BY JEFF FALK
PALMYRA – The Palmyra boys have qualified for the state basketball tournament.
Not only does that check off one of their boxes, it is a great accomplishment, of which the Cougars are well deserving. But because it is more consolation in nature, it may be something that Palmyra will appreciate at a later date.
Right now, the Cougars are focused on something a bit more immediate, and perhaps rewarding.
On Monday evening, Palmyra opened what will prove to be a lengthy postseason run – one way or the other – with a 61-53 victory over Dover. It seemed more than coincidental that the Cougars were coming off a 17-day lay-off and seemed to play better as the game wore on.
The win moved third-seeded Palmyra to 20-3 overall and into the quarterfinals of an inaugural District Three Class AAAAA tournament which sends ten representatives on to the PIAA postseason. Up next for the Cougars is a Thursday 7 p.m. date with neighbor and sixth-seeded Milton Hershey, which toppled Garden Spot.
Back on December 17th, Palmyra scored a 62-61 road triumph over Milton Hershey at Spartan Center.
Last year, under the PIAA’s old classification system, the Cougars endured a season-ending home loss to Gettysburg in the opening round of the District Three Class AAA playoffs.
With the loss, Dover slipped to 14-10 overall.
“I felt our goal was to compete for a district championship,” said Palmyra head coach Pete Conrad. “I’d rather be there (the quarterfinals) than in the eight-nine game. That wasn’t on our goal list at the beginning of the season. If you would give everyone on our team a truth serum, I’m sure they would’ve been disappointed not to move forward.
“It’s (the new classification system) fine,” continued Conrad. “Obviously when it came out you’re interested to see how it’s going to play out. When you get to this level you’re going to get good teams. We like to think we’re in that class. I think it’s similar to the old three-A classification. It’s all great competition.”
“It’s different this year,” said Palmyra senior Braden Vernet. “The biggest thing for me is I want to get to the Giant Center. That wasn’t going to happen if we lost tonight. That would be the biggest accomplishment of my career.
“Our goal is to win a championship,” added Vernet, “and make a run in states. We want this journey to be long.”
The contest was very much back-and-forth, and up for grabs the whole way. It was Palmyra which asserted itself in crunch time.
Nursing a 43-41 edge early in the final stanza, the Cougars went on an 8-0 run to pretty much lock it up. Vernet poured in seven of those points – on a couple of turnaround jumpers, a reverse lay-in and a charity toss – while Bryant Willis threw in a free throw.
Thanks to holding the Eagles without a point for a four-minute stretch, the Cougars led 51-41 with less than four minutes to go.
Dover would pull to within 55-50 of the lead, but that was before Isaac Blatt, Vernet and Willis combined to go six-for-eight at the foul line, over the last 51 ticks.
“We definitely played better in the second half,” said Conrad. “Once we were able to get some breathing room, they had to play us man-to-man.
“There’s two aspects to that,” continued Conrad. “I hope we were rested and fresh. And maybe we had to shake off some rust. I think it was a pretty good combo of those two things.”
“I thought we could’ve played better,” said Vernet. “But we made tough plays down the stretch, and that’s all that really matters.”
Trailing 34-30 three minutes into the second half, Palmyra pieced together a 13-5 run to take a 43-39 lead it would never relinquish. With five points, Nick Jelliff had his hands in things for the Cougars, while Vernet contributed another five and Blatt drained a trey.
“They’re very, very good,” said Conrad of the Eagles. “Their record speaks for itself. Their scoring speaks for itself. They have four really good scorers. I feel like we’re fortunate to get a win. I feel like we really battled to guard them. We’re pleased to move on.
“We’re always trying to improve,” added Conrad. “We thought we could get the ball inside a little more. It’s just preparing to the greatest extent possible. I think you’ve got to keep rising.”
“Yeah, for sure,” said Vernet to the notion that the Cougars played better as the game went on. “The first half wasn’t as good. We came out in the second half with more intensity.”
Vernet, Blatt and Willis combined for 56 of Palmyra’s total points. Vernet dumped in a total of 21 points, Blatt pumped in 17 and Willis notched 14.
The Cougars survived nine three-point field goals by Dover, partly by outscoring it 12-4 at the foul line.
“I think he had 17 points at halftime,” said Conrad of Eagle sharp shooter Keith Davis. “We got Vernet on him for a significant chunk of the second half. We had a team effort. But holding him down was a key to the win.
“That (the Eagles’ quickness and three-point shooting) was definitely an issue, and something we have to do a better job on,” Conrad added. “They have a different group set than some of the other teams we’ve played.”
“We played them two years ago,” said Vernet of the Eagles. “We knew they were a small team with a lot of shooters. They didn’t miss much.”
Vernet netted the final two buckets of the opening stanza to give Palmyra a 17-13 margin, and when he scored on a put back 1:20 into the second stanza, the Cougars’ lead had reached 22-16. But the Eagles tallied 12 of the first half’s final 16 points to take a 28-26 edge to intermission.
“It’s huge,” said Conrad of his side’s home-court advantage. “You play hard all season to try to get it. It’s certainly an advantage. We’d rather be here.
