Shooting the three is the new norm, the popular and flashy play in today’s style of basketball. Often times driving to the basket and earning a bucket the old fashioned way gets pushed to the side.

On Monday night, in an important Colonial League battle with rival Northwestern, Palmerton attacked the Tigers with the dribble drive, and rolled to an 81-72 victory.

The Bombers (8-7, 5-5) proved that getting to the rim is an effective way to still score points as shown by their 81-point effort that included just two triples.

“We had a serious team meeting this week where we talked about attacking the basket more. We were just taking too many outside shots. We believe in our ability to shoot the ball, but we showed them some analytics that proved the success we have as a team when we get to the basket,” said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini. “Mentally we were focused tonight and our guys came out and put together a strong effort.”

This one was back and forth throughout the first quarter, but in the second period the Bombers started to make their move. Palmerton had two key runs, with the first one coming around the four minute mark — a 10-2 run — that gave the Bombers a 10-point lead. Northwestern battled back to close to within four, but a strong finish by Palmerton — a 7-2 run — gave the Bombers a nine-point lead at the half.

Palmerton senior Nate Dougherty was the catalyst for both runs, scoring 19 of his game-high 36 points in the first half, including 11 in the second quarter. Dougherty, like his team, was especially focused for this one as he needed 25 points to reach the 1,000-point milestone. At the three minute mark of the third quarter, Dougherty hit a free-throw to get his 25th point, making him the ninth Bombers’ boys basketball player to reach the 1,000-point plateau.

“The last couple of game we struggled shooting from the outside, even though that’s something we do well, but we wanted to attack the rim early,” said Dougherty. “We were able to get to the rim and we were able to get to the foul line. Coach told me that I could have success getting to the basket, so I attacked early and I was able to get going offensively.

“It was a great night, it was great to share the 1,000-point moment with the crowd. I just want to thank my teammates, coaches and family for helping me get here, I appreciate all that they have done for me.”

As Dougherty noted, getting to the foul line was a product of Palmerton’s strong dribble penetration and it used the foul line to pull away for good in the third. A 7-0 surge from the Bombers late in the third quarter — all from the foul line — gave Palmerton a 13-point advantage.

“They were able to get into the lane and pretty much get any look they wanted driving to the basket tonight, and you can’t allow that to happen,” said Tigers head coach Billy Hallman. “I thought offensively we got good looks, but you need to buckle down and play defense, we didn’t have a good defensive effort tonight.”

The Bombers continued to keep the pressure on in the fourth, getting to foul line 19 times in the final frame to close out the win.

LEADERS ... Kody Kratzer added 15 and Justin Hosier scored 14 for Palmerton. Sam Yadush scored a team-high 23 for Northwestern (7-7, 6-4), Deven Bollinger added 18 and Devin Thomas collected 15.

NORTHWESTERN

Hebelka 1-3-3-5, Seyfried 4-0-0-9, Yadush 7-6-7-23, Bollinger 7-2-2-18, McCain 0-0-0-0, Rebert 0-0-0-0, Thomas 6-3-4-15, Snyder 0-0-0-0, Hallman 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 26-14-16-72.

PALMERTON

Christman 0-0-0-0, Kratzer 6-3-5-15, Young 1-3-6-5, King 1-0-0-2, Dougherty 12-11-13-36, Stuck 1-1-2-3, Hosier 4-5-5-14, Buck 2-0-2-4, Silfies 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 28-23-33-81.

Northwestern 16 12 15 29 - 72

Palmerton 18 19 17 27 - 81

Three-pointers: N - Yadush 3, Bollinger 2, Seyfried 1; P - Dougherty 1, Hosier 1.