Palmer girls lose in overtime

PALMER -- The Palmer girls' basketball squad had a quite a few tests in their first contest of the 2002-03 season.

First, a young and athletic Moose team was going up against a Seward squad that featured a tall and veteran lineup.

Second, that tall and veteran Seahawk squad took the Moose into overtime.

Unfortunately for the Moose, Seward outscored Palmer in the extra frame 5-2 to win the contest 38-35.

The contest was the first of three games in the annual Palmer Elks Showdown for each team.

"We knew that they had a good veteran team," Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey said of Seward. "They have their whole team back from last year. They were crisp and had their system down.

"I don't want to say we had a typical first game, we just were not attacking the basket like we should be."

According to Busbey, it was Palmer's conservative approach that also hurt his team.

"We played too conservative on offense," Busbey said. "We didn't attack the gaps. We also did not make the easy buckets."

Seward jumped out to an early 5-2 lead in the first quarter, but jumpers by Carrie Aro, Keisha Hooks and Emily Bolling gave Palmer the lead.

From that point Palmer was able to hold the lead until very late in the fourth quarter when Ann Linville tied the game at 31-31.

After Seward was able to tie the game, Palmer's Toni Cox hit a jumper to give the Moose back the lead.

With 55 ticks left on the clock, Lara Loomis hit a pair of free-throws to again tie the game and ultimately send the contest into overtime.

Seward scored all of their overtime points from the charity stripe. The Seahawks hit 5-10 free throws during the overtime period.

Palmer's lone basketball of the extra period came with 36.9 seconds left. Amy Chapman fed Hooker with a pass who put the shot off the glass for Palmer. The Hooker bucket closed the gap to 38-35.

Palmer had a pair of opportunities to tie the game. Cox put up a three-pointer that was short and Bolling was just seconds away from tying the game.

Unfortunately for Palmer, the junior guard was seconds late. Bolling lofted a shot just after time expired. The shot went in, but was just too late.

There were many promising signs for the Moose in the contest. Palmer showed they have the ability to field a stifling defense. Palmer held Seward scoreless for more than a six-minute stretch in the second quarter.

"Offensively we just were not doing the things we needed to do, but our defense kept us in the game," Busbey said. "Our focus early in the season is on defense."

The Moose also showed great quickness from their guard positions. Six of Bolling's 10 points were scored after she registered steals and ran the floor to the basket.

Hooker led Palmer with a team-high of 15 points.

Linville led Seward with 11 points from the floor.

Skyview Girls 64

Houston Girls 34

Jenny Carpenter scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Panther girls past the Hawks in the first round of the Palmer Elks Showdown Thursday. Carpenter was one of three Panthers to hit double digits in scoring.

Christina Colvin scored 15 for Skyview, while Lindsey Gepheardt added 10 points.

Linnea Pudwill led Houston with 16 points.

Skyview Boys 64

Houston Boys 57

The 4A Panthers scored a seven point victory over the 3A Hawks in the first round of the Palmer Elks Showdown Thursday.

DJ Sandidge scored 20 points for Houston.