Senior leads Palmer boys into NLC semifinals; Moose girls also advance

WASILLA — Just more than a week ago, the Palmer Moose were forced to watch the Wasilla Warriors celebrate a buzzer-beater in a victory on their home floor.

Now, as Palmer and Wasilla share the bottom side of the region tournament bracket, the Moose knew they had a shot at a rematch. But the Moose also knew they couldn’t overlook their first-round opponent, Kenai Central.

Palmer senior Clayton Southwick used his 30-point night to lead Palmer to a 44-27 win over Kenai during the Northern Lights Conference Championships boys’ quarterfinals Thursday night at Wasilla High School.

Sixth-seeded Kenai entered the tournament without an NLC win during the regular season. But Southwick said Kenai is not the typical 0-10 team.

“They’re a really good team. They lost a couple of close games, but they’re a really good team,” Southwick said after the victory.

Southwick scored 30 of his team’s 44 points in the win, including 20 of Palmer’s 22 in the first half. Southwick scored Palmer’s first seven of the game.

“It felt good to see the ball go in,” Southwick said of his start.

The senior hit 11 of his 16 shots from the floor, and was 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Overall, Southwick said he felt the Moose moved the ball well on the offensive side of the floor.

“We played well on offense,” Southwick said.

And as always, defense was once again key for the Moose. Palmer held Kenai to 10 of 32 shooting, 3 of 16 from three-point range. Palmer also outrebounded Kenai 28-13.

Southwick was not the only playing wearing the number 23 who stood out Thursday. Kenai’s No. 23, senior Luke Beiser, scored 16 of his team’s 27.

“They’ve got a really good player,” Southwick said of Beiser. “He’s going to get his.”

With the win, Palmer moves forward to face defending NLC champion Wasilla, the No. 2 seed, Friday at 6:45 p.m. in the semifinals. Southwick said the Moose are excited to face a Wasilla squad that used a Reilly Devine buzzer beater to edge the Moose 36-35 last week.

“Those are the games we live for,” Southwick said.

Southwick said the buzzer-beater certainly adds to Friday’s meeting.

“It has too. When they win on a last-second shot on our home floor, it motivates us a little extra,” Southwick said.

Kenai will meet fifth-seeded Kodiak Friday at 11:45 a.m.

Palmer girls get past Kodiak

Junior Abriana Busbey used her 17 points to help the Palmer girls survive a rough night shooting the ball during a 45-35 win over Kodiak in the NLC girls quarterfinals Thursday at Wasilla High School.

Busbey hit 6 of her 11 shots, including 5 of 9, from beyond the arc during the win. As a team, Palmer shot 15 of 53 and 9 of 22 from three-point range.

Catherine Uschmann added nine for the Moose.

The Moose defense held Kodiak to 13 of 56 shooting. Palmer and Kodiak combined for 90 rebounds. Leslie Spear led Kodiak with a double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds, and was one of three Bears to finish with at least 10 boards. Ellysia Kernan added 12 and Ruth De La Cruz chipped in 10.

With the win, third-seeded Palmer moved forward and will face second-seeded Colony in the semifinals Friday at 1:30 p.m. at Wasilla High.

Kodiak meets Soldotna Friday at 10 a.m.

Knights, Warriors return to the floor

Both Colony and Wasilla squads earned first-round byes with top-2 finishes in the NLC regular season standings, and will hit the court Friday.

The second-seed Colony girls play Palmer at 1:30 p.m in the semis. The top-seeded Colony boys play fourth-seeded Soldotna at 3:15 p.m. Top-seed Wasilla girls hosts Kenai in the semis at 5 p.m. Second-seeded Wasilla meets the Palmer boys Friday at 6:45 p.m.

All games are at Wasilla High.

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

Palmer 44, Kenai 27

NLC boys quarterfinals

Thursday, Wasilla High

Kenai 4-11-7-5—27

Palmer 13-9-14-8—44

Kenai (27) — Felchle 3 0-0 8, Beiser 6 4-4 16, Strende 1 0-0 3; Totals: 10 4-6 44.

Palmer (44) — Atkins 1 0-0 2, Titus 1 0-0 2, Hawkins 2 2-2 6, Rankin 1 0-0 2, Southwick 11 4-7 30, Oviok 1 0-0 2; Totals: 17 6-9 44.

Palmer 45, Kodiak 35

NLC girls quarterfinals

Thursday, Wasilla High

Kodiak 11-7-7-10—35

Palmer 17-8-12-8—45

Kodiak (35) — De La Cruz 1 2-4 4, Pascua 1 0-0 3, Kernan 2 4-8 8, Noon 2 2-2 6, Spear 7 0-1 14; Totals: 13 8-16 35.

Palmer (45) — Busbey 6 0-2 17, Pettingill 1 0-0 3, Uschmann 3 2-6 9, Bowman 1 5-8 7, J. Benshetler 2 1-3 6, Alley 2 0-2 5; Totals: 15 8-21 47.