Two of state’s best meet on the hardwood at Colony High

PALMER — Coming into Thursday night’s matchup, the Colony Knights were a hot team. They were flirting with the top spot in the state boys polls, and even hoping to court the No. 1 rank in the state with a victory over top-ranked Service. But the Knights got their hearts broken on Valentine’s Day, losing 75-59 to the Cougars.

Service had been undefeated facing Alaska teams, but suffered a buzzer-beating loss to East Anchorage Wednesday night. The Cougars were able to bounce back with a win Thursday by playing superb defense. Led by the scoring of Adam Klie and Marques Robinson, the Cougars avoided a surge by the Knights and secured the victory in the fourth quarter, hitting 5 of 8 free throws down the stretch.

Klie dominated the first quarter, scoring 12 points, which was more than the entire Colony team. But the Knights brought the game to within three after an explosive second quarter. Colony hit three three-pointers, and Jeremy Compton scored all six of his points off the bench in the second quarter. The Knights were able to capitalize where Service struggled, at the free throw line, but struggled to find offense elsewhere. The Knights were perfect from the line in the second and went into the locker room down 36-39 following a 25-point second quarter. The Knights continued their strong performance at the free throw line into the third.

“We’re terrific free-throw shooters. We tell them to be aggressive to the rim. We didn’t get to the free throw line enough tonight,” said Colony head coach Tom Berg. “We did a decent job in the first half, but we didn’t do a very good job in the fourth quarter getting to the line. We settled for too many quick contested jump shots”

With Klie on the bench, the Knights got more of their scoring options in the action. Hunter Eisenhower and Damien Fulp combined for nine points in the quarter, battling through tough Service defense. Antonio Bush scored two of his seven in the third, but played desperate for possession of the ball, diving all over the court for loose balls and rebounds. Bush was the only Knight able to score in each quarter.

The Knights’ array of offensive playmakers were not able to close the four-point gap in the fourth, though.

“What we’ve been great at all year is not taking contested shots if you’re not open, we move the ball to whoever is open and they make the play. Tonight we took those contested shots consistently,” Berg said.

Service’s defense stifled Colony’s ball movement on offense and the Knights forced up shots as they saw victory slip away.

“We had a couple guys who played really hard most of the game, KyLelle Brown and Ihro Raguindin were fantastic guarding those two,” Service head coach Tyler Moor said.

Robinson scored 10 of his 18 points in the fourth quarter. Klie moved the offense forward to the victory, scoring four of his game-high 22 points in the fourth.

“Adam was really aggressive early,” Moor said. “He’s playing like Kobe Bryant lately. He makes his teammates better. He was able to get stuff early and then facilitate later on because he took so much attention. He got everybody involved.”

The Knights fall to 16-5 overall. Colony will defend its undefeated conference record Friday night against Kenai, and again next week against Valley rivals Palmer and Wasilla.

“It was a big game for Valley basketball, and a good game for us. We want to play the teams we think we’re going to see in March. I think it was a preview of state semifinal or state championship. We’re going to do everything we can to work hard and be back there when it matters,” Berg said.

Service 75, Colony 59

Thursday, Colony High

Service 19-20-14-22—75

Colony 11-25-13-10—59

Service (75) Toomer 2 0-0 5, Klie 9 3-6 22, Brown 2 0-0 5, Robinson 6 4-6 18, Raguindin 5 1-2 11, Aukusitino 2 2-4 7, Robinson 2 1-2 5, Lampkin 1 0-0 2.

Colony (59)Compton 2 2-2 6, Gray 3 2-2 10, Fulp 2 3-4 9, Umbarger 4 3-4 11, Huffman 1 0-0 2, Bush 2 3-4 7, Eisenhower 5 3-5 14.