Palmerton’s pressure defense has been pivotal to its success this season.

The Blue Bombers have made opponents uncomfortable with their relentless pursuit on the defensive end.

That trend continued on Tuesday as Palmerton forced numerous Northern Lehigh turnovers in the first quarter and rolled to a 50-36 Colonial League victory in the regular-season finale for both teams.

“That’s where it all starts with us, getting pressure, and forcing turnovers,” said Palmerton head coach Jeremy Coleman. “Our pressure was definitely the difference tonight. It covered up some of the things that we didn’t do well in the game.

“We struggled from the foul line, we didn’t finish at the rim very well either, but we brought it on the defensive end and the overall effort was there.”

Northern Lehigh came into the game dealing with a key injury to Katelyn Barthold - one of its primary ballhandlers. The Bombers took advantage of Barthold’s absence at the start of the first quarter with their full-court pressure, creating four quick turnovers and jumping out to a 9-4 advantage. The lead eventually grew to 17-9 by period’s end.

Palmerton forced nine turnovers in the quarter, and held Northern Lehigh to a 1-for-8 shooting performance from the field. Sydney Frantz led the Bombers’ offensive attack with eight points in the frame.

“We’re a little banged up right now,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Chris Heery. “Katelynn wasn’t able to go, Teegan Sims had to be wrapped up, Aubrey Pollard is dealing with the flu and Dakota Barthold was a game-time decision for us. We’re not making excuses. Credit to Palmerton, they outplayed us.

“But we had to move some players around and put them in some new spots. Once we settled in, I thought we played pretty decent. We just needed to get our confidence going a little bit.”

Holding a 27-19 lead at the half, Palmerton’s offense was able to go on its best run in the third quarter, anchored by three triples - two from Hannah Barry and one from Mikayla Pengelly - that increased its lead to 40-24 with 2:27 remaining in the quarter.

“We were able to hit a few outside shots in the third quarter to get us going a little bit,” said Coleman. “We knew this was going to be a challenge, and we were looking forward to this game against a good opponent before the league playoffs.

“This was one of those games where we were able to do just enough to win the game. Northern Lehigh is a good team, and a well-coached team and they battled.”

Northern Lehigh managed to put together a small run at the start of the fourth quarter, as buckets from Simms, Pollard and Kylee Snyder keyed the 7-0 burst that cut Palmerton’s lead to 42-34.

But a big inside bucket and two free throws from Megan Matsko stretched the lead back to 46-34 and stymied Northern Lehigh’s momentum.

STAT SHEET … Barry led the Bombers with 15 points, with Frantz adding 10 and Pengelly netting nine. For the Bulldogs, Pollard scored a team-high 15.

PLAYOFF TIME … Palmerton improves to 21-1, and finishes off an undefeated season in the Colonial League. The Bombers will get a bye into the CL semis, which will be played next Wednesday. The Bulldogs finished the season 14-8 overall and 11-6 in the league. They will be the No. 5 seed in the league playoffs, and will travel to No. 4 seed Northwestern for a quarterfinal game on Saturday at 4 p.m.

PALMERTON

Pengelly 4-0-0-9, Baumgardt 0-1-4-1, Frantz 3-4-9-10, Morgan 0-0-0-0, Barry 5-2-4-15, Matsko 2-3-5-7, Andrews 2-0-0-4, Connell 1-2-4-4. TOTALS: 17-12-26-50.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Whalen 2-2-2-7, Williams 0-0-0-0, Pollard 5-5-9-15, Barthold 0-2-2-2, Simms 2-3-4-8, Snyder 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 11-12-17-36.

Palmerton 17 10 14 9 - 50

Northern Lehigh 9 10 9 8 - 36

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Barry 3, Pengelly 1; Northern Lehigh - Simms 1, Whalen 1.