BY JEFF FALK
HUMMELSTOWN – A successful Palmyra boys’ basketball season is winding down. No matter what happens from here on out, the Cougars have played more games than they have remaining.
So what’s still at stake? How the Cougars will be remembered, and how they will remember 2016-17.
On Wednesday night at Lower Dauphin High School, Palmyra dropped perhaps its least meaningful game of the year – the fifth-place consolation contest in the District Three Class AAAAA tournament – 46-41 to Greencastle-Antrim. While the Cougars’ heads and hearts were in it, their execution was not.
Palmyra struggled with their shooting, turnovers and their offense in general. It was the third-seeded Cougars’ second lowest point output of the season.
As the sixth-place finisher from a district that sends ten contestants on to the state playoffs, Palmyra will see its next action on Friday, March 10th in the opening round of the PIAA Class AAAAA postseason, against the runner-up from District 11. The Cougars have gone 3-3 over their last six outings and now stand at 21-5 overall.
Greencastle-Antrim, the district’s eighth seed, improved to 18-9 on the winter.
“I think it matters,” said Palmyra head coach Pete Conrad. “I’m sure everyone’s trying to process that. In a sense, the guys didn’t play their best. But it matters. You put them in any district playoff game and it does matter. I think our guys took it that way. It comes down to: ‘Are you a competitor or not?’ My guys are competitors.
“Having all these seniors who have been through the wars, they buy into the way we do things,” continued Conrad. “I think that helps you in tough moments. They’ve been playing together all their lives. And we want them to show the way for the young guys.”
The contest was tight throughout, before the Blue Devils distinguished themselves down the stretch.
Two free throws from Isaac Blatt 1:50 into the final stanza pulled Palmyra to within 32-31 of the lead, but it was pretty much all Greencastle-Antrim the rest of the way. The Blue Devils held the Cougars score-less for a key 3:28 stretch late in the period, during which time it built a 43-33 cushion.
Though Palmyra didn’t go without a fight, it was never able to get it below a two-possession game.
“I thought we had to sit down and guard, which we didn’t do in the first half,” said Conrad. “We thought we had do different things attacking the zone. A ton of credit to them (the Blue Devils). I’m impressed with their basketball IQ.
“They were able to spread us out,” added Conrad. “When we have to go out and close, it’s not a great spot for us to be in.”
The Cougars started the third quarter with an alley-oop slam to Blaat to push their halftime lead to 24-21. Three minutes later, Bennett Von Stetten converted a three-point play, as Palmyra regained a 27-26 edge.
And with 2:03 left in the same period, Braden Vernet scored a driving lay-in to make it 29-28 Cougars. But it would prove to be Palmyra’s last lead of the evening.
“We didn’t play well,” said Conrad. “Offensively, we didn’t attack well. Sometimes defense gets confused with slow pace. Any zone that’s played well isn’t going to yield good shots early in possessions. We want to play faster than that and we want to attack the zone.
“I thought they (the Blue Devils) played very well,” Conrad continued. “They’re very skilled. They’re probably a little bit of a tough match-up for us, with five guys who can dribble, shoot and score. But we’ve faced that before.”
Palmyra’s Bryant Willis stroked a trio of first-quarter three-pointers, but didn’t score afterwards. Vernet netted seven straight Cougar points in the second stanza, but only registered one basket the rest of the way. And Blatt was also held to nine points.
Greencastle-Antrim converted 17 of its 20 foul shots and outscored the Cougars by 14 points there. It was one of those nights.
“We scouted them,” said Conrad. “It was just the same as any game, but there was a one-game turnaround (from Monday’s 70-56 win over Lampeter-Strasburg). It’s not like they do a lot. But what they do, they do well. It was just like any other game. I think our guys were at the same level of preparation that we’ve had for any game.”
Palmyra held the Blue Devils without a point for a 6:40 span of the second quarter, and behind Vernet’s scoring opened a 22-17 advantage. But Greencastle-Antrim tallied the final two buckets of the first half.
“We’ll bounce back,” said Conrad. “We’ve had more disappointing losses than this, which is true of a lot of teams in this bracket. I’m sure just about everyone thought they could win it. When we lost to Milton Hershey (in the district quarterfinals), it was a relative disappointment.
