Coach Pat Crampsie installed his defensive game plan and Panther Valley executed it to perfection. The veteran mentor intended to limit Palmerton's Spencer Hay and take away the shooting of Joey Suto.

One player that wasn't taken into consideration was Palmerton senior point guard Zach Svetik.The three-year starter, who scored a game-high 22 points, consistently scrapped for put-backs, found the right spot on the floor for easy buckets and drilled several key three-pointers to lead the Blue Bombers to a come-from-behind, 54-51, non-league win.Svetik's biggest basket came with 2:08 left in the game, when he took a three from the right wing to give his team the lead. That bucket proved to be the final points of the game as the defense took over from there."For the first time in my life, I wanted the ball," Svetik said. "My mindset was just to score today and I don't know where it came from, but that was just my first instinct."With Hay stymied and Suto kept in check, Palmerton head coach Leigh Keenan realized the importance of other players contributing - and Svetik and Mike Stasko (11 points off the bench), rose to the occasion."Zach lit a fire under everyone and when guys step up when you don't expect, in ways you don't expect, it really lights other guys up," Keenan said. "It happened last game (against Northwestern), and it happened again today."Panther Valley (1-4 overall), which was coming off a tough loss to Lehighton the previous night, showed up to play with the Bombers and after taking the lead early in the second period, maintained the lead throughout the majority of the contest."I was very pleased with the effort our kids gave," Crampsie said. "It would have been easy for them to go through the motions after Friday night."Out of the intermission, the Panthers went on a 6-0 run, off two inside moves from Tristan Blasko, and a Rene Figueroa drive. Later, Anthony Micholik nailed a triple to give his team their largest lead of the game at 32-22, with 4:34 left in the third.But that's when Stasko made his impact as he scored nine straight, helping the Bombers (2-2) eventually trim their deficit to 42-37, with one frame to play.Early on in the fourth, the Panthers hit the offensive glass and took a 45-39 lead on a Blasko follow. But from that point on, the winners outscored the Panthers 15-6 for the triumph. Svetik hit two threes and assisted Stasko and Mason Stahler for buckets during that stretch.Panther Valley actually had two chances to tie the game late, but Svetik came up with a big rebound on the first miss and Matt Hudicka's final attempt with time running out sailed left.ZACH ATTACK ... Svetik made his presence felt throughout the entire game, as he had eight of his team's nine points in the first frame, and also hit for eight in the crucial fourth period. Outside of his point production, he tallied four assists, a couple steals and six rebounds. He also needed to handle the ball against the Panthers' full-court pressure.EVEN STEVEN ... The Bombers held a 39-38 edge on the glass while the Panthers committed two fewer turnovers, 11-13.FUTURE STARS ... In the JV contest, Palmerton prevailed, 71-52, as Eric Baumgardt hit for 22, Jake Taschler had 16 and Ryan Yacone had 14. PV's Allen Perez had 19 in the losing effort.PANTHER VALLEYFigueroa 4-6-9-14, Stanko 1-0-0-2, Micholik 2-1-2-7, Miller 1-0-2-2, Hudicka 4-2-4-13, Blasko 5-1-4-11, Emmert 0-0-0-0, Morgans 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 18-10-21-51.PALMERTONHay 1-1-2-3, Baumgardt 1-0-0-3, Svetik 9-1-2-22, Yaindl 0-0-0-0, Papay 0-0-0-0, Suto 1-1-2-4, Perschy 0-0-6-0, Andress 1-0-0-2, Stasko 5-0-0-11, Stahler 4-1-1-9. TOTALS: 22-4-13-54.Panther Valley 9 14 19 9 - 51Palmerton 9 11 17 17 - 54Three pointers: PV - Hudicka 3, Micholik 2; P - Svetik 3, Baumgardt 1, Suto 1, Stasko 1.