Prep girls' basketball: Third-quarter effort leads CHS past Soldotna

Jan. 28, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

COLONY - It's amazing what a little confidence can do.

With the help of a huge third-quarter effort, the Colony Knights scored a 52-36 win over the Soldotna Stars at Colony High School on Saturday.

A 16-4 run in the third quarter allowed Colony to turn a one-point halftime lead into a 13-point advantage.

&#8220We saw how we played in the first half, and came out (in the second half) with confidence,” Colony junior Hayley Hotchkiss said.

The Knights used strong play in most areas of the game to leap to the substantial lead.

&#8220We were able to get control of the game,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said. &#8220We had some kids hit some big shots, and got a little bit of a running game going.”

Hotchkiss scored eight of Colony's first 12 points in the quarter. The junior capped a 7-0 run with a three-pointer early in the period, and hit another shot from behind the arc to give the Knights a 10-point lead with 2 minutes and 20 seconds remaining in the frame.

&#8220She's been kind of struggling a little bit out there, but when she's relaxed and the shots go in, she's dynamite out there,” Witzel said.

Hotchkiss also hit a key three-pointer early in the game, a shot that proved to not only be key for her squad, but her performance.

&#8220That gave me the confidence to keep shooting,” Hotchkiss said.

While Hotchkiss led the attack on the offensive end, sophomore Alex Coon helped lead the squad on the defensive side of the court. Coon played a good portion of the final two quarters while fellow sophomore and starter Allie Grazulis was in foul trouble.

&#8220She took over the game rebounding,” Witzel said.

Coon also helped the Colony defense hold Soldotna forward Paige Blackburn to only two points in the second half. On Friday, the dangerous Blackburn scored a game-high 24 points in a 50-47 win over Palmer.

&#8220Our posts knew about her and her game last night,” Hotchkiss said. &#8220They came out and played hard.”

Colony opened with a 9-0 run in the first quarter. Soldotna battled back, but the Knights were able to head into halftime with a 24-23 advantage.

Colony improved to 2-1 in Northern Lights Conference play, with the win. Soldotna dropped to 1-3 in the

NLC.

Knights run past Kenai

The Colony Knights scored a 52-23 win over visiting Kenai, Friday at Colony High

School.

Grazulis posted a game-high 18 points for CHS. Micaela Stein added nine points, and Jackie Hamann chipped in eight.

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