Shooters lead Moose to win

ANCHORAGE — Kelsey Campbell warmed up the nets, Mikaela Bolling set them on fire. In the end, it was the Service Cougars who got burned.

The two Palmer junior guards put on a shooting clinic in the opening round of the Lady T-Bird Classic Thursday afternoon, leading the Moose to a 56-43 win over the Cougars at East Anchorage High School.

Campbell had 12 points and hit three of Palmer’s five first-half three-pointers to lead the Moose to a 25-21 halftime lead, and Bolling scored 17 of her game-high 22 points in the second half as the Moose pulled away down the stretch.

“Different players stepped up at different times,” Palmer head coach Paul Reid said. “It’s nice to see the team come together.”

Bolling and senior forward Ashley Swetzof also hit from behind the arc in the first half as the Moose took advantage of a sagging Service zone defense.

The Cougars switched to man-to-man in the second half, and for a while things looked better for the Anchorage side as the teams played even in the third quarter.

Then Bolling started balling.

She scored 11 of her game-high 22 points in the first four minutes of the fourth quarter, effectively ending any hope of a comeback by the Cougars.

Bolling finished with 17 points in the second half, including a 3-for-3 performance from long range.

“She was unconscious,” Reid said.

Bolling hit four treys in the game, Campbell had three and Swetzof one for the Moose, which finished the game 8-of-20 from behind the arc.

Bolling hit her first shot of the second half, a three-pointer that put Palmer up by seven points early in the third. After that, the shots just started to fall.

“I don’t know, I just gained some confidence,” she said.

Service had a size advantage over the Moose down low, and Reid said it was important to try and take advantage of his team’s quickness and shooting ability against the taller Cougars.

“We’ve got some weapons so it’s nice to be able to take advantage of whatever teams show you,” Reid said.

Swetzof had eight points for the Moose, senior forward Amy Tzou added seven and Katie Stratton had two. Senior point guard Matti Cox had five points to go along with a team-high five rebounds and four assists.

Service hit two more field goals than Palmer in the game, but half of Palmer’s 16 shots from the field were from three-point range, and the Moose made nine more free throw attempts than the Cougars.

Service got 11 points from freshman forward Jordynn Ramirez and nine from senior forward Abby LaPointe, but Palmer’s front court players — Tzou, Ratcliff and Swetzof — did a decent job of keeping the Cougars from doing too much damage down low.

Bolling said the game was typical of the Moose, which she said have the ability to go inside or out depending on what other teams give them.

“It’s gonna be a combination of the outside shooting and the inside game because we’re strong in both areas,” she said.

The win moved Palmer into today’s 6 p.m. semifinal match-up, where they’ll play Juneau-Douglas. The Crimson Bears ran past the Kodiak Bears 52-27 in the quarterfinals.

MOOSE 56, COUGARS 43

Palmer 10 15 9 22 — 56

Service 10 11 9 13 — 43

Palmer (56) — Swetzof 2 3-5 8, Stratton 0 2-2 2, Campbell 4 1-1 12, M. Cox 1 3-6 5, Bolling 8 2-2 22, Tzou 1 5-6 7. Totals: 16 16-22 56.

Service (43) — Edmonds 4 0-1 8, Sumabat 0 1-4 1, Zager 2 0-3 4, Britt 3 0-0 6, LaPointe 4 1-2 9, Augustino 1 2-2 4, Ramirez 4 3-4 11. Totals: 18 7-16 43.

Three point field goals — Palmer 8 (Bolling 4, Campbell 3, Swetzof), Service 0. Total fouls — Palmer 18, Service 19. Fouled out — none. Rebounds — Palmer 24 (M. Cox 5), Service 32 (LaPointe 6). Assists — Palmer 7 (M. Cox 4), Service 3 (Edmonds 2).

KNIGHTS 69, KINGS 62

ANCHORAGE — Colony junior forward Alex Coon exploded for 30 points as the Knights beat Ketchikan 69-62 Thursday in the opening round of the Lady T-Bird Classic.

Coon finished the game 13-for-16 from the floor and had four free throws. She also led the Knights with eight rebounds.

The Knights also got 12 points from junior forward Allie Grazulis, seven from senior guard Hayley Hotchkiss and six each from Jackie Hamann, Kara Larson and Maria Bowker. Tara Garrod added two points for Colony.

Laoi Effenberger led Ketchikan with 22 points.

The win advanced the Knights into tonight’s 8 p.m. semifinal, where they’ll face host East Anchorage, which was a 55-53 overtime winner over Soldotna in Thursday’s night cap.

KNIGHTS 69, KINGS 62

Colony 16 16 15 22 — 69

Ketchikan 13 16 22 11 — 62

Colony (69) — Hamann 3 0-0 6, Garrod 1 0-0 2, Hotchkiss 2 3-4 7, Ma. Bowker 2 0-0 6, Grazulis 3 6-10 12, Coon 13 4-6 30, Larson 3 0-0 6. Totals: 27 13-20 69.

Ketchikan (62) — Patton 2 1-1 5, Effenberger 8 2-3 22, Edwardson 9 0-0 19, Reno 2 0-0 4, Kline 2 0-0 4, Blair 3 2-2 8. Totals: 25 5-6 62.

Three point field goals: Colony 2 (Ma. Bowker 2), Ketchikan 5 (Effenberger 4, Edwardson). Total fouls: Colony 15, Ketchikan 19. Fouled out: Blair.