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Palmerton shoots down Lions

It's exactly what Leigh Keenan wanted to see.

The Palmerton boys' basketball team incorporated the style of play their second year head coach was looking for and rolled to a 58-44 Colonial League victory over Moravian Academy."It was the first game that we really moved the ball inside-out," Keenan said. "Most of the time, it's either outside-to-outside or inside-to-inside. So, this time it was actually inside-out."We got some good looks and kind of diced up their zones a little bit."The Bombers followed their coach's game plan from the outset as four of their six baskets in the opening quarter were from the outside following passes from the interior. Ben Weber drilled a pair of three-pointers and Mark Quinn added five points in the period.The Bombers mixed it up a bit in the second quarter as they utilized some inside shots along with some perimeter jumpers. It was Weber again from the outside with two more treys, while teammate Spencer Hay nailed a jumper and a driving layup. Mike Stasko showed no fear taking it inside against the Lions' zone defense as he added two right-handed layups. It all added up to a 31-17 Bomber lead at half.Palmerton continue to pad its lead in the third quarter, stretching its advantage to 23 points thanks to a well-balanced attack that saw eight different Bombers hit the scoreboard in the quarter."We have a bunch of guys that can score," Keenan said. "They give each other confidence and they know that they have the green light to shoot if they're open and it's a quality shot."Over the course of the final 16 minutes Keenan was able to give every single one of his players on their roster minutes. In doing so though, Moravian Academy was able to erase a bit of the deficit thanks to a 11-3 run to end the game. But, that didn't bother Keenan. It was about giving his Bombers some experience and a chance to be rewarded for their hard work during practice."We expect the same effort from our starters to the last guy off the bench," said Keenan. "Moravian was able to hit some quality shots and rotated the ball a little better towards the end. They were patient in their attack and they got some quality looks. I give them credit."Weber led the way for the Bombers (5-5, 3-3) with six three-pointers and a game-high 18 points. Quinn followed with nine points. Hay and Stasko both finished with eight.MORAVIAN ACADEMYMessman 2-1-2-5, Diakite 2-0-0-6, Rodriguez 3-0-0-7, Kruklitis 0-0-0-0, Ellis 0-0-0-0, Hurley 5-2-2-13, Kramer 4-0-0-8, Ebner 0-0-0-0, Loughlin 1-0-0-2, Joseph 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 18-4-6-44.PALMERTONHay 3-2-2-8, Blose 0-0-0-0, Svetik 1-0-0-2, Yaindl 0-0-0-0, Weber 6-0-0-18, Papay 0-0-0-0, Suto 0-1-2-1, Quinn 4-1-1-9, Rodrigues 0-0-3-0, Andress 0-1-2-1, Buck 3-0-0-7, Stasko 3-2-2-8, Stahler 1-2-2-4. TOTALS: 21-9-14-58.Moravian 10 7 10 17 - 44Palmerton 15 16 19 8 - 58Three-pointers: MA - Diakite 2, Rodriguez 1, Hurley 1; Palmerton - Weber 6, Buck 1.

bob ford/times news Palmerton's Spencer Hay goes up for a shot over Moravian Academy defender Callen Messman. Check out more photos from this game at http://www.tnonline.com/galleries.