Oxford's Barrows, Palmer named Daily Star's 2022-23 Girls Basketball Player, Coach of the Year

May 17—The Oxford girls basketball team is coming off the best season in program history. The Blackhawks went 22-6 and reached the program's first ever state final four in March.

It should come as no surprise, then, that senior Madalyn Barrows and head coach Chris Palmer have been selected as The Daily Star's 2022-23 Girls Basketball Player and Coach of the Year, respectively.

Barrows earned Class D First Team All-State honors while also being named the Section IV Class D Player of the Year by the Basketball Coaches Association of New York (BCANY). She finished her senior season averaging 20.6 points per game.

When asked what made Madalyn the player she became, Palmer pointed out the work she consistently put in.

"If I got here early in the morning she was often in the gym," he said. "She would be in the weight room at 6 a.m. We'd get done with practice and she would get up some more shots at the end. The time she put in, not only in the gym here, but with her AAU teams and the coaching that she had there, along with other people along the way."

Palmer said the mental aspect of Barrows' game is where he saw the most improvement in her senior season.

"Teams were really focusing on her, and that wasn't new," he said. "That was true junior year and to an extent sophomore year. How to work through with her teammates, when to take the shot, when you're going to have to rely on another option. Use how the other team is playing you to help your teammates score."

Leadership is another thing Palmer thought Barrows added to his team.

"She led by example quite a bit," he said. "She is very competitive, she wanted to win each drill. If we were scrimmaging, she wanted to win that scrimmage. She wasn't going to be outworked, and I think without saying anything the other girls knew she was going to be there before practice, after practice, and it kind of set the tone in terms of the expectations."

Barrows expressed similar thoughts when asked about how she approached being a leader of the team.

"I try to lead by example," she said. "They might not have seen some of the things I was doing but it definitely showed in practice. I was working the hardest in a drill and I was always running full speed. I would have fun but I practiced like it was a game."

The Blackhawks defeated Gilbertsville-Mount Upton 77-22, South Kortright 50-39 and Southern Cayuga 47-34 in the Section IV Class D tournament before knocking off top-seeded Cherry Valley-Springfield 38-36 to take home the sectional title.

They went on to defeat Smithtown Christian 70-44 in the regional round and Notre Dame Bishop Gibbons 75-54 in the state semifinal game before falling to Hammond 61-37 in the state championship.

Barrows led Oxford in scoring in each of their seven playoff games, scoring 15 against G-MU, 24 against both South Kortright and Southern Cayuga, 20 against CV-S, 26 against Smithtown Christian and 27 and 14 respectively in the state tournament.

Nobody in the Oxford program was surprised with the run they were able to make. Both Palmer and Barrows thought back to the end of the 2021-22 season when asked when they knew this team had a chance to do special things this past season.

"To be truthful, we expected to go to the state final four," Palmer said. "We ended in sectionals in 2022 in Moravia after getting beat pretty handily. Our conversation in the locker room was about what the next season could be. We had virtually everybody returning and we were moving down to Class D. We talked about not making any plans until March 19, because even though there was no guarantee, we had some tough competition on the way, we wanted to set the tone, set those expectations that this is what we're going to try and do."

Barrows has a similar memory of that loss to end the 2022 season.

"After our sectional loss to Moravia we were in the locker room, we're all upset, and [coach] looked at us and said, 'Be ready for next year because at this time next year we are going to be trying to win a sectional championship. We have the players and coaches that can get us there.' Looking back, it was true," she said. "I'm glad we all prepared and I put in a lot of work in the offseason to make sure that came true."

Both Barrows and Palmer enjoyed the ride of winning as many playoff games as they did.

"After a win, we would get the trophy and the best feeling for me was to stop and look at all of our fans and all of the support we had," Barrows said. "We would go over to our fans and the whole community was so proud of us. With each win that continued to grow."

"There's the adrenaline rush of winning, there's the exhaustion of putting the time into it." Palmer said. "Enormous amount of pride in the girls and the community support. It's a lot of fun as it gets bigger. The celebration in the locker room is an emotional high and then you're back to work that night trying to get ready for the next round. There's a feeling of pride and a sense of loss that this team isn't going to come back, you're losing seven seniors. It was an emotional time."

