Palmer, Kodiak boys play to weekend split

PALMER — The undefeated Wasilla Warriors have already locked up the top spot and a first-round bye in the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships. That has left three other teams — Palmer, Kodiak and Colony — in a race for the No. 2 seed and the remaining first-round bye.

Following Kodiak’s two-day stay at Palmer, things got a little more interesting.

Palmer took a step forward Friday night with a 61-54 win over the Bears. But Kodiak bounced back Saturday afternoon to force a split in the two-game series with a 60-47 victory over the Moose.

Kodiak used the win on Saturday to move into second place in the six-team conference with a 6-4 record. Colony is now sitting in third with a 5-3 mark, and the Moose dropped to fourth at 5-4.

Palmer caps its regular season Friday at home against Colony. The Knights play at Palmer Friday and host Wasilla on Saturday. Wasilla leads the conference at 9-0.

“These are big games for us to put us in the position we want ourselves to be in,” Martin said after his team’s win Friday night.

The top two teams in the conference earn the first-round byes in the tournament, slated to start March 9 in Kodiak.

Junior Clayton Southwick scored a game-high 31 points in the win Friday. Dae Osiensky added 10, and Liam Hughes-Duffy chipped in nine. Payton Martin also hit a pair of three-pointers in the victory.

“Offensively I think we’re finally starting to get comfortable,” Martin said. “We’re finding a comfort level with our roles.”

The Moose also weathered a late Kodiak push. Palmer’s Colyn Halbert used a steal and a layup to give the Moose a double-digit lead late in the third. But early in the fourth, Kodiak was able to cut Palmer’s lead to just four.

Palmer responded and pushed its advantage back to 10.

“The mindset is to always get stops, get rebounds,” Southwick said of keeping Kodiak out of reach of an opportunity to take the lead.

Southwick scored 10 of his 31 in the fourth-quarter. Hughes-Duffy was 5 of 6 from the free throw line during the final frame.

Southwick said the Moose were also aware of Kodiak’s ability to shoot the ball.

“That’s a good team. They’ve got a lot of good shooters. They can shoot it in for sure,” Southwick said.

Kodiak showed that ability on Saturday, hitting 10 three-pointers during the win over the Moose. Louis Rochelean hit five from behind the arc, and Auggie Cauging added four three-pointers.

The NLC rivals were tied at the end of the first quarter and halftime. Kodiak held a three-point lead after the third, and blew the game open with a 23-point fourth quarter. The final frame included a trio of Kodiak threes.

Payton Martin hit five threes of his own, and scored a team-high 20 in the loss. Rochelean led all scorers with 21.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer boys 61, Kodiak 54

Friday, Palmer High School

Kodiak 15-17-5-17—54

Palmer 18-18-8-17—61

Kodiak (54) — Rochelean 4 2-2 13, Morzo 2 2-3 7, Cauging 6 0-0 18, Walker 2 2-4 6, Giron 1 0-0 2, Mangrobang 2 0-0 2; Totals: 17 6-9 54.

Palmer (61) — Osiensky 3 2-5 10, Martin 2 0-0 6, Hawkins 1 0-0 3, Hughes-Duffy 1 7-8 9, Southwick 11 6-10 31, Halbert 1 0-0 2; Totals: 19 15-23 61.

3-point field goals: Kodiak 8 (Cauging 4), Palmer 8 (Southwick 3); Total fouls: Kodiak 18, Palmer 10.

Kodiak boys 60, Palmer 47

Saturday, Palmer High

Kodiak 9-14-14-23—60

Palmer 9-14-11-13—47

Kodiak (60) — Basuel 1 1-5 4, Rochelean 6 4-4 21, Marco 2 4-4 6, Cauging 5 2-4 15, Osowski 1 0-3 2, Mangrobang 1 2-2 4, Rellor 2 1-2 5; Totals: 19 14-24 60.

Palmer (47) — Martin 6 3-4 20, Hawkins 0 0-2 0, Hughes-Duffy 0 0-2 0, Rankin 1 0-0 2, Southwick 4 3-8 11, Halbert 1 1-2 4, Eiman 4 0-2 8; Totals: 16 7-20 47.

3-point field goals: Kodiak 10 (Rocheleau 5), Palmer 8 (Martin 5), Palmer; Total fouls: Kodiak 18, Palmer 22.