Feb. 4, 2007

By Jeremiah Bartz/ Frontiersman

PALMER - Kelsey Campbell scored only three points on Friday. But they were the three most important points of the game. The Palmer sophomore hit a game-tying, buzzer-beating three-pointer to force overtime, and the Moose earned a key 54-51 Northern Lights Conference win over the Colony Knights at Colony High School.

Palmer trailed 46-43 with just 13 seconds left in regulation. Although Campbell, part of a very deep Palmer Moose squad, played sparingly during much of the game, Moose head coach Paul Reid did not hesitate to give his sharp-shooting guard the final opportunity to score.

“She's the person that wants the ball the most,” Reid said after Palmer improved to 3-2 in NLC play. “She's the kind of player that wants to take that last shot.”

After Colony sophomore Allie Grazulis hit a pair of free-throws to stretch a one-point CHS lead into a three-point advantage, Palmer sophomore Matti Cox took the inbound pass, and brought the ball up the court with just 13 seconds left on the clock.

Cox drove to the arc, sent the ball to junior Nicole Kenney, who stood at the top of the arc, and Kenney shifted the ball to Campbell, who was perched at her spot in the corner of the court.

Campbell took the ball, stepped forward, and then right back to avoid a sprawling Colony defender, let go of the shot and scored as the buzzer sounded.

Campbell said not much was going through her mind when Reid called upon her to the shot, or when she finally did get the ball.

“I knew we had to score,” she said.

She not only scored, but created an opportunity for herself, something Reid said the Palmer coaches have been working on with the young guard.

In overtime, Cox scored Palmer's first six points and seven of her game-high 14 points in the extra period. The junior point guard controlled the play in the final minutes, driving the ball into the heart of Colony's defense.

“(Matti) finished some huge layups in overtime and the fourth quarter,” Reid said. “Matti's been a varsity player for three years. It's fun to watch a player you've coached for this long start to really mature, and finish shots she's struggled with in the past.”

Following a six-point run early in the first quarter, Colony led until Palmer sophomore Mikaela Bolling hit a pair of free throws late in the third quarter to give the Moose a 28-26 lead.

Colony led by as many as 12 points in the second and by nine at halftime, but Palmer used a seven-point run at the beginning of the third quarter to get back into the contest.

“I think that was probably the critical part of the game,” Colony head coach Don Witzel said. “We went four possessions and didn't even get a shot. You can't do that and hope to keep your lead.”

Colony enjoyed much of its success in the first half when the Knights were able to control the play inside. Witzel said he felt his team did a good job of defending some of the things Palmer was doing, but began to have a tough time with match-ups once the post players began to pick up fouls.

Palmer 6-foot senior Stephanie Houser was held to just two points in the first two quarters. With Houser, Palmer had the size advantage inside, but took a lot of attempts from the outside in the first half.

“I thought we were doing a pretty good job of defending her,” Witzel said. “They like running that little pick-and-roll, and they really didn't get much off that.”

Witzel said he felt Palmer did the most damage with the dribble penetration, and hitting some big outside shots.

“We tend to want to pound the ball inside to our 6-footer and get the other teams in foul trouble,” Campbell said. “We did inside-out, when they doubled down.”

The play of Grazulis and fellow sophomore Alex Coon kept the Moose from having a great deal of success inside.

“She's learning to be pretty physical,” Witzel said of Coon. “She's not tall, but she can use her physicality.”

Houser scored six of her eight points when Colony was in foul trouble.

“Once we got Alex Coon in foul trouble, I really tried to isolate whomever she was guarding,” Reid said. “She leaves the game, and they lose a lot from the inside.”

Palmer, ranked fourth in the latest Alaska Sportswriters Prep Basketball Poll, improved to 9-5 overall and 3-2 in conference play.

The Moose are in second place in the NLC, trailing Wasilla (5-0).

Colony is 7-6 overall and 2-2 in the NLC.

Contact Frontiersman sports editor Jeremiah Bartz at sports@frontiersman.com.