Palmer finds the range

Coeur d’Alene junior guard Matt Palmer has provided a bushel of pleasant surprises for the Vikings this season.

Those surprises have come in the form of 3-pointers – 38 of them in eight games, to be exact.

Thanks in no small part to Palmer’s perimeter pounding – he had seven 3-pointers in an Inland Empire League-opening win over Lake City – the upstart Vikings are off to a 4-4 start.

Although Palmer obviously welcomes his solo success, that team mark is what he talks about first.

“We want to win 5A (regionals) and we think we can do that,” Palmer said. “We just have to keep getting better, keep working hard and practicing and paying attention to detail.

“We slumped a little bit (in a Tuesday night loss to Lakeland), but I think it was just an off night. We’ve pretty much been right on track.”

As for the rate at which he’s raining in the 3s (about a 45-percent clip), Palmer points to good, old-fashioned hard work and focusing on a consistent release point.

“Last year I didn’t shoot nearly as well,” said Palmer, who is averaging 19 points a game. “But I worked on my shot a lot in the off-season and got better at it.

“In our summer basketball camp, we would take a bunch of shots from inside the arc and get that down before we moved back behind it, and that really seemed to help.”

Heading into this season, CdA coach Kent Leiss said he was scrambling to find a scoring source. He said he’s working four sophomores into the rotation from a junior varsity team of a year ago that had a 2-18 record. Nobody on the roster had averaged more than four points a game.

“I was really wondering where points were going to come from,” Leiss said.

In Palmer, he’s found the answer.

“He’s just played so well for us so far this year, I think other teams know it’s coming,” Leiss said. “But he’s still able to do it. He had five more against Lakeland.”

Shooting is just one aspect of a guard’s duties. Although he sees more time in the shooting-guard spot, Palmer also logs significant minutes at the point.

Which requires ball handling – a skill the junior said is “still developing.”

“I feel myself getting better at dribbling and not turning the ball over,” Palmer said.