With one game remaining on its regular season schedule, Palmerton looks at each game with importance – and rightly so.

After big wins against Salisbury and perennial power Bangor, the Bombers capped off a perfect week on Friday with a 50-32 win over Southern Lehigh on Senior Night.

Things began to ‘click’ for the winners in the second quarter, when they began to light up the scoreboard from the outside and stepped up the intensity on the defensive end to pull away from the Spartans, much to the delight of Palmerton head coach Dan Beck.

“We started hitting some outside shots and that was huge,” said Beck. “I thought Brianna (Moore) stepped up and made a lot of steals in the second quarter; that’s were we started clicking a little bit.”

After taking a 14-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, Reagan Nemeth hit her second and third treys on the night, while Bethie Morgan dropped three long twos to help extend the Bombers’ advantage to 32-19 at the intermission.

“Palmerton got the momentum near the end of the first quarter and we just couldn’t get it back,” Southern Lehigh head coach Matt Cooper said. “Great players, good coaching staff; they’re hitting all their shots. I think they’re getting their momentum right now, going into playoffs, and that’s were you want to be.”

With only Northern Lehigh to play in the regular seaosn finale on Feb. 4, Palmerton stands at 14-7 overall and 11-5 in the Colonial League. The Bombers have defeated the Bulldogs on two occasions so far and hope to make it a third.

“They’re a scrappy team, they’re well-coached, and it’s our last home game, so we’d like to do something special with that one,” Beck said in reference to the showdown on Tuesday.

Palmerton went back at it in the second half against Southern Lehigh, and dropped three more threes in the frame to add to the growing advantage – including a buzzer-beater at the end of the third from Nemeth, off a nice feed from Morgan.

Then, in the fourth, they weathered the Spartans’ attempts at a comeback with a pressure defense that forced nine second half turnovers and prevailed.

“These seniors have been around for several years, and they’ve worked hard and it was an emotional night for some of the girls,” Beck said. “I’m happy that we won on Senior Night, because that’s something they’ll remember for the rest of their lives.”

Morgan led all scorers with 19 points for the Bombers, while both Nemeth and Moore added 12 apiece.

PLAYOFF PICTURE

... In the Colonial League playoff scenario, the Bombers appear positioned to draw a quarterfinal matchup with Bangor. With a head-to-head victory against the Slaters, Palmerton would get a home game for that contest. However, the matchups are not finalized, as games remain on the schedule.

On Thursday, the Bombers defeated Bangor 41-35 at home, and couldn’t have pleased Beck more. “That was a huge win. That was one that we really, really wanted,” Beck said. “We played well and things clicked again. We moved the ball well, we weren’t sloppy, we were aggressive. Any time you can beat Bangor (15-5) and they beat some good teams on the year. Like one of my coaches said, ‘It was a signature win.”

SOUTHERN LEHIGH

Walter 2-2-4-6, L. Meinhold 0-0-0-0, Brader 0-0-0-0, Lewis 0-1-2-1, Feight 0-0-0-0, A. Meinhold 0-0-0-0, Gluck 0-0-0-0, Weirer 0-0-0-0, Bennett 4-0-0-8, Mobley 1-0-0-2, Connor 2-2-4-6, Moncman 2-5-8-9. TOTALS: 11-10-18-32.

PALMERTON

Guedes 0-0-0-0, Molchan 0-0-0-0, Papay 0-0-0-0, Cincilla 3-0-0-6, Recker 0-0-2-0, Nemeth 4-0-0-12, Morgan 8-0-0-19, Moore 5-2-2-12, Nothstein 0-0-0-0, Smith 0-1-2-1, Balliet 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-3-6-50.

Southern Lehigh 11 8 8 5 - 32

Palmerton 14 18 11 7 - 50

Three pointers: Southern Lehigh - None; Palmerton - Nemeth 4, Morgan 3.