BETHLEHEM - The venue for Friday night’s Colonial League match-up at Freedom High School between Notre Dame Green Pond and Palmerton is just a short distance from the Wind Creek Casino. And with a gold medal on the line, the pot was a massive one.

With all the chips pushed in from both the Crusaders and the Bombers, it was Notre Dame that was able to come through with the winning hand, making winning plays down the stretch to defeat Palmerton, 60-59, and claim the league title.

The Crusaders have been at their best this season in close game moments. They were able to fight off a Palmerton bid earlier in the season by edging the Bombers in double overtime, and found a way again to come away with the win trailing by one (59-58) late in the fourth.

“It’s a great attribute to have as a team to be able to consistently pull out these close games. A lot of that has to do with having 10 seniors. This group has been through the wars,” said Notre Dame head coach Pat Boyle. “No situation phases them. But this is the first game where we had to come from behind late in the game. In those other close wins, we had the lead and were able to finish it out.”

Five Notre Dame three-pointers in the first quarter helped it get out to what was the largest lead of the game for either team at 21-12 with 1:40 left in the first. But the Bombers would settle in, and they would keep coming after the Crusaders.

“They hit a lot of threes in that first half. They hit seven. So we knew we had to come out and do a better job of contesting those shots,” said Palmerton head coach Joe Egan. “This is a resilient group. They always keep fighting. We were down nine there in that first quarter and they never panicked and we made it a ball game.”

Palmerton put together a strong second quarter to get back within two (31-29) at the half. Four different Bombers scored in the quarter, with Matt Machalik leading the way with eight points.

Machalik scored 14 more points in the third quarter to help Palmerton swap the lead and tie the game numerous times throughout the frame. The Bombers were first able to take the lead at the 5:47 mark (38-36) after a hustle play from Brayden Hosier helped knock the ball away and into Michalik’s grasp, who would finish the fast break lay in.

With the score level at 47-47 later in the third, the Crusaders’ ability to shoot the three would yet again make an impact, as sharp-shooter Cameron Bohn would drain a triple at the buzzer to give Notre Dame a 50-47 advantage heading to the fourth.

“Credit to Notre Dame. We had our chances. But when you’re able to knock down three-pointers consistently throughout the game like Notre Dame was able to tonight, a lot of times, that team is going to come out on top,” said Egan. “On the other side, we didn’t shoot the ball that great from three, but again we were able to fight and impact the game in other ways, like keeping possessions alive on the offensive boards. We were able to compete and make things happens, we just came out of this one on the other side tonight.”

With the game tied at 56-56, Hosier was able to drive and draw a foul, connecting on his two free throw attempts with 1:27 remaining in the fourth to make it 58-56. Bohn would match that effort 20 seconds later, knocking down two foul shots to make it 58-58. On Palmerton’s ensuing possession, big man Logan Anthony was fouled underneath the bucket, and converted one of two shots from the free throw line to give the Bombers a one-point advantage.

However, Notre Dame would answer again with its veteran point guard and the Colonial League Co-MVP in Colin Boyle, who made a terrific reverse finish, starting on the right baseline and finishing on the left side of the bucket with just under 20 seconds remaining.

Palmerton would get its shot to answer, with Machalik drawing a foul with 5.9 seconds left on the clock, but the Bombers would come away scoreless from the line. Palmerton would get yet another shot to win it after two missed Crusaders’ free throws, with a full-court inbounds opportunity with around four seconds to go, but the throw to Machalik at half-court was deflected, giving him no time to set up a quality desperation attempt.

Notre Dame, which depended on the three for most of the night, made a concerted effort to get the ball inside more in the fourth quarter, with all three of its field goals in the quarter coming from inside the paint, which also helped the Crusaders get to the foul line six times in the final frame.

“We wanted to hit the short corner more and get the ball inside more. We were able to do that and we were able to draw fouls by doing that as well,” said Boyle. “When we shoot three-pointers, we want the ball in the paint first and then we want to kick it out and have our guys stepping into their shot. We did that early, but then we got away from it and we were just coming down and shooting threes. But at the end of game our guys got the ball where it needed to go and Colin made a really gutsy play there for us at the end.”

LEADING SCORERS

… Colonial League Co-MVP Machalik scored a game high 28 points and also pulled down 12 rebounds, and Hosier added 12 for the Bombers. For Notre Dame, Bohn and Isaiah Miles led the way with 14 points and Boyle netted 12.

DISTRICT PLAYOFFS

… Palmerton heads into the District 11 3A subregional playoffs as the No. 3 seed with a 15-9 record. The Bombers will take on Panther Valley next Saturday at a site and time TBA. Notre Dame heads into the 3A bracket with a 22-2 record ranked No. 2 and will face off with No. 7 seed MaST Community Charter.

PALMERTON

Serfass 0-0-0-0, Machalik 11-4-9-28, Grammes 3-0-0-7, Leister 1-0-0-2, Hosier 5-2-2-12, Z. Anthony 1-0-0-2, L. Anthony 3-2-5-8, Stahler 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-8-16-59.

NOTRE DAME

Miles 4-2-4-14, Smith 0-0-0-0, Boyle 3-4-4-12, Bohn 4-3-3-14, Vassallo 3-0-0-6, Lessig 1-0-0-3, Hobbie 1-0-0-2, Darno 4-1-2-9. TOTALS: 20-10-13-60

Palmerton 15 14 18 12 - 59

Notre Dame 21 10 19 10 - 60

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Machalik 2, Grammes 1. Notre Dame - Miles 4, Bohn 3, Boyle 2, Lessig 1.