Team effort lifts Knights past Stars

HOMER — When the Colony Knights drew the Soldotna Stars for the first round of the conference tournament, head coach Tom Berg knew his Knights would need a true team effort to get by the Stars.

And that’s exactly what Berg’s squad delivered.

The Colony boys used an 18-5 second-quarter run to grab a 54-40 win over the Stars during the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Homer High School on Thursday.

“More than anything it was a consistent effort from everyone who played,” Berg said by phone after the win. “Nine guys played in the (second) quarter. It was a complete team effort in terms of that.”

Three players hit double digits and seven Knights scored to help lead Colony to a victory that sets up a semifinal date with rival Wasilla today at 4:45 p.m. at Homer High.

“It was a real nice win. The guys played really well today, played hard,” Berg said.

The teams have met a number of times in the postseason in recent years. Soldotna won the only meeting during the 2010-11 regular season, scoring a victory over the Knights at Colony High in January.

“SoHi is a quality team. I have a lot of respect for (head coach Matt Johnson). They beat us at our place. Year in and year out, since he took over, he’s done a tremendous job with those guys.”

Junior Jared Turner sparked the Knights early, scoring 11 of his game-high 14 in the first quarter.

“Jared was really good early,” Berg said. “He did a good job of getting open early and (his teammates) did a good job of finding him in rhythm.”

Turner had four field goals in the quarter, including a trio of three-pointers. Eleven of Colony’s 13 first-quarter points came courtesy of Turner.

Senior Payton McCann added 13 points for the Knights and sophomore Hunter Eisenhower chipped in a dozen. McCann hit six shots from the floor, but Berg said the senior stood out on both ends of the court.

“Payton’s energy was really good today,” Berg said about McCann, who also grabbed six rebounds in the win. “He certainly has the talent, but he found another gear today.”

Colony now moves ahead to face rival Wasilla today in the semifinals. The Warriors blasted Skyview 56-31.

“We’ve got a big task ahead of us,” Berg said. “We played them tough the last time we played, and we’ve been getting better.”

Contact Mat-Su Valley Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com. For NLC tournament updates, see twitter.com/matsu_sports.

Colony 54, Soldotna 40

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Homer

Colony 13-18-8-13—54

Soldotna 15-5-9-11—40

Colony (54) — Niver 2 2-3 6, Smith 0 2-2 4, Turner 4 3-4 12, McCann 6 1-2 13, Eisenhower 4 4-5 12, Michaelson 1 -0 2, DePriest 1 1-4 3; Totals: 18 13-20 54.

Soldotna (40) — Fowler 3 0-0 7, Jackson 2 0-0 5, Carver 2 2-3 7, Skjold 1 0-0 3, Smithwick 3 0-0 8, Withrow 4 2-3 10, Young 0 0-2 0; Totals: 15 4-8 40.

Three-point field goals: Colony 3 (Turner 3), Soldotna 6 (Smithwick 2); Total fouls: Colony 11, Soldotna 19; Fouled out: Soldotna- Withrow.

Girls’ basketball

Knights cruise

past Panthers

HOMER — The Colony Knights cruised into the semifinal round with a 59-23 win over the Skyview Panthers during the first round of the Northern Lights Conference Championships at Homer High on Thursday.

Colony used a 16-2 second-quarter run to move into the semis and set up a date with NLC North Division rival Kodiak today at 3 p.m. Mary Klapperich, Kate Klapperich and Saige Stefanski each scored four points during that quarter.

Mary Klapperich supplied a game-best 13 for the Knights. Pherrari Brumbaugh added 12 and Kate Klapperich chipped in 11.

Mary Hauptman led Skyview with 11.

Colony 59, Skyview 23

NLC quarterfinals

Thursday, Homer

Colony 16-16-10-17—59

Skyview 6-2-11-4—23

Colony (59) — Klapperich 5 2-4 13, Nelson 1 0-0 2, K. Klapperich 4 2-2 11, Brumbaugh 6 0-0 12, Michaelson 1 1-2 3, Menard 2 2-2 6, Stefanski 2 2-4 6, Forstner 3 0-0 6; Totals: 24 9-18 59

Skyview (23) — Halverson 3 0-0 6, Hauptman 5 1-2 11, Hill 1 0-0 2, Merciier 1 0-0 2, Malatesta 1 0-0 2; Totals: 11 1-2 23.

Three-point field goals: Colony 2 (M. Klapperich, K. Klapperich 1), Skyview 0; Total fouls: Colony 6, Skyview 11.