Palmer girls rally to top Stars

PALMER — A big effort from a underclassman helped the Palmer Moose score a key Northern Lights Conference win Thursday night.

Freshman Kim Madrigal scored a career-high 17 points to lead the Moose to a 41-35 victory over Soldotna at Palmer High. Madruga scored all four of Palmer’s first-quarter points, and produced eight of Palmer’s 15 during the final frame.

“Kim has gradually built her confidence at the varsity level and is now a solid contributor,” Palmer head coach Lyle Busbey said.

With the help of Madruga, Palmer overcame a slow start and rallied with a big fourth quarter.

“Tonight the entire team started mentally strong despite such a slow start and showed great poise at the end once we took the lead,” Busbey said.

Soldotna led 28-26 after three quarters, but Palmer outscored SoHi 15-7 in the fourth. Madruga scored eight of those fourth-quarter points. She hit two field goals (including a three-pointer) and was 3 for 4 from the free throw line in the fourth.

Alycia Smylie and Kiana Till added six points each in the win.

Hayley Ramsey led Soldotna with 14 points. Ramsey scored 10 of her 14 from the free throw line.

With the win, Palmer scored two-game regular season NLC sweep of the Stars.

The Moose also helped Busbey reach a milestone with the victory. It marked his 200th as a head girls basketball coach at PHS.

The Moose are now 2-6 in the NLC. Palmer hosts Kenai Saturday at 4 p.m. at PHS.

The Soldotna boys used steady trips to the free throw line to edge Palmer 71-68.

Joe Weltzin was 11 of 13 from the free throw line in the fourth quarter, and SoHi outscored Palmer 27-21 during the final period. Weltzin finished with a game-high 25 points for the Stars. Brooks Furlong and Nate Spence added 13 each.

Palmer underclassmen Clayton Southwick and James Blake combined for 43 of Palmer’s 68 points. Southwick, a freshman, scored 22. He hit six shots from the field, and was 10 of 12 from the free throw line. Blake, a sophomore, hit four three-pointers and finished with 21 points.

Tye Ramoth, another sophomore, hit a pair of three-pointers and scored 14 points.

Soldotna held a slim 13-12 lead after the first quarter and led 33-32 at halftime. Palmer entered the fourth quarter with a 37-35 lead.

Palmer girls 41, Soldotna 35

Thursday, Palmer High

Soldotna 9-14-5-7—35

Palmer 4-15-7-15—41

Soldotna (35) — Rouse 1 2-2 4, Nelson 2 0-0 5, Shaw 0 2-4 2, Wong 4 2-7 10, Ramsey 2 10-12 14; Totals: 9 16-23 35

Palmer (41) — Venzke 2 0-0 4, McCall 1 2-2 4, Madruga 4 4-8 17, Smylie 2 1-1 6, Till 1 3-4 6, Sherman 1 0-0 2, Millard 0 2-4 2; Totals: 11 12-21 41.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 1 (Nelson 1) Palmer 5 (Madrigal 3); Total fouls: Soldotna 20, Palmer 19.

Soldotna boys 71, Palmer 68

Thursday, Palmer High

Soldotna 13-20-12-27—71

Palmer 12-20-15-21—68

Soldotna (71) — Kuntz 3 0-0 8, Weltzin 6 13-16 25, Furlong 5 0-0 13, Phillips 1 2-2 4, Spence 5 2-2 13, Duke 0 1-4 1, Fowler 3 1-1 7; Totals: 23 19-25 71.

Palmer (21) — Ramoth 5 2-4 14, DeBach 2 0-0 4, Ferris 1 0-0 2, Southwick 6 10-13 22, Blake 8 4-6 21, Yanez 0 2-2 2; Totals: 22 18-25 68.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 6 (Furlong 3), Palmer 6 (Blake 4); Total fouls: Soldotna 23, Palmer 18.