West Anchorage tops Colony boys in semifinals

ANCHORAGE — It's hard to say just when Tuesday's 69-38 West Anchorage win over Colony in the semifinals of the state 4A boys basketball tournament as Sullivan Arena was truly over.

It could have been when the running clock mercy rule kicked in with the Knights down 40 midway through the fourth quarter. Or when West guard Tom Feeney opened the fourth with a breakaway one-handed slam dunk. Or maybe it was when Colony failed to convert a 4-on-0 fast break in the third. Or when West ended a 39-18 first half with a buzzer-beating trey from Dominique Garrett-Queen.

You get the picture.

West, the state's top-ranked 4A boys team, put on a clinic at the expense of the Knights, who simply couldn't hang with the bigger, faster and more confident Eagles.

“They shot the ball terrific and their pressure really hurt us,” said Colony coach Jeff Bowker, whose team was hoping to reach the state finals for the first time since losing to Wasilla in 2007.

Justin Kauffman, who helped lead West to a state title victory over Wasilla on Tuesday, scored 21 points to lead the Eagles, who also got 19 from Devon Bookert and 10 from Tom Feeney. The Eagles shot 46 percent from the floor while forcing 22 Colony turnovers and limiting the Knights to 29 percent shooting.

Senior guard John Palmer led Colony with 11 points, while senior forward Scott Herman added 10.

Bowker said the loss was a big disappointment for his seniors — Palmer, Herman, Chris Ray and Hayden Summers — who combined for 76 percent of Colony's 38 points.

“Your heart goes out to them,” he said.

Bowker said his team's goal was to be playing on the final day of the season — just not in Wednesday's 1 p.m. third-place game.

“We played 28 games this season and in the 28th game we finally fell short,” he said. “You just have to hold your head up and you move on.”

WEST 69, COLONY 38

4A boys semifinals

Tuesday, Sullivan Arena

West 20 19 22 8 – 69

Colony 9 9 10 10 – 38

WEST (69) – Darkwah 0 0-1 0, Garrett-Queen 1 0-0 3, Bookert 7 3-5 19, Kauffman 8 1-1 21, Abdul-Bassitt 4 0-0 8, Wyche 2 1-3 5, Feeney 3 3-4 10, Harris 1 1-1 3. Totals – 26 9-15 69.

COLONY (38) – Palmer 3 4-4 11, Herman 2 5-6 10, Niver 0 5-8 5, Depriest 2 0-0 4, Ray 1 0-0 2, Summers 3 0-0 6. Totals – 11 14-18 38.

3-point field goals – West 8 (Kauffman 4, Bookert 2, Feeney, Garrett-Queen), Colony 2 (Palmer, Herman). Rebounds – West 36 (Wyche 6), Colony 27 (Eisenhower 5). Assists – West 13 (Feeney 6), Colony 6 (Ray 2). Fouled out – none. Total fouls – West 14, Colony 20.