Stars have hot hand to blaze past Knights

PALMER — During Soldotna’s final possession of the third quarter, Stars junior Evan Withrow was blanketed by a Colony defender. But despite the solid defensive pressure, Withrow buried a long three-pointer at the buzzer.

That’s what kind of shooting night Withrow and the Stars were having during the second half of Soldotna’s 62-55 win over the Colony boys at Colony High School on Friday.

“Tough shot,” Soldotna head coach Matt Johnson said after a win that moved Soldotna to 2-0 in Northern Lights Conference play. “He hit that from about 24 feet with a hand in his face.”

But that’s not the only long ball Withrow and the Stars buried in that third quarter. Withrow hit four treys in the third, five in the game, en route to a game-high 22 points. Senior Robbie Smithwick added three, three-pointers in the period.

“When they are playing with confidence, they are good shooters,” Johnson said. “I thought our shot selection was improved. If they take good shots, they’ll shoot for high percentage.”

Colony led 20-17 at the half, but with the Withrow and Smithwick show, the Stars shot ahead with 28 third-quarter points. Withrow scored 14 in the period and Smithwick added his nine. That sparked the Stars on the other end of the floor, Johnson said. Soldotna held Colony to four field goals during the quarter.

“It helped our defense,” Johnson said. “I thought our defensive energy picked up.”

Colony sophomore Hunter Eisenhower led a Colony rally in the fourth. Eisenhower scored 14 of his game-high 22 during the final eight minutes. Eisenhower hit one of his two three-pointers during the period to cut Soldonta’s lead to 47-43. Senior Tanner Enloe hit another three-pointer to cut into another Soldotna lead later in the fourth. Junior Tim Smith drove to the basket, drew a foul and completed the three-point play to bring the lead back down to four. But with each Colony clutch basket, Soldotna answered.

“We responded when they went on their nice run in the fourth quarter,” Johnson said.

Ross Skjold, who scored 12 points, hit 5-of-6 free throws down the stretch to help seal the win for the Stars.

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

Soldotna 62, Colony 55

Friday, Colony High School

Soldotna 11-6-28-17—62

Colony 11-9-13-22—55

Soldotna (62) – Jackson 0 2-2 2, Carver 2 1-2 5, Skjold 3 6-9 12,

Smithwick 3 1-4 12, Withrow 7 3-6 22, Bosick 4 1-2 9; Totals: 20 14-25 62.

Colony (55) – Niver 1 1-3 3, Smith 2 3-3 7, Turner 1 5-7 9, McCann 1 2-4

5, Enloe 2 0-1 5, Eisenhower 8 4-4 22, Peltier 1 0-0 2, DePriest 2 0-1 4,

Umbarger 0 0-2 0; Totals: 18 15-25 55.