It’s taken some time for Palmerton to find its rhythm offensively on the hardwood this season, but on Monday against Southern Lehigh, the Bombers looked back in sync.

The Palmerton offense got going early, attacking the rim relentlessly, which helped it explode for an 81-61 Colonial League rout of the Spartans.

“After the opening night loss to Lehighton, we had about a week off before our next game, so the guys were able to get back into the gym and they worked hard. They’ve been showing up with a chip on their shoulder, and have really been committed to conditioning,” said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini. “I think you saw that make an impact tonight. We were able to stay poised and make good decisions throughout the whole game because we didn’t wear down.”

The Bombers offense certainly looked in shape early on as they came out and scored 45 points in the first half. Palmerton’s big three - Matt Machalik (13), Brayden Hosier (14) and Jacob Grammes (14) combined to score 41 points in the half as the Bombers continuously beat the Southern Lehigh defense down the court.

The Spartans trailed by 16 points at the intermission after turning the ball over 13 times in the first half. Southern Lehigh head coach Ryan Wehr implemented a new style of uptempo play this season that sees them substitute frequently - using almost hockey-like line changes with multiple players coming in out of the lineup every two minutes.

“I can tell you it’s miserable preparing for this type of system. I called a few college coaches, and in their combined 50-plus years of coaching, they never played against a system like this, so basically you just have to boil it down to a few basic premises of how to attack it and execute,” said Termini. “It’s a beautiful game when five play as one, and we did that tonight. We worked hard on handling their doubles from different angles, and our guys responded.”

The Bombers (2-1) were also able to instill physicality in this matchup early, which led to a 24-9 rebounding edge in the first half. Machalik already put together a double-double through the first two frames with 13 points and 10 boards.

“We knew we had a size advantage coming in, and we talked about coming out and really being aggressive and attacking the glass and grabbing rebounds, so we could get out and push the ball,” said Termini. “And then you saw the aggression that Machalik played with tonight. He had his future Division 1 football coach in the stands tonight, and he certainly put on a show. He was impressive.”

Palmerton forced seven more turnovers in the third quarter, allowing it to hold Southern Lehigh to just nine points in the period, allowing the Bombers to take a xx-xx lead into the final quarter.

The Bombers then continued to score at will in the final quarter, putting together a 25-point fourth led by Machalik, who scored 14 points in the frame.

LEADERS

… Machalik topped all scorers with 33 points. Hosier had a big night as well, adding 24 points, while Grammes finished with 14. For Southern Lehigh, Joe Plessel scored a team-high 18.

WINDEX WARRIORS

… The Bombers dominated on the boards, with Machalik pulling down an impressive 15 rebounds.

STEALING THE SHOW

… Palmerton forced 22 Southern Lehigh turnovers in the game.

SO. LEHIGH

Ruggeri 0-2-3-2, Allen 1-1-1-4, Trevis 0-0-0-0, Yeager 0-0-0-0, Cawley 2-0-0-6, Meanamy 1-2-2-4, Fry 3-0-0-7, Plessl 5-0-0-13, Clausnitzer 4-1-1-11, Brogan 0-0-2-0, Savage 2-3-4-8, Fan 1-1-2-4, Haney 0-0-0-0, Boensch 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-10-17-61.

PALMERTON

Serfass 0-0-0-0, Machalik 11-9-22-33, Grammes 5-2-2-14, Leister 2-0-0-4, Pengelly 0-0-0-0, B. Stahler 0-0-0-0, Hosier 8-6-8-24, Reph 0-0-0-0, George 1-0-0-2, T. Stahler 1-0-0-2, L. Anthony 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 29-18-23-81.

So. Lehigh 11 18 9 23 - 61

Palmerton 23 22 11 23 - 81

Three-pointers: Southern Lehigh - Allen 1, Cawley 2, Plessl 3, Fry 1, Clausnitzer 2, Savage 1, Fan 1. Palmerton - Hosier 2, Grammes 2, Machalik 1.