Prep basketball: Bartlett uses speed to score over Moose

PALMER — Following Palmer’s 71-60 loss to the Bartlett Golden Bears during the second day of the Palmer Elks Showdown at Palmer High School, Moose assistant coach Jack Campbell leaned toward head coach Greg Fullmer as Fullmer stood outside of the PHS locker room and whispered a few numbers.

“10-for-25 from the free-throw line,” Campbell said.

It didn’t take long for Fullmer to draw a conclusion.

“That’s the ball game right there,” Fullmer said. “And some other things, but that’s the ball game.”

As Fullmer quickly calculated his team’s free-throw shooting percentage in his head, the Moose head coach he was not completely disappointed with everything he saw from his team during Palmer’s second outing of the year.

He was proud of their hustle.

He was proud of his team’s ability to get the early lead against a Bartlett squad that overflows with athleticism. But he did point out a few things his young Moose team needs to work on.

“We’re proud of their effort, but we really felt we could have shot the ball a little bit better from the free-throw line,” Fullmer said. “And defensively, we could have done things a little bit differently.”

Led by the play of senior guard Jake Parisien, the Moose took the early lead in the contest. Palmer held the Golden Bears scoreless for nearly the first three minutes of action, and the Moose to the early 5-0 lead with a deep Parisien three-pointer.

Midway through the first quarter, the lightning-quick Golden Bears squad answered Palmer’s early lead with a 13-2 run to grab the momentum.

Many of the points during the run were set up by Bartlett steals, as the Golden Bears steadily applied more and more pressure on both ends of the floor as the first half went

on.

“They just have a ton of athletic kids,” Fullmer said of the Golden Bears. “We’ve got our own athleticism too, but just a little more inexperienced.

“There are times when are defense broke down,” Fullmer said. “At least a dozen times, we just didn’t know who we had.”

Fullmer said the Moose experimented with a few defensive formations in the game, but said the Moose didn’t want their game plan to be dictated by Bartlett’s style of play.

“When you look at teams, you’ve got to look at their tendencies, but in the end you have to do what you do better than what they do,” Fullmer said.

Junior Jake Hillis led the Moose with 14 points in the game, while junior Bryce Jacobson added 11.

Hillis showed his ability to score both inside and out. He converted five shots in the paint, and hit a three-pointer in the third quarter.

Senior captain T.J. Fullmer, in foul trouble for most of the game, added 10 points.

Bartlett 71, Palmer 60

Palmer Elks Showdown

Friday, Palmer High School

Bartlett 20-22-22-7—71

Palmer 11-20-10-19—60

Bartlett (71) — May 4 6-9 15, Mender 2 0-3 4, Roan 6 0-0 12, Winford 4 0-0 9, Newsome 7 2-3 16, Manumalevna 4 0-0 8, Devoe 3 1-3 7, Collins 0 0-2 0; Totals 30 9-20 71.

Palmer (60) — Draughon 1 3-6 5, Parisien 2 3-4 8, Fullmer 3 2-6 10, Hillis 6 1-6 14, Swetzof 1 0-0 2, Bergeron 3 0-0 6, Odom 2 0-0 4, Jacobson 5 1-3 11; Totals: 23 10-25 60.

Three-point field goals: Bartlett 2 (May, Winford), Palmer 4 (Fullmer 2).

Houston nearly knocks off Chugiak

PALMER — The Houston Hawks fell just shy of knocking off the Chugiak Mustangs during the second day of the Palmer Elks Showdown at Palmer High School on Friday.

Trailing 35-27 at the half, the Hawks outscored the Cook Inlet Confernece program 28-24 in the final two quarters and were within reach of their first win of the season.

Houston senior forward Ben Castleberry led the Houston comeback attempt with 14 of his game-high 22 points in the second half. Castleberry scored eight of Houston’s 14 points in the third quarter.

Senior Jon Tymick and sophomore Scott Herman added eight points each for HHS (0-3).

Dustin Theies scored 22 points for Chugiak in the win. Thies hit four three-pointers and scored 18 points in the second quarter.

Chris Huslap added 12 points for the Mustangs.

Chugiak 59, Houston 55

Palmer Elks Showdown

Friday, Palmer High School

Chugiak 13-22-13-11—59

Houston 8-19-14-14—55

Houston (55) — Tymick 3 2-2 8, Qual 3 0-0 7, Contreras 2 0-0 4, Herman 3 0-0 8, Castleberry 11 0-0 22, Morales 3 0-2 6; Totals: 25 2-4 55.

Chugiak (59) — Fullmer 1 0-0 2, Williams 2 0-0 4, Spink 3 0-1 7, Hewitt 4 0-1 8, Thies 9 0-0 22, Lerch 1 0-0 2, Huslap 3 6-10 12, Cash 1 0- 1; Totals 24 6-13 57.

Three-point field goals: Houston 3 (Herman 2), Chugiak 5 (Thies 4).