He didn’t even wait for a question to be asked.

Lehighton head coach Joe Berezwick simply looked and said, “Too much Beth Morgan.”

Palmerton’s senior guard did a little bit of everything against the Indians Friday night in both team’s season opener, as the Blue Bombers pulled away for a 38-26 victory.

“She did it all,” said Berezwick. “Rebounding, running the point, she played off the ball, posted up, played really good defense against one of our best players. She certainly had an ‘S’ on her jersey tonight. She was the difference in the game.”

Morgan finished with a game-high 19 points and pulled down seven boards. Equally important was her calming presence while bringing the ball upcourt.

“She’s a coach on the floor,” said Palmerton mentor Dan Beck. “She’s the general out there. She plays with confidence. She drives to the basket and if she was six foot, she’d be a great post player. Even at her height (5-5), she does a great job.”

Morgan tallied six first-quarter points, all inside the paint, as the Bombers took an early 8-6 advantage. Her jumper, along with buckets from Megan Matsko and Mikayla Pengelly, early in the second frame extended the margin to eight.

The Bombers used a quick 6-1 spurt at the start of the second half to push the margin to double-digits (21-10). But while Lehighton battled back, closing to six midway through the third quarter and again midway through the fourth after Palmerton got up by 10, the Indians could never get over the hump.

“Give Palmerton credit,” said Berezwick. “They came out and were able to get that lead, and they just never relinquished it. We got it to six, but that was it. In a defensive struggle, six points can seem like 16.”

Defense was the other difference for the Bombers. The home team held Lehighton to just 23% shooting (10-of-43) from the floor and never allowed the Indians to gain a rhythm.

“We lost a lot of points offensively from last year, so we need to step up the defense and I think they did tonight,” said Beck. “We played man the whole game and I felt they did a good job.”

“Our coaches push us really hard on defense,” added Morgan. “Defense wins games, and that’s our motto. In our team room, it’s hanging up. When you have five girls out there playing tough defense, that’s how we’re going to win.”

Clutch points on offense can also seal the deal, which Morgan provided down the stretch.

After Emma Repsher - who paced the Indians with 10 points - hit a shot off the glass to trim the score to 28-22 with 5:23 left to play, Morgan got fouled at the offensive end and made a pair of free throws. On Palmerton’s next possession, Morgan drove to the basket for another deuce to get the lead back to 10.

“Our kids didn’t quit,” said Berezwick. “It’s certainly a game we’ll look back on and see some positives, but also see some things we need to work on. We just have to keep shooting and play with confidence.

“But again, you have to go back to Beth. She had the hot hand, and was the difference. If you just look at who was the best player on the court tonight, she was.”

POINTS IN THE PAINT ... Of Palmerton’s 38 points, 24 of them came from in tight. Morgan accounted for 14 of them, gaining some from inbound plays under the basket. “Everyday for a good half an hour, we run through the inbound plays so it’s embedded in our heads. But just executing tonight was great.”

STAT CHECK ... Lehighton’s Repsher also collected 12 rebounds to go along with her 10 points. Freshman teammate Olivia Serfass finished with eight points, six boards and three blocks. For the Bombers, Matsko ended with eight rebounds, while Courtney Connell chipped in with six second-half points.

LIMITED MISTAKES ... With Morgan running the point, the Bombers only committed eight turnovers. “That’s one of the points we wanted to make this year, avoid turnovers,” said Beck. “Beth does a great job of handling the ball, and with Hannah (Barry) and Sydney (Frantz) in there, we have some quality ballhandlers.”

LEHIGHTON

Serfass 4-0-0-8, Repsher 3-4-12-10, McHugh 2-2-3-6, Haley 0-0-0-0, Uyvari 0-0-0-0, Bowman 0-0-4-0, Wojton 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 10-6-19-26.

PALMERTON

Frantz 1-0-1-3, Barry 1-1-2-3, Matsko 2-0-4-4, Pengelly 1-0-0-2, Balliet 0-1-2-1, Andrews 0-0-0-0, Morgan 8-3-4-19, Connell 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 16-5-13-38.

Lehighton 6 3 9 8 - 26

Palmerton 8 7 10 13 - 38

Three-pointers: Lehighton - None; Palmerton - Frantz 1.