The Eagle River Wolves varsity boys basketball team had much to howl about, finishing strong with two wins to place fifth in the eight-team Cougar Tip-Off Tournament held Dec. 17 through Saturday.

The Wolves defeated Palmer 52-48 Saturday, after a first-round loss to eventual championship-game contender Heritage Christian Friday put Eagle River into the loser's bracket.

The tournament's eight-member field included Anchorage Christian, Houston, Palmer, Grace Christian, Eagle River, Bartlett, Heritage Christian and Service High.

"I don't know what it was - perhaps the bright lights. We just didn't get it done against Grace," said third-year coach Craig Harrison Friday.

Harrison said the team missed a lot of shots from inside.

"We are definitely seeing what we have yet to work on," he said.

Nathan Yaw and Marcus Foster paced the team with 16 and 12 points, respectively. "We need to have more than two players in double-figures to be successful," Harrison added.

Things didn't get much better in game two, although the Wolves got the victory, defeating Anchorage Christian, 46-43, thanks to a much needed boost from senior lead guard Buron Bell.

Bell scored 12 points, the majority coming in the second half with the game on the line.

"Buron brings a great deal of energy and athleticism to this team. He's a spark plug for us," said the coach, noting the obvious upsurgence of the team's offensive output with Bell in the game.

While the Wolves missed 17 shots from inside three feet, reported the coach, Bell was one of the team's rare finishers on the shot, bracketing the end of the three quarter, beginning of the fourth with a string of three layups.

"You can't miss that many layups and hope to win," said the coach.

Even so, the Wolves did, advancing to face Palmer in the consolation finals.

Eagle River saved their best game of the tournament for last, beating the Moose, with a good first and fourth quarter.

"Palmer played us hard, physically - they made us up the ante," said Coach Harrison.

The Wolves full-court press yielded a bounty of points early as the local team jumped out to a 15-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Harrison said he had a tremendous game from junior captain Yaw and Foster.

"As Nate goes, so goes the team," said the coach. "We really need to get 16-18 points out of him a night."

Yaw posted the high-end of that range, with 18, with Foster matching the effort as the pair contributed more than two-thirds of the team's offensive output.

"I'd say that the surprise of this tournament for us has been Marcus Foster," said the coach. Foster was among the squad's top scorers in two of the three games.

Harrison said that he expected both Foster and Yaw to be strong considerations for the event's all-tournament team. Team selections were not posted as of late Saturday.

While pleased with the team's play, Harrison said the team is on but the early steps of progression for the season.

"We've got to get better. It's my job to get my team ready for games," he said.

Harrison said that he is pleased with the team's defensive intensity, although the team is being whistled for a lot of fouls.

"My players play hard - but they don't get the benefit of the doubt with the officials," he said.

Harrison said it will be back to the practice court this week and next as the team prepares for their Cook Inlet Conference opener with East High on Jan. 5.

"That's when East comes to the den," said the coach, in reference to the team's strong sense of their home court advantage at Eagle River High.

You can reach the reporter at editor@alaskastar.com.

Cougar Tip-Off Tournament

At Service

Saturday, Dec. 19

Eagle River 52, Palmer 48

Eagle River 15 8 15 14 - 52

Palmer 7 9 20 12 - 48

Eagle River - Metzel 4, Ortiz 1, Yaw 18, Quinn 2, Bell 8, Foster 18, Taylor 1.

Palmer - Titus 12, Brown 2, Bohman 1, Montgomery 9, Niekamp 17, Odom 7.

Friday, Dec. 18

Eagle River boys 46, Anchorage Christian 43

Eagle River 17 11 8 10 - 46

ACS 8 18 8 12 - 43

Eagle River - Yaw 17, Quinn 4, Young 4, Bell 14, Mothersell 1, Foster 1, Ahlgren 4, Kozak 1.

ACS - Charters 9, Brandon 4, Garner 3, Scott 2, Simmers 13, Richwine 12.

Thursday, Dec. 17

Heritage Christian 49, Eagle River 38

Heritage 11 3 10 25 - 49

Eagle River 6 7 9 16 - 38

Heritage - Hanks 4, Millar 2, Ridgeway 18, Miessner 6, G. Vreeman 3, A. Vreeman 16.

Eagle River - Metzel 2, Ortiz 5, Yaw 16, Foster 12, Taylor 2, Kozak 1.

This article published in The Alaska Star on Thursday, December 24, 2009.