HUTCHINSON, Kan. — It was his birthday, but Andy Palmer gave his SLCC teammates a nice present on Friday night.
Despite giving up about 4 inches in height to his man — not counting Palmer's kind of poofy hairdo — the 6-foot-5 power forward from Pine View High scored a dozen points and grabbed a team-high six rebounds in the Bruins' 68-50 NJCAA semifinal victory over Three Rivers Community College.
The starter's scoring spurt early on really gave SLCC a lift and some unexpected offense in the paint against Baylor-bound 6-9 Artem Valov.
Palmer scored eight points in the first five minutes helping turn a 4-2 Three Rivers lead into a 13-6 SLCC advantage. A couple of his shots opened up when the Pirates closed in on a driving Vassy Banny, who alertly found Palmer alone underneath. He also battled for a putback bucket and then made a strong drive and ensuing free throw to put SLCC up 51-40 midway through the second half.
Palmer, a sophomore who's leaning toward going to Dixie State next season, said he has been used to being undersized at the position. It's happened in almost every game.
"It's not a big shock," he said.
Palmer, who served an LDS mission after playing for the St. George high school, laughed about turning 23 Friday.
"I'm freaking old," he said.
The Bruins celebrated his birthday earlier in the day. His mom even made him a cake.
"I blew out the candles, and I just told them, 'You guys know what I'm wishing for,'" he said.
Not to jinx it, but Palmer's wish is like the rest of the Bruins. He said the fifth-place banner hanging in the Bruins' gym from SLCC's last visit to the NJCAA tourney in 1994 needs "some company." Like, say, a 2007-08 national championship banner.
"That's what we're here to do," Palmer said. "We've had that goal since the first of the season to be national champs."
They'll get their shot tonight at 7 against South Plains College.
METRO NOTES: Deseret News writer Jody Genessy was formerly the SID when Coach Hammer was coaching at SLCC. Metro players Andy Palmer, Chris Medina, Austin Robison are members of the team. Yahosh Bonner played for Metro prior to moving to Arizona for his Sr. season.
Coach Hammer was an assistant to Coach Parrish from 1992-2000. He was on staff the last time SLCC was at the national tournament. It's not often that I do not have to be neutral but
GO BRUINS!
