Prep girls' hoops: Colony scores third in Arizona tourney

Jan. 5, 2006

The Colony girls' basketball squad scored third place in the Cactus Jam Hoop Classic in Tempe, Ariz., last week.

Junior Hayley Hotchkiss put in a lay up at the buzzer to give the Knights the 52-50 win over Cerritos (Calif.) High School in the third-place game.

With the score tied at 50-50, Cerritos held the ball for the final shot. With about eight seconds remaining, Cerritos missed the shot, and the ball bounced far from the rim. Maria Bowker grabbed the rebound, and moved it ahead to Tara Garrod, who was able to get the ball up the court to Hotchkiss for the game-winning buzzer-beater.

Hotchkiss led the Knights with 17 points, while sophomore Allie Grazulis added 15.

Hotchkiss was also named all-tournament. She scored 37 points in three games.

After beating Blaine (Wash.) in the first round, Lafayette (Ken.) earned a 58-29 win over the Knights.

Colony (3-1) is now preparing for the East T-Bird Classic, which starts Thursday at East High School in Anchorage.

Moose fall in Capital Classic

The NBC Thunder used a 16-8 run in the third quarter to get past the Palmer Moose 48-41 on the final day of the Capital City Classic at Juneau-Douglas High School last week.

Palmer jumped out to a 12-5 lead against the all-star team from Spokane, Wash., and led 19-17 at the half.

Kattie Stratton led the Moose with nine points in the loss. Amy Tzou added eight points, and Geneva Ratcliff chipped in six.

Palmer also suffered losses to Juneau-Douglas and Troy (Calif.) in the event. The Moose hit the court next week, competing in the East T-Bird Classic.

- Jeremiah Bartz