Palmyra 62, Florence 42

This was my first game of the season in one of my favorite divisions, the Burlco Freedom. The teams from this division don't often crack the T20, but the rivalries are fierce. Palmyra-Riverside is probably the bloodiest of these rivalries, but Palmyra-Florence -- at least in girls' basketball -- apears nearly as spirited.

This is also my first time seeing Lailah Pratt play. She's pretty good, though I'm sure I didn't see her best for a number of reasons. She did go 16-for-18 from the free throw line, which is a nice state no matter what level or even gender you're talking about. Those were some of the toughest 21 points I've seen in a while, because Florence usually got its money's worth. I might have done the same thing, because she's obviously got the ability to sink you if you don't slow her down somehow.

I thought Florence played awesome in the first quarter, and was extremely unlucky to be up by just one. Lakia Artis couldn't miss from long range, and her 10 first-quarter points were the only thing keeping Florence from a big edge. When the Flashes came back to earth, Palmyra just kept going, scoring 16 in each of the first two periods. Lauren Jacobsen's game was interesting -- kind of a point center at some moments -- but she ran into early foul trouble. The team's real point guard, Carly Blanton, was fun to watch too. She's like the rivalry -- a lot of spirit.

Walt Burrows and Bob Viggiano both warned me that the Florence gym is always really really hot, but I didn't notice any difference from other gyms. I came prepared, dressed in layers and ready to shed down to a t-shirt, but I didn't need it. I think one of the things that makes the Burlco Freedom so cool is the gyms, many of which seem to be old and creaky, with those skinny kinds of floorboards. Sitting in the bleachers, I could feel every bounce of the ball and when Jacobsen and Palmyra's Lindy Iannacone collided late in the game and both went down, the thump was so strong I wondered how either could have stood up. But thankfully, both eventualy did and -- unless I'm mistaken -- everyone escaped the game without serious injury. It's kind of a miracle, because those girls were taking no prisoners whatsoever.

One last thing about this game: Florence coach Vince Cipriano had one of the best quotes of the year, which may or may not make the paper depending on the personal whim of the CP copy editors. He was unhappy with his kid's scatterbrained mistakes in the last three quarters, and said, "This is a bad country to be weak in and it's a bad country to be dumb in. Right now we're weak and we're a little bit dumb." I think some of the right-leaning sports desk might balk at putting the words "bad" and "country" next to each other in print, but I thought the quote was hilarious. And it wasn't meant to really down the players, other than to say they have to play smarter or expect more games like tonight's.

I'll be at another rivalry game tomorrow afternoon -- Gloucester Catholic at Gloucester -- and I'm looking forward to watching the Lions' red-headed freshman point guard, who finally has a name attached to her in my head. "Erin McAdams" is a phrase I've heard from several people in the last couple of weeks, as well-meaning folks have endeavored to help me out. In any case, I'm looking forward to it. See you there.