Senior helps Knights earn win over ACS

PALMER — Tyler Boyer powered to the glass to get the game-winning bucket right before the buzzer. But it was Boyer’s improbable basket moments before that buoyed the Knights.

Boyer scored four of his team’s final six points to help the Colony Knights post a 68-67 nonconference victory over 3A power Anchorage Christian Friday at Colony High School.

With the Knights trailing by four points with less than 30 seconds left in regulation, Boyer battled for a loose basketball in the paint. While falling toward the floor, Boyer grabbed the ball and flipped it into the air. The senior managed to send the ball high above the hoop at a perfect angle, and it fell down through the net to cut the ACS lead to 66-64. Boyer capped Colony’s 6-1 game-ending run with the game-winning basket with four seconds left in the fourth quarter.

“He’s a hoss. He’s a stud,” Colony head coach Tom Berg said of Boyer after the win. “He plays hard. He doesn’t take breaks. He’s skilled, how hard he plays, what he does for his teammates, a lot of people would kill to play with him.”

Senior Alex Nygard also hit a key base line jumper late, draining the shot with 17 seconds left to keep the Knights within one.

Before Boyer’s highlight reel-worthy basket, the Knights trailed by two possessions. But the Knights capped the game with six points during the final 24 seconds, and ACS was held to just a point, on 1 of 5 free throw shooting, during the final 40 seconds of the game.

“You’ve got foul. You hope that they miss. Those things don’t always work out, but they worked out tonight,” Berg said.

Boyer finished with a game-high 30 points in the win. The senior scored 13 of Colony’s 24 fourth-quarter points.

Boyer also helped Colony get the win despite not having senior captain Anton Chamblee, who dressed but did not play.

“Without Anton, we had a little different lineup,” Berg said.

Boyer also helped the Knights rally after watching their big lead in the first half disappear.

Sparked by senior Joshua James, who scored Colony’s first seven points of the game, the Knights led 24-9 early in the second quarter. ACS used an eight-point second quarter run to cut Colony’s lead to 24-17, and managed to slice the deficit to a mere four points by the break.

“I told them at halftime, it’s hard to erase being up 24-9,” Berg said.

The Knights settled for 13 points in the second quarter and scored nine points in the third. Berg said missing easy shots hurt the Knights during those quarters.

“A bunch of stuff at the rim we’ve got to make, we usually make,” Berg said.

ACS took the lead for the first time in the game, a 37-35 advantage, with Mareng Gatkouth’s layup with 5:17 left in the third quarter. The Lions led by as many as seven in the quarter.

Minus Chamblee, the Knights had a different starting lineup on the court. But Berg also went unexpectedly deep on his bench. A dozen Knights played in the game, and underclassmen played prominent minutes.

“We’ve got a bunch of sophomores. Those are faces you’re going to see in the near future,” Berg said. “We’re trying to get them minutes, while trying to win games, while trying to improve.”

The Knights also had a freshman, Sullivan Menard, play key minutes, including the final possessions of the game.

Boyer led the way with 30, but James added 16 in the win. Trey Huckabay scored a team-high 25 for ACS. Gatkouth added 19.

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.

Colony 68, Anchorage Christian 67

Friday, Colony High

ACS 9-22-16-20—67

Colony 22-13-9-24—68

ACS (67) — Gatkouth 8 1-3 19, Huckabay 9 6-13 25, Onochie 2 0-0 4, Bronson 5 0-0 10, Guzman 0 1-2 1, Lozano 3 0-1 8; Totals: 27 8-21 67.

Colony (68) — James 7 2-6 16, Nygard 2 0-0 4, Neuner 3 1-1 7, Kizer 1 0-0 2, Martin 0 4-5 5, Pead 0 3-4 3, Menard 1 0-0 2, Boyer 13 4-6 30; Totals: 27 14-22 68.

3-point field goals: ACS 5 (Gatkouth, Lozano 2), Colony 0; Total fouls: ACS 20, Colony 18