Northern Lebanon stops Palmyra to win own tip-off event
FREDERICKSBURG- Palmyra and Northern Lebanon have an ongoing tradition of meeting in the championship game of the Lady Vikings Tip-Off Tournament.
Their early meetings have been invaluable, considering both have won District 3 championships in recent years.
Except for back-to-back NL wins two and three years ago, the Cougars have pretty much dominated the series. Until Saturday night that is.
Behind 18 points by Zara Zerman and 11 by Lindsay McFeaters, the Vikings fell behind early, before shutting down the Palmyra attack. The Cougars were up 13-8 after one quarter and wound up losing 41-29.
It turned out to be their third victory in the Vikings' tournament over Palmyra in the past four years.
"Northern Lebanon really came to play," Palmyra coach Mary Manlove said. "They're a very solid team defensively. It was a real learning experience for us. They took advantage of their opportunities and we didn't."
Being a bigger school, Palmyra has provided a measuring stick for the NL program.
The Cougars are defending D3-5A champs, who reached the PIAA quarterfinals last spring, where they lost to D7 runner up Thomas Jefferson in Altoona.
They got their current season off to a good start with a big win over Milton Hershey Friday that didn't carry over to Saturday.
Katelyn Becker had 18 points Friday in the win over Milton Hershey and had 5 points in the first quarter Saturday, but finished with only 7.
The Cougars were completely dominating the boards early, before foul trouble started forcing Manlove to make changes.
Zerman, meanwhile, was held to a single point in the first quarter and without a field goal in the first half, but went 6-for-6 from the line in the second quarter to keep NL in the game.
"Some things you just don't have control over," Manlove said. "They shot 17 foul shots, we shot four."
NL coach Ken Battistelli said that was no accident. In their 48-43 win over Ephrata Friday, the Mounts shot just two free throws.
"That's something we work very hard on in practice," he said. "If you foul somebody in practice going up for a shot, you're in trouble. There's no reason to foul anybody because most of the shots don't go in anyway. We had a plan. I'm not going to give away all our secrets, but it's really gratifying when your girls buy into what you're saying and pull it off."
Tabitha Hubbard hit a big 3-point shot to open the third quarter and McFeaters and Zerman added 9 between them.
NL's lead grew to 38-23 on a Zerman trey with 4:21 left in the game, while Palmyra sophomore Zoe Smith had 10 of her team-high 12 points after half.
Some great players have played in this game over the years, such as Palmyra's Amelia Baldo, who is starting as a freshman at Catholic University. Catholic was 7-0 before losing to Salisbury last week.
Becker, a junior, and Smith are expected to lead Palmyra this year, although Smith is capable of getting into foul trouble. Becker battled a foot injury early last season, while Baldo suffered a broken wrist Jan. 4 in a fall against Lower Dauphin.
At one point, Palmyra lost five of six last year and were 3-6 in the tough Mid-Penn Keystone Division. After Becker and Baldo regained their health, Palmyra won 10 of its final 11 games, including a win over Gettysburg in the district final at Reading's Santander Arena.
Palmyra is 5A to NL's 4A. The discrepancy in size was evident Saturday to start, but not at the finish.
Zerman was named to the all-tournament team, along with Becker, Smith, Jocelyn Umana of Ephrata and Oumou Toure of Milton Hershey.
Palmyra (29) - Dyllan Shuey 1 0-0 2, Martin 1 0-0 2, St. Clair 2 0-0 4, Smith 5 1-2 12, Becker 3 0-2 7, Hamilton 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 1-4 29.
Northern Lebanon (41) - Hubbard 1 2-2 5, Zerman 3 10-11 18, McFeaters 5 1-2 11, Hauck 2 0-0 4, Papson 0 1-2 1, Bomgardner 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 14-17 41.
Palmyra 13 4 6 6 - 29
Northern Lebanon 8 10 15 8 - 41
3 pt. field goals: P - Smith, Becker. NL - Hubbard, Zerman (2).
Third-place game: Ephrata 53, Milton Hershey 20.