Poised Knights get by Falcons

ANCHORAGE — Throughout the season, Colony head coach Tom Berg has been waiting for his team to put together a full 32 minutes of basketball. Thursday, the Knights gave Berg a full 36 minutes.

Colony used overtime to beat Thunder Mountain 56-51 during the ASAA/First National Bank 4A State Basketball Championships quarterfinals Thursday morning at Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

“In terms of trying to execute what we want to execute, this is the best game of our season, bar none,” Berg said after the win. “It’s a tribute to all of our guys. All of our guys played within themselves, did what they needed to do to be successful. That’s what we’ve been preaching all year. In terms of a team effort, that’s our best (36) minutes of consistency.”

With the win, Colony returns to the state semifinals. The Knights finished third overall last year. To reach the semifinals once again, the Knights had to overcome an early Thunder Mountain lead and the work of Falcons guard Jacob Calloway.

Calloway scored a game-high 25 points. Nineteen of those points came in the first two quarters.

“We certainly talked about it,” Berg said of Calloway’s first-half efforts. “He went on that little run of his own. He’s an explosive player. I think we made it a little bit tougher for him (in the second half).”

Calloway was the primary reason Thunder Mountain was able to build a lead. He scored nine in the first quarter, and another 10 in the second. Calloway also drained a trio of three-pointers during the first two periods. Sparked by Calloway, Thunder Mountain went on an early run to take a lead. The Falcons maintained a lead for a good portion of the game, but never led by more than seven points.

“For the most part, it was two to four points. That’s one possession. That’s two possessions,” Berg said. “I kept telling them, there’s going to be 30 possessions left. That’s only one or two.”

Even as Thunder Mountain maintained a lead, the Knights stayed in the Falcons’ back pocket, and finally tied the score at 42 with a Damien Fulp jumper midway through the fourth quarter. The game stayed tied for nearly two minutes. Graham Dinkel used a layup to give Colony a 44-42 lead with 1:55 left in regulation.

“The poise and attitude was terrific,” Berg said of his team.

Ben Jahn hit a pair of free throws to tie the game at 44 with 1:36 left. Matt Seymour hit two more free throws for Thunder Mountain to give the Falcons the 46-44 lead with 59 seconds left.

The Knights quickly tied the game. Fulp hit a long jump shot from inside the right side of the arc with 42 seconds left to tie the game at 46. Neither team would score again in the fourth quarter, but Calloway nearly shocked the Knights late. With only two seconds left on the clock and Colony inbounding the ball from the baseline underneath the Thunder Mountain basket, Calloway stole the inbound pass. He put up a long baseline jumper, that went of the rim at the buzzer.

“That was a great read by him,” Berg said. “We would have been heartbroken if it went in.”

Bailey West sparked the Knights in overtime with a three-pointer early the overtime period. Antonio Bush followed with one of his three field goals in the game. West and Bush combined for seven points in overtime.

Colony also held Thunder Mountain to only two field goals in the fourth quarter and overtime combined.

Dinkel and Fulp each scored 16 points for the Knights. Bush added nine. Berg was pleased with his team’s inside presence on the offensive end.

“They were really good. Graham, Antonio Bush and Robert Sonnenberg did a really good job,” Berg said. “The unsung heroes on any of those touches are our guards. They did a really good job of screening, getting them open.”

Bush was a point and rebound shy of a double-double. The senior finished with a game-high nine rebounds in the game. Bush also finished with a game-best three steals.

Dinkel and Tucker Looney added five rebounds each.

Colony moves on to play either West Anchorage or Kodiak Friday at 7 p.m. in the semifinals at the Sullivan Arena in Anchorage.

Colony 56, Thunder Mountain 51 OT

4A boys quarterfinals

Thursday, Sullivan Arena

Colony 10-14-10-12-10—56

Thunder Mt 11-14-11-10-5—51

Colony (56) — Looney 2 0-0 4, West 3 4-6 11, Fulp 6 2-2 16, Dinkel 7 2-2 16, Bush 3 3-5 9; Totals: 21 11-15 56.

Thunder Mountain (51) — Lee 5 0-2 11, Seymour 3 2-2 9, Calloway 9 4-6 25, Palmer 1 0-0 2, Jahn 0 4-6 4; Totals: 18 10-16 51.

3-point field goals: Colony 3 (Fulp 2), Thunder Mountain 5 (Calloway 3); Total fouls: Colony 13, Thunder Mountain 15.