Down five points with less than two minutes to go, Palmer High School’s Adrianna Busbey hit a wild floater from the left side to pull Wednesday’s all-Alaska Capital City Classic match within the Moose’s striking distance.
The visitors then set a trap in the corner of the half court for Juneau-Douglas High School senior Meghna Bathija. The Moose fouled Bathija — a call Palmer coach Greg Fullmer disputed — sending her to the free throw line in the double bonus.
Bathija hit both shots as Juneau-Douglas High School held off Palmer for a 45-38 win Wednesday.
The game was physical free throw shooting contest, with both teams getting into the bonus and double bonus early.
“We were fortunate to come out on top,” JDHS coach Lesslie Knight said. “We had 21 turnovers, and you’re lucky to win a game with that many turnovers.”
Palmer put JDHS on the free throw line 32 times. The Crimson Bears hit 50 percent of those shots while allowing Palmer 19 attempts of their own from the charity stripe, of which the Moose hit an efficient 14.
JDHS’ penchant to foul may be a byproduct of their emphasis on defensive intensity, but they’ll need to clean that up to make that intensity pay off, according to Knight.
“We put Thunder Mountain on the line 29 times (in their first game). Both of those situations (fouls and turnovers) are not usually positive outcomes,” she said.
Freshman Kendyl Carson led the team again with 16 points in her second game. Junior Cassie Dzinich added nine and Bathija seven in the win.
Palmer was led by Emma Uschmann with 11 and Busbey with 10.
“We were in foul trouble most of the game, probably from the middle of the second quarter on. Part of that, probably, is we’ve got a young team,” Palmer coach Greg Fullmer said.
“Juneau’s good, they’ve got a good team. They’re well coached, I like their coach. No. 11 (Kendyl Carson) is a good ball player, but they’re more than just her.”
CRIMSON BEARS 45, MOOSE 38
Juneau-Douglas 10 14 7 14 — 45
Palmer 10 11 10 7 — 38
Juneau-Douglas (45) — Carson 16, Bohulano 3, Pusich 6, Dzinich 9, Robinson 2, Bathija 7, Balovich 2
Palmer (38) — Pettingill 3, Busbey 10, Bowman 4, Suaava 6, Uschmann 11, Dixon 4
Free throws — Juneau-Douglas 16-32, Palmer 14-19
3-point goals — Juneau-Douglas 3, Palmer 2
Team fouls — Juneau-Douglas 16, Palmer 21
Juneau-Douglas’ Alyxn Bohulano, left, dribbles against Palmer’s Lorna Suaava (15) and Emma Ushmann during the Capital City Classic on Wednesday, Dec. 28, 2016.
