Every day when she looks at the silver medals hanging around the team lockers, Brianna Moore lets them serve as a constant reminder.

“It’s motivation for us,” stressed the senior. “We are reminded every day that we don’t want to settle for second this year. It’s our goal to win gold this year, and it drives us every day.”

Moore and her Blue Bomber teammates are primed to make a run at the Colonial League and District 11 titles after they finished as runners-up in both categories last season.

Palmerton has all five starters back from a 14-6 team that lost to Northwestern in the league final and to Notre Dame in the district final. The Blue Bombers couldn’t withstand a second-half Northwestern rally that lead to a 49-35 victory in the league final, and they also couldn’t close the gap against Notre Dame in the second half in a 48-35 defeat in the Class 3A final.

Since the summer, head coach Dan Beck has sent the message to his players.

“We got everybody back, and we want to get to the next level,” he said. “I was proud of what we were able to do last year. Getting to both the league and district finals is a huge accomplishment. We lost three times to Northwestern, twice to Notre Dame, and once to Jim Thorpe.

“But we want to get the gold instead of the silver. I have them (silver medals) hanging in our locker rooms as a reminder. Hopefully, we can make it happen.”

Along with Moore, who averaged 17.4 points per game, Palmerton will return junior Bethie Morgan (11.9), senior Raegan Nemeth (8.2), sophomore Megan Matsko (3.9), and junior Kelsey Balliet (2.1)

Beck stated sophomores Hannah Barry and Sydney Frantz currently are the first players off the bench. He is confident the rest of his rotation will fill out during the season.

“Both of those sophomores will be an integral part of our program, “ added Beck. “We have been happy with our first seven in our lineup. Brianna and Raegan have been starters from their freshman year. Bethie and Megan also started their freshman year.

“We have a young team and we’re confident some of our other younger players will develop.”

Beck believes the team already has achieved a solid chemistry among them from their summer league at Northampton Community College and an overnight camp at Elizabethtown College.

“We had a good experience playing at Northampton (Community College),” noted Beck. “There were a number of local teams and some out of the area. It was a good competition for us, especially against teams that we don’t normally see. It was a really good test for our kids.

“At Elizabethtown, it was an eye-opening experience for them. We played seven games in three days. We were challenged, and you could see the progress they made. When we look back, we had a very good summer, and you can see the unity among the girls and how they have raised their game.”

Moore can echo her coach’s sentiments.

“We had a really good summer,” she stated. “We all have grown even closer since the summer. We have been together for a while, and it has been special. We believe we will be a better team because of our hard work.”

She knew her team could make a deep run last year after their second regular-season game against Notre Dame. The Blue Bombers lost to them, 55-54, duirng the regular season, and then edged them, 34-32, in the league semifinals.

“The Notre Dame games were very competitive games for us,” she said. “We lost to them by one-point and then we beat them the second time we played.

“Beating them proved to us that we could play with any team in the league and take our game to the next level. It helped us get to the league and district final.”

With his current players, Beck likes his team’s chances to make a deep run.

“They are very competitive and supportive of each other,” he said. “They have a great work ethic, and are very coachable.

“Right now, they are all on the same page.”