Sophomore leads Palmer girls to victory over Soldotna

PALMER — The Palmer basketball program is raining guards.

On any given night, the Moose can boast more than a half-dozen players at the position, of similar size and speed, who can fly up and down the floor. But Friday, it was a Palmer post who reigned.

Sophomore Savanna Dixon scored a game-high 20 points to lead the Moose to a 61-40 Northern Lights Conference win over the Soldotna Stars at Palmer High School.

“She was due,” Palmer head coach Elgin Hollins said of Dixon. “We inserted her into the starting lineup for the last couple of games. We needed her to get going.”

Dixon owned the paint at both sides of the floor, and finished with 10 field goals in the game.

“She was just in the right place at the right time, every single possession,” Hollins said. “It’s a confidence-booster for her. For an underclassman to get that type of game is huge for us.”

At 5-foot-10, Palmer’s second tallest player on the roster, Dixon complimented Palmer’s up-tempo pace, Hollins said.

“We can run a couple different sets with her out there. She’s proven she can run the court, and handle the passes on the run, which is huge for us since it’s the style of basketball we want to play,” Hollins said. “She’s tall and she’s also athletic. She’s able to rebound and finish around the basket for us.”

Dixon helped spark the Moose early, scoring eight of Palmer’s 18 first-quarter points. The Moose started the game on a 7-0 run, and didn’t allow a Soldotna basket until Kendra Bush hit a three-pointer. Palmer held SoHi to a pair of Bush threes in the first eight minutes.

Bush led Soldotna with 13 points in the loss.

The Stars also had a long scoring drought in the third quarter. The Stars didn’t get their first basket of the second half, another Bush bucket, until the 2:38 mark of the period.

Lindsey Wong added a dozen for Soldotna. Wong scored nine of her 12 points in the second half.

Soldotna fell to 0-3 against the NLC’s Valley progams.

Palmer improved to 1-2 in NLC play, getting the win after falling to rival Colony and Wasilla during the last two weeks.

“Being down 0-2 in conference, it’s a big win for us just to get that conference momentum for us,” Hollins said.

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

Palmer 61, Soldotna 40

Friday, Palmer High School

Soldotna 6-12-8-14—40

Palmer 18-11-14-8—61

Soldotna (40) — Miller 1 0-0 2, A. Schmidt 2 1-4 5, Wong 5 0-0 12, Bush 5 0-0 13, McElroy 1 0-0 2; Tuisaula 3 0-0 6; Totals: 17 1-4 40.

Palmer (61) — Busbey 4 6-7 14, Lee 0 2-2 2, King 5 1-1 11, Uschmann 1 1-2 3, Till 4 0-1 11, Dixon 10 0-1 20; Totals: 24 10-14 61.

3-point field goals: Soldotna 5 (Bush 3); Palmer 1 (Till 1).