough start,” Reid said of beating Class 3A defending state champion Anchorage Christian Schools, while falling to Colony, Wasilla, Chugiak and Juneau-Douglas twice. “It’s good to get a tough schedule early in the season. It kind of hardens kids, gets them ready for the rest of the season.”

Skyview, which surrendered 21 points off turnovers, did manage to force 16 turnovers, but nine of those times the Panthers coughed the ball back up on the ensuing possession.

“We’re good at that,” Calvert joked. “We’ve got to limit those.

“I thought offensively this is the best we’ve looked all year long,” he added. “We score 40 points, we’ve got to be in the game. And we almost got 40 and we didn’t get the game within reach at the end.”

Palmer boys 74, Skyview 31

SOLDOTNA — Jake Hillis netted 13 points, Mitch Swetzof added 12 and Christian Odom scored 10 as the visiting Moose cruised to a NLC win over the Panthers on Friday.

Cameron Harvey scored a game-high 20 points for Skyview, which trailed 12-5 after the first and 33-10 at halftime.

Behind eight of Swetzof’s points, the Moose maintained control in the third, outscoring the Panthers, 24-16, with 11 of those Skyview points coming courtesy of Harvey.

Palmer 49, Skyview 39

Friday, Skyview High School

Palmer 11-14-14-10—49

Skyview 8-5-12-14—39

Palmer (49) — Cox 4 0-1 8, Campbell 5 1-4 14, LaMere 2 1-2 5, Mangelsdorf 3 0-0 6, Thein 2 0-0 4, Bolling 4 1-2 9, Zimmer 0 1-4 1, Venzke 1 0-2 2. Totals — 21 4-15 49.

Skyview (39) — Jones 0 0-0 0, O’Guinn 2 0-0 5, Massey 2 0-0 5, Hill 2 0-0 4, Perletti 0 0-0 0, Stewart 2 0-0 4, Meyer 7 4-5 21, McDowell 0 0-0 0. Totals — 15 4-5 39.

3-point goals — Palmer 3 (Campbell 3), Skyview 5 (Meyer 3, O’Guinn 1, Massey 1). Team fouls — Palmer 11, Skyview 15. Fouled out — Hill.

Palmer boys 74, Skyview 31

Friday, Skyview High School

Palmer 12-21-24-17—74

Skyview 5-5-16-5—31

Palmer (74) — Fullmer 2 0-0 6, Titus 2 0-0 5, Van Hoomissen 1 3-4 5, Dean 1 0-0 3, Hillis 5 3-3 13, Swetzof 5 2-5 12, S. Odom 2 1-4 5, Bohman 2 0-0 5, Niekamp 1 2-4 4, C. Odom 2 6-8 10, Daniels 3 0-2 6. Totals — 26 17-30 74.

Skyview (31) — Meade 0 0-0 0, Jones 0 0-2 0, Quint 0 0-0 0, Conley 1 2-4 4, Malatesta 0 3-4 3, Schadle 0 0-0 0, Cook 0 0-0 0, Harvey 4 11-12 20, White 1 1-2 4, Oakes 0 0-2 0, Parham 0 0-2 0, Diaz 0 0-0 0. Totals — 6 17-28 31.

3-point goals — Palmer 5 (Fullmer 2, Titus 1, Dean 1, Bohman 1), Skyview 2 (Harvey, White). Team fouls — Palmer 24, Skyview 22. Fouled out — none.

Knights 61, Panthers 16 Colony 28 17 7 9 ‹61 Skyview 5 2 0 9 ‹16 COLONY (61) ‹ Hamann 0 0-0 0, Garrod 1 0-0 2, Klapperich 1 0-0 2, Bowker 2 0-0 6, Mallo 2 0-0 5, Grazulis 5 0-0 11, Bowker 0 0-0 0, Coon 6 4-5 16, Eisenhower 5 0-0 10, Larson 3 1-2 7, Forstner 1 0-0 2, Farrell 0 0-0 0, Hutchins 0 0-0 0. Totals ‹ 26 5-7 61. SKYVIEW (16) ‹ Jones 2 0-0 4, O¹Guinn 0 0-0 0, Massey 2 0-0 6, Hill 0 0-0 0, Perletti 0 2-2 2, Stewart 0 0-0 0, Meyer 2 0-0 4, Kelley 0 0-0 0. Totals ‹ 6 2-2 16. 3-point goals ‹ Colony 4 (Bowker 2, Mallo 1, Grazulis 1); Skyview 2 (MasseyKnights 79, Panthers 62 Colony 16 17 19 27 ‹79 Skyview 18 16 10 18 ‹62 COLONY (79) ‹ Gray 2 1-2 5, Lanners 0 1-2 1, Turner 3 1-1 7, Larson 3 0-0 7, Palmer 6 5-6 18, Scott 4 0-0 8, Jacobsen 7 15-20 29, Murphy 1 0-0 2, Depriest 1 0-0 2, Summers 0 0-0 0. Totals ‹ 27 23-31 79. SKYVIEW (62) ‹ Meade 1 0-0 2, Jones 0 0-0 0, Conley 4 4-7 13, Malatesta 2 0-0 4, Schadle 5 5-8 15, Cook 2 0-0 4, Harvey 8 4-7 24, White 0 0-0 0, Oakes 0 0-0 0, Parham 0 0-0 0, Ramm 0 0-0 0. 3-point goals ‹ Colony 2 (Larson 1, Palmer 1), Skyview 5 (Harvey 4, Conley 1). Team fouls ‹ Colony 20, Skyview 22. Fouled out ‹ Meade. 2). Team fouls ‹ Colony 6, Skyview 7. Fouled out ‹ none.