Prep basketball: Palmer girls best in Showdown

PALMER — Paul Reid knows if his Palmer Moose squad wishes to acheive all of their goals this season, team chemistry will need to play as big a role as talent.

And that is why the Moose head coach is so satisfied about his team’s performance during the three-day Palmer Elks Showdown at Palmer High School over the weekend.

“Overall it was great team basketball,” Reid said after his team’s 59-36 win over Bartlett, a victory that gave the host Moose the 2007 Palmer Elks Showdown title.

Reid said the best example of how to win with team chemistry actually came in Palmer’s 75-39 shellacking of West Anchorge on Friday night.

“I told them that’s the best team basketball I’ve seen of a team I’ve coached at the varsity level,” Reid said.

Palmer also soundly beat Houston 65-33 on Thursday.

“We’ve been working on our team chemistry both on and off the court, and I think it was a little reflective this week,” Reid said. “Regardless of scores or wins, I’m probably most proud of how the girls played as a team.”

Palmer scored 18 points in the first and used a 16-5 run in the third quarter to hand Bartlett the 23-point loss on Saturday.

Reid admiited the Moose probably did not have a ton of gas left in the tank during their third game in as many days, but he was more than happy with the effort of his squad.

“We’re a little tired after three nights, but we gave tremendous effort over the last three days on the defensive side of the floor,” Reid said. “Tonight we continued to have that intensity, but you could tell after the third day we’re starting to feel

it.”

Senior Geneva Ratcliff led the Moose with 13 points in the win. Senior Ashley Swetzof and junior Kelsey Campbell each added 12. Campbell scored all 12 of her points from behind the three-point arc, and hit a pair of three-pointers during Palmer’s 16-point run in the third.

Reid said the Moose had seen Bartlett twice during the offseason, splitting a pair of matches in summer camps.

“We knew they had a lot of speed,” Reid said. “We knew it would be tough for us. I’m proud of the way we matched that.”

In addition to Palmer’s usually set of standouts — Swetzof scored 21 against West and Ratcliff had 16 against Houston — Reid was happy with the play of his emerging varsity talents.

Reid specifically noted the work of senior Katie Stratton and junior Juliana Mangelsdorf.

“They really stepped up to the challenge of playing varsity ball,” Reid said. “They’re both going to see a lot of minutes this year.”

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Palmer 59, Bartlett 36

Palmer Elks Showdown

Saturday, Palmer High School

Bartlett 9-9-5-13—36

Palmer 18-11-16-14—59

Bartlett (36) — Topp 1 1-2 3, Neely 3 3-6 9, Darden 2 2-5 6, Everett 2 3-4 8, Pollard 2 0-2 4, Delk 4 0-0 4, Ferguson 1 0-0 2; Totals 13 9-16 36.

Palmer (59) — Swetzof 5 2-4 12, J. Cox 2 0-0 4, Stratton 2 0-0 5, Campbell 4 0-0 12, Mangelsdorf 2 0-0 4, M. Cox 1 2-2 4, Bolling 0 1-3 1, Tzou 1 2-2 4, Ratcliff 5 3-4 13; Totals: 23 10-14 59.

Three-point field goals: Bartlett 1 (Everett), Palmer 5 (Campbell 4).

Palmer 75, West Anchorage 39

Palmer Elks Showdown

Friday, Palmer High School

West 16-9-9-7—39

Palmer 23-22-13-17—75

West (39) — Nidoy 0 3-4 3, Simeon 1 4-7 6, Matthews 0 0-1 0, Smith 1 0-0 1, LaVern 5 4-6 17, Eliu 5 1-2 11; Totals 12 12-20 39.

Palmer (75) — Swetzof 8 4-6 21, J. Cox 1 1-2 3, Stratton 2 3-3 9, Campbell 4 0-0 10, Mangelsdorf 3 0-0 6, M. Cox 2 2-2 6, Bolling 2 0-0 4, Zimmer 1 0-0 2, Tzou 2 0-2 4, Ratcliff 4 0-0 8, Danielowski 1 0-0 2; Totals: 30 10-15 75.

Three-point field goals: West 3 (LaVern 3), Palmer 5 (Stratton 2, Campbell 2).