Barrows credits Palmer with helping her develop as a player.

"In eighth grade he really let me have the freedom to make mistakes instead of taking me out," she said. "He let me grow as a player and he really put a lot of pressure on me too because I was our point guard. As a point guard you have to be a leader of the team, so he let me develop into my role all through the years."

Following an incredible high school career, Barrows is committed to play basketball at Division II Shepherd University in West Virginia.

Palmer said one of the most important things about Oxford's program is the amount of teamwork that goes into the success they have, not just with the players but the coaches as well.

"I've been very fortunate to have an outstanding group of coaches," he said. "Margo Barrows, the JV coach. Jason Finch, Kenny Seiler, Rachel Seiler, Kelly Finch. They've put a lot of time into this. This is not by any way shape or form a one woman or one person team. A lot of people put a lot of effort into it. I can't thank them enough. It just happens that I get to hold the trophy but it's really all of us combined."

Things will look a lot different next season, though, without number three handling the ball.

"She is one of the best players in our program's history," he said of the senior. "Our second-leading scorer, 800 rebounds as well as 1,666 points. She led the team in assists, steals, blocks, you name it. She's a Mount Rushmore player for our program. We certainly will miss her."

Player of the Year: Madalyn Barrows, Oxford, senior

Coach of the Year: Chris Palmer, 22-6, Oxford

All-State Class B: Abbie Platt, Oneonta (honorable mention)

All-State Class C: Dani Seamon, Cooperstown (Third Team), Ava Cirigliano, Sidney (Fifth Team), Emma Simmons, Sidney (Seventh Team), Jacqlyn Gransbury, Walton (Ninth Team), Natalie Vredenburgh, Delhi (Tenth Team), Kylie Mussaw, Unatego (Eleventh Team), Celeste Baldwin, Bainbridge-Guilford (honorable mention), Lizzie Craft, Unatego (honorable mention)

All-State Class D: Joleen Lusk, Cherry Valley-Springfield (First Team), Madalyn Barrows, Oxford (First Team), McKenna Hoyt, Stamford/Jefferson (Third Team), Hailey Shalor, Worcester (Fifth Team), Hannah Bonczkowski, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton (Seventh Team), Addy Eckert, South Kortright (Seventh Team), Gabby Andrades, Laurens (Eighth Team), Caitlyn Deysenroth, South Kortright (Eighth Team), Sam Osborne, Schenevus (Ninth Team), Ella Kelsey, Oxford (Tenth Team), Shannon Kingsbury, Franklin (honorable mention), Carissa Richards, Morris (honorable mention), Tryhnati Donato, Stamford/Jefferson (honorable mention), Anna Serdy, Worcester (honorable mention),

GIRLS BASKETBALL ALL-STARS 2022-23

Center State Conference: Rory Nelen, Cooperstown; Dani Seamon, Cooperstown

Delaware League: Jessica Zuill, Charlotte Valley; McKenzy Brown, Downsville; Hedda Flynn, Hunter-Tannersville; Madison Coberly, South Kortright; Caitlyn Deysenroth, South Kortright; Addy Eckert, South Kortright; Tryhnati Donato, Stamford/Jefferson; McKenna Hoyt, Stamford/Jefferson; Emma Drum, Windham; Amanda Nilsen, Windham

Midstate Athletic Conference: Celeste Baldwin, Bainbridge-Guilford; Natalie Vredenburgh, Delhi; Cassie Butler, Greene; Abby Yahner, Greene; Payton Yahner, Greene; Madalyn Barrows, Oxford; Ella Kelsey, Oxford; Ava Cirigliano, Sidney; Emma Simmons, Sidney; Lizzie Craft, Unatego; Kylie Mussaw, Unatego; Jacqlyn Gransbury, Walton

Southern Tier Athletic Conference: Abbie Platt, Oneonta

Joleen Lusk, Cherry Valley-Springfield; Shannon Kingsbury, Franklin; Hannah Bonczkowski, Gilbertsville-Mount Upton; Gabby Andrades, Laurens; Carissa Richards, Morris; Sam Osborne, Schenevus; Anna Serdy, Worcester; Hailey Shalor, Worcester