Warriors rally past Moose, win NLC boys title

The upset-minded Palmer Moose enjoyed a fast start, but Wasilla saved its best for the second half.

Wasilla guard Tristan Horton scored his team’s final five points to cap a Warriors rally, as second-seeded Wasilla grabbed a 60-57 win over fourth-seeded Palmer in the Northern Lights Conference Championship game Saturday evening at Grace Christian School in Anchorage.

Horton hit the last of his four three-pointers with two minutes left in regulation to give Wasilla a 58-55 lead, and added some insurance with a pair of free throws with 10.9 seconds left.

Horton’s three with two minutes left gave Wasilla its first lead since very early in the first quarter. The Warriors cut Palmer's lead to just a point five times in the third quarter, and tied the score three times in the fourth. Noah Kroon hit a three to tie the score at 49, and had baskets that tied the game at 51-51 and later 55-55 with 3:10 left.

Kroon led all scorers with 22. Horton finished with 14, and Deegan VanDussen chipped in 12.

Palmer jumped to a 21-11 lead in the first, and nobody was better than Logan Rolston, who scored 12 of his 18 points in the first eight minutes. Nolan Garner led the Moose with 19. Fifteen of those points came in the second half. Lukas Owen added 13.

The game was a rematch of the 2024 NLC title game won by the Moose. Palmer was trying to repeat the magic of the year before. The Moose were also the No. 4 seed in the bracket last season. Palmer upset top-seeded Grace Christian Friday night.

Grace held on to beat third-seeded Colony 50-45 Saturday afternoon in the NLC boys third-place game. Mylz Mongeau hit four three-pointers and led the Knights with 20 points. Leyton Lockard added nine, and Ridge Spencer chipped in seven.

The fourth-seeded Moose upset top-ranked Grace Christian 50-48 during the boys semis Friday

It’s the second straight year that Palmer entered the tourney as a fourth seed, and used a victory over the bracket’s No. 1 to grab an automatic berth to the 4A state tournament. The Moose capped the come-from-behind victory on a 5-0 run, and drained a pair of free throws during the final 6.7 seconds. Owen hit a free throw with 6.7 left to give the Moose the 49-48 lead, and Rolston added another free throw with 4.3 seconds left.

Palmer secured a steal near midcourt with 1.2 seconds remaining to end it.

Palmer trailed for most of the game. Grace hit threes on consecutive possessions late in the first quarter to break a 9-9 tie, and used another trio of three-pointers in the second quarter to take a 28-17 lead into the break.

Palmer was able to pull within three points with a KJ Henry jumper toward the end of the third quarter. Grace extended its lead to five points twice in the fourth, but Palmer managed to keep it close.

Rolston and Garner led the Moose with 15 points each.

Wasilla punched its state tournament bid with a 56-45 win over third-seeded Colony in the other semifinal.

The Warriors outscored Colony 39-27 during the final three quarters. Van Dussen scored 12 of his 14 during that span. Barak Wagle was 6 of 8 from the free throw line during the fourth. Kroon led Wasilla with a game-high 18 points.

The rivals kept it close early, with Colony leading 18-17 after the first quarter. Colony hit four of its seven three-pointers during the opening frame. Mongeau, Malik Balmes, Spencer and Lockard each had one from beyond the arc in the first eight minutes.

Mongeau led Colony with 17 points.

On the first day of the tourney, second-seeded Wasilla boys buried seventh-seeded Kodiak 60-34. After taking an 18-13 lead in the first, the Warriors outscored the Bears 42-21 in the remainder of the game, and held Kodiak to single-digit scoring in each of the final three quarters. Kroon scored 16 to pace Wasilla. Wagle added 13. Kroon and Wagle combined for 15 of Wasilla’s 18 during the opening quarter.

Kodiak’s Kelly Tieman led all scorers with 17.

Third-seeded Colony had another lopsided win, beating sixth-seeded Soldotna 50-27. Both teams muscled through a slow start. The Knights used 17 points during the final quarter-and-a-half of the first half to take a 22-16 lead into the break, and outscored the Stars 32-11 during the final two quarters. Lockard drained six three-pointers, and led all scorers with 18. Eli Whitworth and Jordan Sterling added eight points each.

Fourth-seeded Palmer beat Mountain Christian Academy, the No. 5 seed, 58-40 earlier in the day. Garner led the Moose with 17. Rolston added 15. Owen chipped in 12. Garner scored eight of Palmer’s 19 first-quarter points.

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