“We’ll try to get better at a couple of things and make it fun for the guys,” Conrad added. “I always think you’re wondering at this point of the season ‘Are your guys there?’ I think our guys are.”
Willis had the hot hand early. His third three-pointer 4:44 in staked Palmyra to a 13-9 lead.
“I don’t think it’s much different,” said Conrad of the approach to the rest of the season. “We want to have great practices. We’ll see what the draw holds. We have some time. We’ll have seen the team we’ll be playing and our guys will figure out a way to attack them.”
To purchase images in this article email jkfalk2005@yahoo.com, or to view more go to https://lebanonsportsbuzz.com/photo-gallery/.
2016-17 Palmyra Boys’ Basketball Results
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
RESULT |
|
|
| 12/09 # |
Susquehannock
|
6:00 PM |
W 72-34 |
|
|
| 12/10 # |
@Donegal
|
7:30 PM |
W 83-46 |
|
|
| 12/13 * |
Mechanicsburg
|
7:30 PM |
L 47-57 |
|
|
| 12/16 * |
Susquehanna Twp.
|
7:30 PM |
W 65-60 |
|
|
| 12/17 |
@Milton Hershey
|
6:00 PM |
W 62-61 |
|
|
| 12/20 * |
@Cedar Cliff
|
7:30 PM |
W 54-38 |
|
|
| 12/21 * |
@Bishop McDevitt
|
7:30 PM |
W 70-50 |
|
|
| 12/23 |
Cocalico
|
7:30 PM |
W 57-41 |
|
|
| 12/27 # |
@Elco
|
4:00 PM |
W 68-53 |
|
|
| 12/28 # |
@Ephrata
|
8:00 PM |
W 63-44 |
|
|
| 01/03 * |
@Red Land
|
7:30 PM |
W 63-44 |
|
|
| 01/06 * |
Hershey
|
7:30 PM |
W 58-42 |
|
|
| 01/07 |
Lebanon
|
5:30 PM |
W 75-73 |
|
|
| 01/10 * |
@Lower Dauphin
|
7:30 PM |
L 50-51 |
|
|
| 01/13 * |
@Mechanicsburg
|
7:30 PM |
W 55-41 |
|
|
| 01/17 * |
@Susquehanna Twp.
|
7:30 PM |
W 66-62 |
|
|
| 01/20 * |
Cedar Cliff
|
7:30 PM |
W 63-53 |
|
|
| 01/21 |
New Oxford
|
7:50 PM |
W 62-60 |
|
|
| 01/24 * |
Bishop McDevitt
|
7:30 PM |
W 52-48 |
|
|
| 01/27 * |
Red Land
|
7:30 PM |
W 56-45 |
|
|
| 01/31 * |
@Hershey
|
7:30 PM |
L 36-45 |
|
|
| 02/03 * |
Lower Dauphin
|
7:30 PM |
W 52-41 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 02/20 # |
Dover
|
7:00 PM |
W 61-53 |
|
|
| 02/23 # |
Milton Hershey
|
7:00 PM |
L 71-76 |
|
|
| 02/27 |
Lampeter-Strasburg
|
8:00 PM |
W 70-56 |
|
|
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|
| 03/01 |
Greencastle-Antrim
|
6:30 PM |
Lower Dauphin High School |
|
LEBANON COUNTY DISTRICT THREE BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIPS
BOYS
Annville-Cleona: None.
Cedar Crest: None.
Elco: None.
Lebanon: 1936 (single class), 1940 (A*).
Lebanon Catholic: (All A) 2000, 2005, 2006, 2013
Northern Lebanon: None.
Palmyra: 1949 (B*), 1957 (B*), 1996 (AAA)
GIRLS
Annville-Cleona: None.
Cedar Crest: 1976 (AAA), 1991 (AAAA), 1994 (AAAA), 2003 (AAAA).
Elco: 1997 (AA), 1999 (AAA), 2001 (AAA).
Lebanon: 1980 (AAA).
Lebanon Catholic: (All A) 1980, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2016
Northern Lebanon: None.
Palmyra: 2013 (AAA)
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