Even at a young age, Ken Termini saw something special in Kody Kratzer.

“I met Kody in the spring when he was in seventh grade, that’s when I was hired at Palmerton,” said the Blue Bombers boys’ basketball coach. “When I met with the whole program, we had open gyms for kids that were going into eighth grade and higher. So Kody was able to come to those open gyms, even though he was in one of the younger groups.

“At that time we had Nate Dougherty, who was a rising sophomore and Justin Hosier, who was a rising freshman. Those two guys were very talented players, and it was easy for me to see very early that Kody belonged with the older kids.”

Termini’s intuition has held true.

In addition to Kratzer’s tremendous ability, his dedication to the game and commitment to the program have been a driving force behind his success over the past four years.

Kratzer led Palmerton to a deep postseason run and capped his senior year with Times News/Lehigh Valley Health Network Boys Basketball Player of the Year honors.

An undeniable talent, Kratzer collected one more accomplishment when he was named to the PA Sports Writers All-State Boys Basketball Team on Wednesday. He was selected to the Third Team in Class 3A.

“On top of his own game, an equally rewarding part has been watching him grow and understand how he can not only make himself better, but also make all the kids around him better as well,” said Termini. “Whether that’s sharing the ball, playing great defense and locking down other teams.

“These are things that young men learn over time. It’s rare when you have a rising freshman who understands all those things. You hope that he’s surrounding himself with good people in the offseason and doing the workouts, and that he grows into that type of player. And Kody did that. And he has become that type of player.”

He is the first Palmerton boys’ basketball player to earn all-state honors since 1988-89, when his dad, Kyle Kratzer, and Ryan Roberts garnered Small School Honorable Mention selections.

This past season, Kratzer led the area in scoring at 20.5 points per game as Palmerton went on a remarkable run to reach the District 11 Class 3A semifinals and also qualifys for four-team the Colonial League tournament.

Along with the likes of Hosier and Dougherty before him, Kratzer became the 12th Palmerton boys’ basketball player to reach the 1,000-point milestone during a game-high 22 point performance against Wilson on Jan. 21.

He finished his career with a total of 1,307 points.

Kratzer saw a big jump in production between his sophomore and junior seasons. After averaging a little over 11 points per game as a sophomore, he led the team in scoring at 21 ppg. the following year.

“When Kody was young and on youth teams, his nickname was ‘the sniper’ because he was really known for hitting the outside shot,” said Termini. “I always preach to the guys, you can’t just live on the arc, you have to be able to go to the rim.

“And Kody not only took that to heart and became a very good slasher and driver himself, but going into his junior year made the extra commitment that he was not only going to be a slasher, but he wasn’t going to just dance around, he was going to go through you. He was going to be the more physical guy. That’s a hard skill to learn, because you can be overly physical and it might not benefit you. But he’s learned how to do that because he’s worked on it the last couple of years. I’m really proud of the way he became a physical, inside player.”

Kratzer led the Bombers in points (390), rebounds (140), steals (28), assists (80) and blocked shots (23) this year, and has worked tirelessly to improve and develop his game on both ends of the floor throughout his career.

It’s an evolution that is ongoing, and one that has made Kratzer into the player he is today.