Pride is defined as a high or inordinate opinion of one's own dignity, whether as cherished in the mind, or displayed in conduct.

In Wednesday night's final game of the season for both Northern Lehigh and Palmerton, it was pride that motivated both sides to sport their uniform and display their talents in front of a near-capacity crowd at Palmerton Area High School gymnasium.Without a post-season in either squad's future, the storied rivalry added another chapter to its history as Palmerton managed to run away with a 63-45 win.The Blue Bombers used a crucial 11-0 run midway through the second frame to take a 26-16 halftime lead. Five different players scored throughout the spree for the winners."It was nice to see," Palmerton head coach Leigh Keenan said afterward. "The kids really laid it all out on the line tonight and they came through. The kids played their hearts out and I'm very proud."The second half saw the intensity of play pick up a level as fast breaks and full-court drives highlighted the offenses. In the third frame, the Bombers extended their lead to 40-27.The Bulldogs had a difficult time finding the bottom of the basket to attempt a comeback and Palmerton took advantage. The Bombers' Mason Stahler put back a miss and added the free throw for the three-point play, and on their ensuing possession he converted off an assist from Spencer Hay. That gave the winners their largest lead of the night at 53-32 as they cruised to the win."I was certainly pleased with our effort," Northern Lehigh coach Jeff Miller said. "It was just a matter of what it's been all year - on the offensive end, we struggled. I thought our defense was good tonight, but we end up putting so much pressure on our defense because of our offensive struggles."The Bombers, who finished their season with a 8-15 record overall (5-12 Colonial), were led in scoring by Seth Andress with 14 points."It's nice to get the win and do so as a team," he said. "We really wanted to beat them and to end the season with a win. The way that we did it was great."Following Andress was Jack Yaindl with 13 and Stahler and Hay both added 11 points.Meanwhile, for the Bulldogs (1-21, 0-16), Joe Egan finished with a game-high 17 points while David Shupp followed with 15. Hasan Mujovic added 10.SENIOR MOMENTS ... The Bombers had five seniors playing in their final game (Hay, Zach Svetik, Andress, Stahler and Yaindl), while Northern Lehigh had four (Mujovic, Shupp, Gavin Kemery and Evan Meixsell).SPENCERY OVERLOAD ... Palmerton senior Spencer Hay entered the contest needing one point to join the 1,000-point club for the Blue Bombers and did so early on. Rolling off a screen from fellow senior Svetik, Hay elevated for the jumper that granted him entrance into the elite fellowship. Hay finished the night with 11 points (1,010 career points), seven rebounds, four blocks and five assists.NORTHERN LEHIGHMeixsell 1-0-0-2, Egan 7-2-6-17, G. Kemery 0-0-0-0, Shupp 5-5-6-15, Seiler 0-1-2-1, Shoff 0-0-2-0, Long 0-0-0-0, Hess 0-0-0-0, Colon 0-0-0-0, Mujovic 3-3-4-10, Schaeffer 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-11-20-45.PALMERTONHay 4-3-4-11, Baumgardt 0-0-0-0, Svetik 0-2-6-2, Yaindl 6-0-0-13, Papay 3-0-0-8, Suto 0-0-0-0, Perschy 1-0-0-2, Andress 7-0-0-14, Yacone 0-0-0-0, Stasko 1-0-0-2, Stahler 5-1-1-11, Quinn 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-6-11-63.Northern Lehigh 4 12 11 18 - 45Palmerton 12 14 14 23 - 63Three pointers: NL - Egan 1, Mujovic 1; P - Papay 2, Yaindl 1.