Wasilla boys beat Palmer, stay perfect in NLC play

PALMER — Wasilla answered Palmer’s quick start and raced to a 66-59 win over the Moose at Palmer High Tuesday night.

Palmer led 5-0 very early, but Wasilla took the lead with a 10-point run and never looked back.

“These guys have come a long way. They don’t let runs faze us anymore,” Wasilla head coach Ryan Engebretsen said after the win.

Junior Alex Baham, who led Wasilla with 22 points in the win, scored his team’s first seven points of the game. Baham also poured in 11 of his team’s 18 first-quarter points.

While Baham was the offensive spark, Engebretsen praised his team’s ability to overcome an early deficit to the home team.

“I knew it was going to be a big hurdle for this group, mentally, to weather runs, play through and go on one yourself,” Engebretsen said.

Wasilla also controlled stretches of the game with its defense. The Warriors held Palmer without a field goal for the first four minutes of both the second and third quarters.

“It was huge, a huge confidence deal,” Engebretsen said of the play of his defense.

Palmer managed 14 points in both the second and third frames, but the bulk of that scoring came in the second half of each quarter. Palmer was held to just an Adam Ramoth free throw for nearly the first four minutes of the second quarter until senior James Nisbett drained a three-pointer at the 4:05 mark of the second.

Nisbett hit a trio of three-pointers during the final four minutes of the second quarter to help key Wasilla’s lead to the low double-digits. Wasilla led by 11 points at halftime.

After another scoreless stretch to start the third quarter, sophomore Brady Southwick tried to spark the Moose. Wasilla held Palmer scoreless in the third until Southwick’s field goal at the 4:34 mark. Southwick scored five of Palmer’s first six points in the third period, and all seven of his points in the third.

Nisbett scored a game-high 26 points and buried six three pointers. Nine of Nisbett’s points came in the fourth. Nisbett and Southwick tried to help the Moose stay in the game, and Wasilla junior Zack Garnett helped the Warriors stay on top.

Garnett scored all 10 of his points in the second half.

“He’s just a steady, consistent rock for us,” Engebretsen said of Garnett. “He’s getting to the point where we can count on him to make things happen when we need him to. Zack’s the perfect kid, as far as playing within himself, doing the little things, not trying to do too much, not trying to do too little.”

Wasilla, which snapped a four-game losing streak with a win over Soldotna last Friday, improved to 5-5 overall and 3-0 in Northern Lights Conference play. Wasilla started the season by going 2-2 during the Under Armour Holiday Classic in San Diego, Calif., and followed with an 0-3 mark at its own holiday tournament, the Doc Larson’s Roundball Classic. Wasilla dropped games to defending state champion East Anchorage, Lathrop and Archbishop Spalding, a team from Maryland.

Wasilla then rebounded with NLC wins over SoHi, Kenai and Palmer. Engebretsen said he’s pleased to see his team have success after a tough nonconference schedule.

“I’ll take it,” Engebretsen said of the 3-0 conference mark. “It’s our motivation for our Christmas tournament, motivation for getting a few games outside. That’s why we set up tough games at the Doc Larson.”

Palmer, which dropped to 3-7 overall and 1-2 in the NLC, may have had the toughest nonconference slate in the state before starting NLC play. Four of Palmer’s seven losses have come to teams that played for a state championship last season. The Moose have suffered losses to defending 3A state champion Monroe and defending 4A state champ East. Palmer also dropped two games already this season to Service, the 4A runner-up last year.

A fifth loss came to Thunder Mountain, which is currently ranked second in the latest 4A poll.

Wasilla boys 66, Palmer 59

Tuesday, Palmer High School

Wasilla 18-19-14-17—66

Palmer 12-14-14-19—59

Wasilla (66) — Lee 0 2-2 2, Brown 5 2-2 14, Krueger 3 0-1 6, Baham 8 2-2 22, Garnett 4 2-2 10, Houck 0 1-2 1, Burn 1 0-0 3, McGregor 2 4-4 8; Totals: 23 13-15 66.

Palmer (59) — Ramoth 1 3-4 5, Jones 1 4-5 7, Ferris 1 0-0 2, Southwick 3 0-0 7, Wells 1 0-0 2, Nisbett 8 4-9 26, Yanez 3 3-7 9; Totals: 18 14-23 59.

3-point field goals: Wasilla 6 (Baham 4), Palmer 9 (Nisbett 6).

Warriors fall in tourney

ANCHORAGE — Geno Morgan’s new team wasn’t very kind to his old rival Thursday night. Morgan, a former Palmer High School head coach, saw his Wasatach Academy team run past Wasilla 94-27 during the first round of the Alaska Airlines Classic at West Anchorage High School Thursday.

The Tigers, a team from Wasatch, Utah, had a 30-2 third-quarter run in the win. Morgan coached Palmer High for one season, leading the Moose to an appearance in the 1995 4A state championship game.

Alex Baham led Wasilla with 10 points in the loss.