Pitt-Greensburg's Palmer turns into big force
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David Palmer, left, a Westinghouse High School graduate, leads the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in rebounding and has twice pulled down 20 rebounds in a game this season.
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There are basketball players who just have a knack for grabbing rebounds. Of course, it helps if a player if 6 feet 7 and weighs 250 pounds.
Meet Pitt-Greensburg junior forward David Palmer .
Twice this season, he has had games in which he has pulled down 20 rebounds. He leads the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference in rebounding (11.9 per game) ... and has been playing on a sore foot.
"And what people don't understand is that we play in a pretty good basketball conference," Pitt-Greensburg coach Sean Strickland said. "David focuses on his rebounding. He goes after the basketball."
A Westinghouse High School graduate who didn't start playing organized basketball until his junior year of high school, Palmer isn't bad on the offensive end of the floor.
He is averaging 18.4 points per game and has made 56.3 percent of his field-goal attempts, and that includes connecting on four of 12 from 3-point range.
"He has a nice shooting touch around the basket and he's doing his scoring with two and three guys around him when he gets the ball," Strickland said. "He's just so physical that, when we get the ball to him, we want him to try and score. There aren't many players who can stay with him."
Palmer had 18 points and 13 rebounds in a 74-65 loss Wednesday night at La Roche College. It was his sixth consecutive double-double and his 12th this season. Perhaps, his best game this season came in a 71-67 overtime loss against Pitt-Bradford when he had 19 points and 20 rebounds.
If Palmer picks up his rebounding just a little, he could set the AMCC single-season record. That mark is an 11.9 rebounds per game average set by Pitt-Greensburg's Daniel Waajid in 2008-09.
Unfortunately, Palmer's statistics have not led to a winning record. Heading into the home game Saturday against Hilbert, Pitt-Greensburg was 5-14 overall, 3-9 in the AMCC.
Part of the reason is the Bobcats are so young. Strickland started two juniors, a sophomore and two freshmen against La Roche. It has not helped the team's cause that senior guard Rhett Gordon from Slippery Rock High is out with a knee injury and that another player left the squad after the first semester.
Brock Witkowski , a sophomore from Keystone High, is the only other player on the team averaging in double figures (11.4).
Freshman guard Brian Heinle from Saint Joseph High School in Natrona Heights is at 8.8 and junior guard Anthony Papini from Somerset is at 8.4. Sophomore swingman Mike Pearson from Blackhawk High School has started to come on as has freshman guard Dylan Reigel from St. Marys.
Strickland believes all of the pieces are in place, especially with the freshmen he hopes to recruit, for Pitt-Greensburg to have an outstanding 2012-13 season.
"I'd like for us to have a winning record next year for David. He's never played on a winning team in high school or college," Strickland said. "With the way he's going, he could be an All-American for us next year."
As for the rest of this season, Strickland would like to see Palmer become more of a leader. He said Palmer is an easy-going individual off the court.
"If he could do that and become a little bit better passer," Strickland said.
Who knows, maybe Palmer and Pitt-Greensburg could pull down the AMCC title next year.
The Point Park University women's team ran its school-record winning streak to 10 games with a 67-46 victory Tuesday against Carlow. The Pioneers are 15-4 overall, 6-0 in the American Midwest Conference and have not lost since Dec. 3. They face a tough test at 3:30 p.m. Saturday, when they entertain Daemen(18-4, 8-0 AMC) and ranked No. 19 in NAIA Division II.
Keystone Oaks High School graduate Maria Costanza , a 5-7 senior guard at Pitt-Bradford, was the AMCC women's player for the week. In helping Pitt-Bradford to three victories, she averaged 19 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. She also scored her 1,000th career point and become the eighth player in school history to reach that plateau.
Highlands High School graduate Reece Mabery is the Presidents' Athletic Conference player of the week. In two games, Mabery, a 5-11 junior guard at Bethany College, averaged 20.5 points and five rebounds a game and was 13 for 13 from the free-throw line. Bethany is 17-2 overall, 9-1 in the PAC and in second place. For the season, he is averaging 14.3 ppg with 44 steals and 50 assists. Last season, he set the school single-game record with 12 steals against Waynesburg.
First Published January 27, 2012 12:00 am
