March 8, 2007

The first major upset of the 2007 Northern Lights Conference basketball tournaments came in the first game of the weekend.

Behind Nicole Van Ryzin's 34 points, Skyview shocked Colony 41-38 in the first round of the NLC girls' championship tournament at Kenai Central High School. The Knights, playing without junior captain Hayley Hotchkiss, are now forced to the consolation side of the bracket. Colony is still alive for a state berth, and in search of its 14th straight appearance in the large-schools state tourney.

In other girls action, sophomore Kelsey Campbell scored 14 points to lead the Palmer Moose to a 52-46 win over Homer.

Defending NLC champion Wasilla ran by Homer 66-41 in the first boys game of the day. Colony easily advanced to the semifinals, beating Skyview 66-37.

See www.frontiersman.com for further region basketball updates, and the Friday edition of the Frontiersman for complete coverage of the NLC tournaments.