Retiring teacher, coach urges Colony grads to ‘find their 68’
By Jeremiah Bartz Frontiersman.com A football coach using a hockey reference as the centerpiece for his keynote address may
PALMER — The Kodiak Bears clinched the North Division’s No. 2 seed of the upcoming Northern Lights Conference Championships with a 45-31 win over Palmer during girls’ basketball action at Palmer High on Friday.
Hannah Wandersee scored a game-high 15 points to help Kodiak improve to a 5-4 NLC record. Even with a loss to Palmer Saturday in the final game of the regular season, the Bears would still be 5-5, tied with Colony. Kodiak owns the tiebreaker over the Knights.
Palmer, which was led by Taylor Blake’s seven points, fell to 3-6, and will be the North Division’s fourth seed when the NLC tourney begins Thursday at Wasilla High.
In boys action in Kodiak, the host Bears used an 18-3 first-quarter run to earn a 68-50 win over Palmer.
The Moose fell to 4-5. The Palmer loss also means Colony clinched the No. 2 seed of the NLC North.
Kodiak girls 45, Palmer 31
Friday, Palmer High
Kodiak 12-10-12-11—45
Palmer 8-3-17-3—31
Kodiak (45) — 2 0-0 4, Cannon 2 1-4 5, Taan 5 0-0 10, Lampl 2 1-2 5, Pyles 3 0-0 6, Wandersee 5 5-5 15; Totals: 19 7-11 45.
Palmer (31) — Scott 0 2-4 2, Jensen 1 2-4 4, Koehn 0 2-2 2, Blake 3 1-2 7, Whitfield 1 3-4 5, Brandenburg 2 1-2 5, Huffman 3 0-0 6; Totals: 10 11-18 31.
Three-point field goals: Kodiak 0, Palmer 0; Total fouls: Kodiak 14, Palmer 13.
Kodiak boys 68, Palmer 50
Friday, Kodiak
Palmer 3-15-17-15—50
Kodiak 18-7-18-25—68
Palmer (50) — Nisbett 2 0-0 4, Looney 5 8-8 21, Wells 0 1-3 1, Christansen 0 0-0 0, Ramoth 0 0-0 0, Straight 4 5-11 14, Matik 0 0-2 0, Buresh 1 2-5 4, Niekamp 2 0-0 4, Mayer 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 16-29 50.
Kodiak (68) — Frick 4 0-0 11, Medina 2 4-5 8, Gregory 0 0-0 0, Obas 1 3-4 5, Will 4 2-3 10, Swearingin 10 5-6 26, Hiner 3 0-2 6, Jimenez 0 0-0 0, Bezona 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 14-20 68
3-point goals — Palmer 4 (Looneu 3, Straight 1); Kodiak 4 (Frick 3, Swearingin 1). Team fouls — Palmer 18, Kodiak 21. Fouled out — Bezona.