Josh Palmer tourney Day 1: END girls among winners as blizzard causes schedule scramble
After back-to-back years of cancellations caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the first day of the Josh Palmer Fund Clarion Classic since 2019 was met by weather-related challenges that left tournament director Palmer scrambling to fill out what had been expected to be a record field of 28 teams.
Three teams from the Buffalo area — the Cardinal O'Hara girls and the boys and girls teams from Lancaster St. Mary's — had to pull out because of the blizzard that impacted their region.
Cardinal O'Hara, from Tonawanda, spent Christmas in Orlando after playing in a tournament in Florida last week. The team was able to get back home Monday after taking a flight to Pittsburgh and driving the rest of the way.
For the Palmer tournament, as of late Tuesday night the eight-team boys National Division was down to seven teams and the eight-team Girls Division was left with six. Palmer spent much of Tuesday calling and texting to attempt to fill the open spots, with travel concerns keeping some potential teams out of the mix.
Geneva receives a bye into the National Division semifinals and a consolation game will be cut from the National Division schedule Thursday and Friday.
END girls among winners
On the court, five games were played Tuesday, four of them girls contests.
In semifinals in the four-team Girls Regional Division, Ithaca was a 53-43 winner over Thomas A. Edison and Elmira Notre Dame rolled to a 51-29 victory over Binghamton Seton Catholic Central. Ithaca and END meet at 3:15 p.m. Friday for the title.
Two games in the Girls Division were also played. Defending Class AA public schools state champion Bishop Kearney was a 51-33 winner over Horseheads, while St. Francis Prep of Queens held off Elmira, 61-51, to close the day.
Vestal rolled to a 55-18 victory over Edison in a Boys Regional Division I semifinal, earning a spot in Friday's 1:30 p.m. final against either Elmira Notre Dame or North Penn-Mansfield.
Girls Standouts
Mia Little, Ja'Elle Griffin and Madelyn Little combined for 40 of Ithaca's points in the Little Red's victory over Edison. Mia Little scored 16 points, Madelyn Little netted 13 and Griffin scored 11.
Payton Littlefield scored 20 points for Edison in the loss to Ithaca, nailing four 3-pointers. Gianna McGee contributed 10 points for the Spartans.
Shannon Maloney had 18 points, 13 rebounds and four steals to spark Notre Dame's win over a Seton program that won three consecutive Palmer titles from 2015 to 2017. Mallory Sheehan added 17 points for the Crusaders and Lawson Bigelow scored eight.
Alexandra Back was high scorer for Seton with nine points.
Bishop Kearney's Caydence Hadley had 17 points against Horseheads. Amaia Jackson added 14 points and 11 rebounds for Kearney. Allie Hall contributed eight points and 10 rebounds.
Sophie Bonnell hit three 3-pointers for nine points for Horseheads.
St. Francis Prep combined for 17 steals to key the win over Elmira. Christina Psarros had 15 points and six rebounds; Kimora Smith contributed 14 points, 11 rebounds, six steals and five assists; Arianna Davis chipped in 11 points; and Kayla Martin had 10 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and five steals.
Jalea Abrams of Elmira was Tuesday's high scorer with 26 points, including five 3-pointers. Ellie Clearwater added 10 points and six rebounds for the Express; and Ja'Nyah Harris contributed seven rebounds.
Boys Standouts
Braden Strahley scored 16 points and Josh Gannon added 10 to lift Vestal over Thomas A. Edison in a Boys Regional Division 1 semifinal.
George Smith paced Edison with nine points.
Our trip to Elmira,NY for the @JPalmerFund tournament has been canceled due to weather/driving conditions in Buffalo.
We wish every team participating this year success, and we cannot wait to be back next year.— Cardinal O’Hara Lady Hawks (@OharaWBB) December 28, 2022
What's Ahead
Because of the possibility of a replacement team in the boys National Division, Wednesday's schedule is subject to change. As of late Tuesday, the schedule was as follows:
10 a.m.: Elmira Notre Dame vs. North Penn-Mansfield, Boys Regional Division 1 semifinal.
11:45: Seton CC vs. Ithaca, Boys Regional Division 2 semifinal.
1:30: Corning vs. Conrad Weiser (Pennsylvania), Boys Regional Division 2 semifinal.
3:15 p.m.: Corning vs. North Rockland, Girls Division game No. 3.
5: Jamestown vs. Bishop McDevitt (Pennsylvania), Boys National Division.
6:45: Horseheads vs. McDonogh (Maryland), Boys National Division.
8:30: Elmira vs. Mount St. Michael Academy (Bronx), Boys National Division.
If a team is added for the Boys National Division, it would face Geneva at 3:15 p.m. at Elmira High School. The girls game between Corning and North Rockland would shift to Ernie Davis Academy, with a noon start scheduled.
Follow Andrew Legare on Twitter: @SGAndrewLegare. You can also reach him at alegare@gannett.com. To get unlimited access to the latest news, please subscribe or activate your digital account today
This article originally appeared on Elmira Star-Gazette: Recap of Day One of the Josh Palmer Fund Clarion Classic
