Throughout the halls of the coaching fraternities and sororities, it's been said that winning the first game of your career is always the most difficult one.

On Tuesday night, Palmerton's first-year head coach Ralph Andrews and the Lady Bombers proved that assumption to be true.It wasn't easy, but after a strong start and an even better finish, Andrews posted his first-career victory with a 35-29 non-league win over Panther Valley.At the start, a Bombers' 1-2-2 half-court trap gave the Panthers fits. Four quick turnovers from PV helped Palmerton get out to an early six-point lead.Linnaea Leister also got off to a hot start for Palmerton, scoring seven of her game-high 16 points in the initial quarter. Leister's offensive burst helped Palmerton claim an eight-point advantage after one.Offense was a different story for Panther Valley in the first quarter, as the Panthers struggled from the floor and only mustered one field goal in the first frame."We're struggling to put the ball in the basket," said PV mentor William "Dapper" Lynn. "Right now, as a young team, you can't afford to have that many missed opportunities on the offensive side of the floor. Their pressure definitely bothered us early on, we got better with it and we did play very hard."The Panthers had their best offensive stanza of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Bombers by a 9-2 margin. Palmerton was moving the ball well and getting good shots, but they couldn't knock them down during the cold stretch. The PV run brought it within one point at the break."Sometimes the ball just won't fall for you," said Andrews. "Our goal tonight was to take it to the basket a little more and get to the foul line. Ultimately, I think that's what helped us win the game."The game stayed tight in the third with Palmerton holding a slim three-point lead heading into the final period. Both teams continued to trade buckets throughout the action-packed fourth quarter.The Panthers would eventually take their first lead with five minutes left to play. An inside move and lay-in by Rachelle Filer put PV up one. But Leister hit a three-point dagger, which gave Palmerton a two-point lead.From then on, Palmerton controlled the game with its ability to handle the basketball. The Panthers would close within a basket once more, but never regained the lead."We learned some things from our narrow loss to Wilson the other night," Andrews said. "Tonight we were able to finish this one out by taking care of the ball late. A win like this is big for us. We faced some adversity with them making a run and we didn't panic."TURNOVER TOWN ... Both the Bombers and the Panthers had trouble taking care of the ball. The squads combined for 24 turnovers, each with 12.CINCILLA DELIVERS ... Palmerton low post player Kayla Cincilla came through down the stretch for the Bombers. Cincilla scored four of her seven points in the last 3:30 of the game to help Palmerton come away with the win.PANTHER VALLEYWeaver 1-0-0-2, Sheridan 2-1-2-5, Dacey 3-8-14-14, Filer 1-0-0-2, Miller 1-1-4-3, Markovich 1-0-1-3, Pascoe 0-0-1-0, Knoblauch 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 9-10-22-29.PALMERTONPapay 1-0-0-2, Hirocheck 0-0-0-0, Cincilla 3-1-4-7, Leister 5-4-7-16, Frantz 2-0-2-4, Wentz 1-0-0-2, Muniz 0-2-4-2, Ruch 0-2-2-2. Totals 12-9-19-35.Panther Valley 5 9 7 8 - 29Palmerton 13 2 9 9 - 35Three-pointers: PV - Markovich 1; P - Leister 2.