The Palmerton boys and Lehighton girls will both be playing in District 11 consolation games on Saturday, with hopes of earning a berth in the upcoming state playoffs.

The Blue Bombers will face Notre Dame-Green Pond, while the Indians take on North Schuylkill.

Boys

District 11 Class 3A Consolation

No. 4 Palmerton (18-8) vs.

No. 3 Notre Dame-Green Pond (19-9)

TIPOFF

– Saturday, March 5th, 1:30 p.m. at Southern Lehigh.

COACHES

– Palmerton: Ken Termini; Notre Dame of Green Pond: Patrick Boyle

LEADING SCORERS

– Palmerton: Matt Machalik (16.54 ppg), Brayden Hosier (13.38), Chase Reph (7.46), Zack Anthony (4.00), Jacob Grammes (3.19), Kyle Sebelin (2.85); Notre Dame GP: Brendan Boyle (23.0 ppg), Sean Howlett (13.8), Zach Rodgers (9.9), Lucas Altmire (9.6).

GAME NOTES

– Three teams in Class 3A advance to the state tournament this season, which makes this an elimination game for the loser ... The No. 4 seed Bombers are coming off a 65-27 semifinal game loss to No. 1 seed Executive Education Academy Charter School on Wednesday. No. 3 seed Notre Dame suffered a 78-75 double overtime setback to No. 2 seed Dock Mennonite in its semifinal game ... “One of our pre-season goals was to make the State tournament, and another one was to play at least 28 games. So, if we win on Saturday, we will accomplish both of those goals,” said Palmerton coach Ken Termini ... Palmerton and Notre Dame met once during the regular season with the Crusaders posting a dominating 92-39 victory back on Jan. 11 ... This will be the third time in the last four years that the two Colonial League foes will face one another in the district playoffs. Last year, the Crusaders posted a 60-57 win in the semifinals on a long buzzer-beater. In 2019, the Bombers defeated Notre Dame 64-61 in the semifinals, ultimately giving them the district title … The Crusaders are led by unanimous Colonial League MVP Brendan Boyle, who has signed with Kutztown University. After missing Notre Dame’s quarterfinal round victory over Panther Valley with a wrist injury, Boyle returned against Dock and scored 23 points.

QUOTABLE

– “They beat us by 53 points seven weeks ago. So, one of the things we mentioned to the kids is that the only thing that might be more shocking then pulling off an upset against Executive, would be flipping a 53-point loss around. So, that’s the objective in front of us and we embrace the challenge,” – Palmerton coach Ken Termini.

Girls

District 11 Class 4A Consolation

No. 7 Lehighton (12-12) vs.

No. 4 North Schuylkill (21-5)

TIPOFF

– Saturday, March 5th, 1 p.m. at Martz Hall.

COACHES

– Lehighton: Joe Berezwick; North Schuylkill: Rich Wetzel.

LEADING SCORERS

– Lehighton: Hailey Miller (13.1 ppg), Charli McHugh (8.0), Aaliyah Fisher (7.2), Taylor Bowman (6.5); North Schuylkill: Maddy Wetzel (16.1), Kamryn Mengel (16.5), Katelyn Himes (13.6), Savannah Gawrylik (10.6).

GAME NOTES

– Three District 11 Class 4A girls teams advance to PIAA State Tournament, so Lehighton and North Schuylkill will play Saturday with the season on the line … If Lehighton can pull off the upset of the Spartans, it will qualify for States for the first time in its girls basketball history ... The Indians suffered a 36-21 semifinal game setback to Allentown Central Catholic earlier this week, while the Spartans lost to Schuylkill League nemesis Jim Thorpe in the other semifinal … The Spartans have a total of five losses on the season, and four of them come at the hands of Jim Thorpe. Their only other loss was a tight 77-76 setback to Western Wayne in the second game of the season … The Indians and Spartans are very familiar with each other, having met twice this season. The Spartans earned easy victories in both regular season meetings – a 63-27 win at Lehighton on Jan. 14 and a 71-27 win at North Schuylkill on Feb. 7 … “We have to figure out a way to slow them down - if that’s even possible since so much of their offense is generated by their defense,” said Berezwick about how the Indians can reverse the two lopsided losses the Spartans have handed his team … The 21 points Lehighton scored in its loss to Central Catholic was its lowest point total of the season. Prior to that, the Indians’ low was a 26 points performance in the second game of the season against Jim Thorpe.

QUOTABLE

– “I’d like to bring up a quote (from the movie Million Dollar Baby), ‘It’s the magic of risking everything for a dream that nobody sees but you.’ That’s how I look at it right now. That’s something that stuck with me as we got into this (late season) run. These kids are believing and playing with all of their heart,” – Lehighton coach Joe Berezwick.