“We have tremendous respect for their (the Milton Hershey Spartans’) program,” continued Conrad. “We played them in a very good game earlier in the year. At this level, you’re always going to play a good team.”
“That was the longest break I’ve ever had,” said Vernet of the 17-day lay-off. “It was well needed and we took advantage of it. We didn’t see any rust. I thought was all upside.”
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 |
|
|
| DATE |
OPPONENT |
TIME |
LOCATION |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| 02/20 # |
Dover
|
7:00 PM |
Palmyra High School |
|
PIAA District Three
Class AAAAA Power Rankings
| AAAAA |
School |
W |
L |
T |
Rating |
TWP |
OWP |
| 1 |
Northeastern |
20- |
2- |
0 |
0.762789 |
0.935484 |
0.551717 |
| 2 |
Mechanicsburg Area |
18- |
4- |
0 |
0.743892 |
0.851852 |
0.611940 |
| 3 |
Palmyra Area |
19- |
3- |
0 |
0.739633 |
0.894628 |
0.550194 |
| 4 |
Spring Grove Area |
17- |
5- |
0 |
0.734365 |
0.827083 |
0.621042 |
| 5 |
Manheim Central |
19- |
3- |
0 |
0.727685 |
0.895062 |
0.523113 |
| 6 |
Milton Hershey |
17- |
4- |
0 |
0.705867 |
0.835240 |
0.547743 |
| 7 |
Lampeter Strasburg |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.667228 |
0.732068 |
0.587979 |
| 8 |
Greencastle Antrim |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.663376 |
0.743304 |
0.565687 |
| 9 |
Shippensburg Area |
16- |
5- |
0 |
0.660511 |
0.810934 |
0.476661 |
| 10 |
Ephrata Area |
15- |
7- |
0 |
0.660448 |
0.750000 |
0.550997 |
| 11 |
Garden Spot |
13- |
6- |
0 |
0.659423 |
0.750623 |
0.547955 |
| 12 |
Waynesboro Area |
14- |
7- |
0 |
0.636828 |
0.725995 |
0.527846 |
| 13 |
New Oxford |
11- |
10- |
0 |
0.615679 |
0.600950 |
0.633680 |
| 14 |
Dover Area |
14- |
8- |
0 |
0.612551 |
0.691630 |
0.515900 |
| 15 |
Hershey |
11- |
11- |
0 |
0.593056 |
0.575000 |
0.615124 |
| 16 |
Exeter Township |
11- |
11- |
0 |
0.591132 |
0.596698 |
0.584328 |
| 17 |
Lower Dauphin |
11- |
11- |
0 |
0.590818 |
0.580000 |
0.604039 |
| 18 |
Twin Valley |
13- |
9- |
0 |
0.588698 |
0.641553 |
0.524097 |
| 19 |
Northern York |
11- |
11- |
0 |
0.574240 |
0.563084 |
0.587875 |
| 20 |
Conrad Weiser |
13- |
9- |
0 |
0.569320 |
0.630045 |
0.495101 |
| 21 |
Solanco |
11- |
11- |
0 |
0.556387 |
0.580275 |
0.527191 |
| 22 |
West York Area |
10- |
12- |
0 |
0.534530 |
0.522936 |
0.548701 |
| 23 |
William Penn |
7- |
14- |
0 |
0.528331 |
0.415617 |
0.666093 |
| 24 |
Susquehannock |
8- |
13- |
0 |
0.506633 |
0.428928 |
0.601606 |
| 25 |
West Perry |
10- |
12- |
0 |
0.490223 |
0.462617 |
0.523964 |
| 26 |
Cocalico |
6- |
16- |
0 |
0.464008 |
0.341584 |
0.613636 |
| 27 |
Daniel Boone |
7- |
15- |
0 |
0.462382 |
0.380102 |
0.562947 |
| 28 |
Big Spring |
8- |
14- |
0 |
0.457859 |
0.407583 |
0.519307 |
| 29 |
York Suburban |
7- |
15- |
0 |
0.456681 |
0.367788 |
0.565326 |
| 30 |
East Pennsboro Area |
7- |
15- |
0 |
0.448273 |
0.338785 |
0.582091 |
| 31 |
Gettysburg Area |
7- |
15- |
0 |
0.443137 |
0.364734 |
0.538962 |
| 32 |
Red Land |
4- |
17- |
0 |
0.422329 |
0.248101 |
0.635275 |
| 33 |
South Western |
4- |
18- |
0 |
0.417223 |
0.239796 |
0.634079 |
| 34 |
Muhlenberg |
5- |
17- |
0 |
0.413529 |
0.273438 |
0.584752 |
| 35 |
Elizabethtown Area |
5- |
17- |
0 |
0.412372 |
0.288945 |
0.563227 |
| 36 |
Fleetwood Area |
4- |
14- |
0 |
0.363751 |
0.239521 |
0.515588 |
| 37 |
Donegal |
1- |
21- |
0 |
0.305032 |
0.055263 |
0.610305 |
|
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