Warriors, Moose net first-round wins

WASILLA -- The Wasilla Warriors capped off the first day of the Region III basketball tournament action with a 69-47 win over the Soldotna Stars Thursday at Wasilla High School.

The Warriors jumped out to a 12-0 lead and led 18-6 after the first quarter.

David Williams led the Warriors with a game-high 18 points. Robbie Champion added 12 points and hit two shots from beyond the arc. Brad Hobbs and Jeremiah Collins also drained three-pointers and scored seven points each.

Palmer 65, Homer 49

The pesky Homer Mariners stuck around in the first half, but the Palmer Moose outscored Homer 38-25 in the final two quarters and defeated their Kenai Peninsula foe 65-49 in the first round of the Region III tourney.

Kurtis Devon was one of three players to hit double digits for the top-seeded Moose. Devon, a senior center, controlled the play on the glass and scored a game-high 19 points. Fellow seniors Stanley Ratcliff and Jesse Prins scored 19 and 12 respectively.

Kenai 61, Colony 59

Geoffrey Gemmell sunk a shot in the final seconds of regulation and the Kenai Kardinals sunk Colony 61-59 in the first round of the Region III tournament Thursday.

Gemmell scored a team-high 17 points as the Kards topped the second-seed Knights.

Rhett Magner led all scorers with 19 points. Justin Schwartzbauer added 12 points for Colony.