Palmer girls open with win

ANCHORAGE — With four of his top 8 players in the sophomore class, Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey knows the importance of seeing those younger players get off to a good start.

Even though Leya DePriest is not necessarily your average sophomore, her performance Thursday night may be a sign of good things to come for the Moose.

DePriest, a 6-foot-1 center, collected a game-high 26 points and grabbed a game-best 11 rebounds to lead Palmer to a 60-38 win over Nome during the first round of the East T-Bird Classic at East Anchorage High School.

“She pretty much dominated the whole paint in there,” Busbey said Thursday evening. “The guards got her the ball.”

Busbey’s young team sported three sophomores in the starting lineup (DePriest, Carly Venzke and Kiana Till). Venzke finished with six points, four assists and eight steals. Till picked up four points and three assists.

Senior Kalei DePriest finished with 10 points and eight boards.

Both Leya and Kalei DePriest are returning starters, but junior Molly Osiensky is the only other returner with significant varsity experience. Busbey said the Moose are using the three-day T-Bird Classic to experiment with player combinations and build experience.

“We tried some different combinations. That’s what we’re going to do this tournament, see what players are going to play well together, see what rotations are going to be best,” Busbey said.

As expected with a young team, Busbey said, the Moose did have some ups and downs during their season-opener.

“We started out a little jittery, but really settled in during the second quarter and really played well,” Busbey said.

Palmer used a 22-8 second-quarter run to take a 25-18 lead into the break. Busbey said the DePriest combination was big in the second quarter for the Moose.

“They were really feeding each other,” Busbey said.

Palmer shot 44 percent from the floor in the game, and outrebounded Nome 44-32.

Palmer will play either Kodiak or Eagle River today at 5:45 p.m. in the tournament semifinals.

Palmer 60, Nome 38

East T-Bird Classic

Thursday, East Anchorage

Nome 10-8-13-7—38

Palmer 13-22-11-14—60

Nome (38) — S. Ahmasuk 3 0-3 6, A. Ahmasuk 3 6-11 21, Horner 2 0-0 5, Hukill 1 0-0 3, Okleaslik 1 1-8 3; Totals: 13 7-20 38.

Palmer (60) — Venzke 0 3-4 6, K. DePriest 5 0-0 10, Bowman 2 0-0 4, Osiensky 3 0-0 6, Ledger 1 0-0 2, Perkins 1 0-2 2, Till 2 0-0 4, L. DePriest 13 0-0 26; Totals: 28 3-6 60.

3-point field goals: Nome 5 (A. Ahmasuk 3), Palmer 1 (Venzke 1); Total fouls: Nome 16, Palmer 7.