Prep hoops: CHS girls edge PHS

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

PALMER - With a sophomore and a freshman in the starting lineup, the underclassmen on the roster of the Colony girls' basketball squad are going to be asked to contribute in important situations - even early in the season.

Colony freshman forward Allie Grazulis proved that Tuesday.

Grazulis, in the starting lineup for the first Northern Lights Conference game of her career, hit a pair of late free throws and grabbed a key rebound in the final moments to help the Knights preserve a 45-41 win over the Palmer Moose at Palmer High School.

Grazulis scored a team-high eight points to lead the Knights. Colony head coach Don Witzel said a case of the first-game jitters could have caused Grazulis to not shoot the ball as well as she could have. But even early in her career, Witzel said, she has proven herself to be arguably the best shooter on the team. Grazulis is the first freshman to begin her career as a starter since former Knight standout Kelly Quinn (class of 2002) made her Colony debut in the starting lineup.

Colony earned the four-point Region III victory in a game in which both teams were hurt by turnovers and missed opportunities on the offensive end.

"In the first half we missed an awful lot of easy shots," Witzel said. "We missed six or seven underneath the basket, that should have been baskets. They missed some too."

Colony led 8-6 after a first quarter where both coaches feel their teams missed the opportunity to convert on key chances.

"After the first quarter I felt we could have been up 16-8," Palmer head coach Paul Reid said. "We missed five easy buckets inside. We got the ball into our posts, but they couldn't quite finish."

The teams were not separated by more than four points at anytime during the first half. But in the third quarter Colony managed, at one point, to up its lead to nine. Sophomore Jamie Christensen hit a three-pointer from the corner to give the Knights the nine-point advantage halfway through the third quarter. But the Moose worked themselves back into the game.

&#8220We couldn't quite close that little gap,” Reid said. &#8220Every time we'd chip away and bring it to one, they'd hit a couple of big baskets.

Palmer (6-2) had won six of their first seven games of the season prior to its meeting with the Knights. The Moose won three games en route to capturing the Elks Showdown title in November. They finished 3-1 and placed fourth in the 16-team Granite Hills Sportland Festival in San Diego, Calif., during the holiday break.

&#8220More than anything, not to take away from what Colony did, we didn't bring our ‘A' game, from what I have seen from this team this year,” Reid said. &#8220(The players) all agreed with that. They know it. We didn't bring our best

game.”

The game marked Colony's first action of the season against a team from Alaska. The Knights finished 3-1 in a holiday basketball tournament held in Las Vegas. The Palmer game is the start of an important stretch for the Knights. This weekend Colony is competing in the East T-Bird Classic in Anchorage. On Sunday they fly to Sitka for a two-game series against the Wolves on Monday and Tuesday. On Friday, Jan. 20 the Knights host Wasilla, the defending conference champions.