Palmer girls net sweep

PALMER -- It always hurts to lose something, whether it be your keys, your wallet or your offense.

But when you find what you lost, the world just seems like a better place.

The Palmer girls' basketball squad had been missing their offense, but luckily for the Moose they found it.

After scoring just 16 points in the first half, Palmer found the missing parts to its offensive game in the third quarter as the Moose scored 18 points en route to their 50-28 victory over Kodiak at the Palmer High gym Saturday.

"It's like a light bulb went on, on the offensive end," Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey said.

Palmer earned the weekend sweep over Kodiak with the win. The Moose defeated the Bears 48-25 the night before.

The Moose have been playing extrodinary defense on a consistent basis, but have been waiting for their offense to click.

The Moose missed 12 inside in the first half, but held Kodiak to only four field goals in the first two periods.

"We missed 12 shots inside and that could have been 24 points," Busbey said. "At least we were getting the shots. I would be more concerned if we were not getting them."

Palmer's proverbial light bulb must have gone on just prior to taking the court in the second half. Emily Bolling scored six of her eight points early in the third quarter to help jumpstart the Moose offense. Bolling also grabbed three rebounds and snatched a pair of steals during her offensive run.

Bolling, a junior guard, has struggled as of late as she has tried to recover from a broken thumb suffered earlier this season. Until the weekend Bolling had been wearing a heafty splint on the injured thumb, but decided to lose the splint during the Kodiak series.

The Moose were able to get several players in on the scoring during the second half. Chrissy Lien hit a pair of field goals and hit three free throws in the second half en route to a team-high 13 points.

Keisha Hooker scored six of her 12 points in the fourth quarter.

"They should be in mid-double figures every game," Busbey said of Lien and Hooker.

Palmer outscored Kodiak 34-18 in the second half, sealing the win.

"In the second half our shots started to fall," Busbey said. "We live off our defense, but we have been waiting for our offense to come around. When it does we will be scoring in the 50-60 range like we should."