PIAA State Girls Basketball Tournament: Palmyra’s Impressive Season of Improvement Comes to an End

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The Palmyra Lady Cougars finished 5th in the PIAA District 3 – 5A Championship Tournament, earning a spot in the PIAA State Championship Tournament, where they were slated to play against Armstrong. The Armstrong Riverhawks finished 2nd in PIAA District 7/WPIAL, losing the championship game to South Fayette.

The game started with both teams playing evenly in the 1st quarter. Senior Emma Sibbach scored 5 points for Palmyra, while sophomore Addi Salus scored 4. In the 2nd quarter, there was an unfortunate turn as Salus took a hit to the face, forcing her from the game for the rest of the quarter. During the stretch without Salus on the floor, the Riverhawks took advantage of Palmyra’s adjustment period to build a 19-14 lead by halftime. Senior Keely Bowers went 5-6 from the line to score all of Palmyra’s points in the quarter.

Though bloodied, Salus returned in the 3rd quarter to help Palmyra’s offense get back on track. This resulted in a balanced attack, with five Cougars scoring. Despite the effort, Armstrong held on to their lead, aided by two three-pointers from Marlo Mellish. Trailing 34-25 going into the 4th, Palmyra kept battling. Salus would hit a three-pointer, and Mya Doster scored 5 points, but it would not be enough, as Armstrong held on for the 44-33 win.

Salus scored 9 points to lead Palmyra. Seniors Sibbach and Bowers played extremely hard to give the Cougars a chance in what would be their final high school games. Sibbach scored 8 points, while Bowers scored 7. Armstrong’s offense was led with 19 points from their leading scorer, Emma Paul.

Palmyra finished the season with an 18-9 record. This is a vast improvement from having just won 5 games last season when a State Playoff bid would have seemed much further away.

Palmyra Scoring: A. Salus (9); E. Sibbach (8); K. Bowers (7); M. Doster (7); M. Margut (2)

Armstrong Scoring: E. Paul (19); M. Mellish (6); K. Fitzgerald (6); S. Weaver (4); K. Allensworth (4); S. DiGregorio (3); I. Young (2)