RESSLIN AROUND: Palmer girls on mission

The first week of high school basketball showed the Valley

several things, but the most obvious is that this could be the

Palmer girls team turn to make a run at the state championship.

Last year, Colony won the state title behind the play of Leah

Magner, one of the best guards in the state, and the inside

presence of Jessica Moore. This year, the same formula of balanced

scoring could net the Moose a title.

Palmer has one of the best guard tandems in the entire state in

Tami Callison and Laura Lee. Callison, only a sophomore, has proven

that she can run the Palmer offense as well as it has ever been run

by a point guard. She has tremendous court vision and can control

the ball, two intangibles that are the sign of a very successful

point guard.

When she gives the ball up to Lee, no defender is safe. She is a

very viable Player of the Year candidate this season, and she

showed why in the Palmer Elks Showdown, a tournament in which she

was named the Most Valuable Player and led her team to the

championship. Lee also sees the floor well and is a good passer,

not to mention one of the top shooters in the state.

Lee spent her summer traveling around the Lower 48 and showing

off her talent in tournaments that bring together the best players

in the nation.

So the easiest way to beat Palmer is to concentrate your defense

on the guards, right? Not so fast. As soon as a team makes stopping

Lee and Callison its primary goal, Katie Williams shows up.

In the first round of the Showdown, Williams had 16 points and

six rebounds in the first half alone. The Grace Christian defense

came right at Lee and Callison and did a good job shutting down the

scoring chances, but Williams stepped up and dominated.

As good as Palmers outside game is, the inside game is just as

tough with Williams, Tara Bynum and small forward Diana West.

West is a slasher who can shoot from the outside or take the

ball to the basket as good as anyone she will face this season. If

Palmer wants to play a perimeter game, West allows head coach Lyle

Busbey to have three strong guards. If Busbey wants to go inside,

West can do that too and give the Moose three strong weapons down

low.

Before the season began, Busbey said that this was the most

balanced team he has had at Palmer, and his team has proven him

correct.

In the past, the lack of balance hurt this team. If their

superstar had a bad game, the Moose had a bad game as a team. But

that is in the past, and this years installment of Palmer girls

basketball is balanced and focused, not to mention deep.

Kristina Lee has made substantial contributions to the squad as

a sophomore, and she gives Palmer yet another scorer who can come

off the bench and keep up the pace.

With depth, balance and good defense, the Palmer girls team is

as tough as any team in the state.

The true test of a team is how well it performs in pressure

situations such as regional and state tournaments.

There is nothing that is holding this team back from becoming

another girls basketball champion from the Valley.

Casey Ressler (ressler@alaska.net) is the Frontiersman sports

editor.

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