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New Oxford falls short against Palmyra


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New Oxford head coach Sean Bair is running out of pep talks for his team.

On Saturday, the Colonials fell just short of a signature win for the second straight night. After allowing a 20-point comeback to Spring Grove on Friday, New Oxford nearly knocked off Palmyra but lost, 62-60. Both Spring Grove and Palmyra are in the top five in District 3 Class 5A.

With the Colonials clinging to a district playoff spot, Bair is trying to keep his team's morale high.

"The best I can say is we're in really tight games," Bair said. "It's like, 'How many times are we going to do this guys?,' They don't give you partial wins and it's a true coin flip a lot of times, and eventually some of them have to flip our way."

Just like on Friday, the Colonials came out hot and led by five at halftime. While Palmyra stormed back to take the lead in the third quarter, New Oxford briefly tied the game before Palmyra hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

With about a minute remaining in the fourth, New Oxford's John Wessel nailed a three to tie the game at 57-57. But the Cougars scored four straight points, and while New Oxford's Jordin Brown cut the deficit to one with a three, the senior just missed a shot at the buzzer to win it.

Wessel led the Colonials with 20 points while Ben Lehman scored 14 and Brown chipped in with 12. Braden Vernet led Palmyra with 19.

"We got great looks the whole fourth quarter," Bair said. "Jordin getting to the basket at will all night, these are great things. We've just got to get the ball to bounce our way. I love how hard we're battling and we don't have a choice at this point because if we don't win one of these games we're not supposed to win on paper, we're not going to get in (to the playoffs). Despite how good we are."

MORE FROM SATURDAY'S SHOWCASE: Spring Grove pulls away from Waynesboro late

New Oxford has a tough upcoming week with games against Dallastown and Central York. The Colonials (9-8, 4-5 YAIAA Division I) entered the weekend 12th in Class 5A. The top 16 teams make the playoffs.