ALLENTOWN - “Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

That famous quote from legendary North Carolina State basketball coach Jim Valvano is something that the Panther Valley basketball team put into practice Saturday afternoon.

Trailing by 12 points at the half to Palmerton in the District 11 3A quarterfinals, Panther Valley fought ferociously to get back into the game, putting together a big third-quarter run.

The Panthers’ determination to not give up during the course of the second half helped them rally for a 59-57 victory and earn a trip to the semifinals.

“At the half, you could see it in our kids eyes that they were dialed in. We had some of our best practices of the season leading up to this game, so we knew they were ready - and we also knew that it wasn’t time to panic,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie. “There wasn’t a 12-point bucket out there. We needed to just dig in and chip away.

“But most importantly, we needed to get stops, and that’s what we were able to do in the second half.”

Palmerton used a big second-quarter run to build its 12-point advantage at the intermission.

Trailing 26-25 midway though the second, the Bombers would finish the frame on a 13-2 run led by Brayden Hosier, who scored nine consecutive points during the surge. It was part of dominating opening half by the senior guard who shot 11-for-14 from the field, and scored 22 points on a mixture of outside shooting and strong takes to the rack.

“We got off to a great start in the first half. We were able to make a lot of shots, and we pushed the tempo. That’s what we wanted to do, get out in transition and utilize our athleticism,” said Palmerton head coach Joe Egan. “Matt Machalik did his thing underneath, and Hosier really got hot.

“Looking back at it, we probably should have been a little more patient in the second half and tried to milk and protect the lead. I think at times we were a little too aggressive. But credit to Panther Valley. They made the right plays at the end of the game to come away with the win.”

A switch to a triangle-and-two defense, paired with a hot shooting start from big man Stephen Hood helped the Panthers to get back in it.

A 12-2 PV run led by Hood - who scored 10 points during the rally - including two from deep would cut the Palmerton lead to 40-39.

That’s where the Bombers advantage would stay as they took a 45-44 lead into the fourth. Panther Valley’s defensive switch worked wonders in the third, holding Palmerton to just six points.

“We worked on the triangle-and-two in practice, and when we made the switch, we were all just committed to making it work. We bought into it, and we were able to execute,” said Hood. “We just never gave up, and we kept fighting.”

With leading scorer Chase Weaver on the bench with four fouls to start the fourth quarter, the Panthers had other players step up in his absence. A strong drive from Drew Kokinda on the left side gave Panther Valley back the lead and a short time later - with PV still leading by one - a triple from Brady Jones from the left corner increased the advantage to 54-50 with four minutes remaining.

However, Palmerton would continue to fight as well, battling back to take a one-point lead (57-56) with 41 seconds remaining behind a pair of buckets from Machalik.

That would then set the stage for the play of the game.

With Panther Valley having possession of the ball on the baseline under its basket with 16.8 left to play, Crampsie called a timeout to set up an inbound play. On the play, Logan Fisher was able to slip through to the right block, get the pass, and finish off the glass to give PV a 58-57 lead with 13.8 seconds remaining.

“We called the timeout and we drew it up. We thought they would go with Kokinda and with Hood, and thought if we brought Fisher opposite of that he would be open. And that’s how it developed,” said Crampsie. “This is just a great win. I have to give these kids a ton of credit. They were locked in, and playing unselfish and playing for each other.

“I kept looking at the bench to see when we could get Chase back in and he told me ‘keep rolling with it coach, they’re playing well.’ That’s the kind of leaders we have.”

Palmerton wasn’t able to get a good look on its ensuing offensive possession with PV getting the ball back and dribbling out the clock.

LEADING SCORERS … Hood led the way with 21 for PV. Weaver added 14, and Fisher totaled 10. For Palmerton, Hosier scored a game-high 24 points and Machalik finished with 19.

NEXT UP … No. 6 seed PV will head to Catasauqua on Wednesday at 6 p.m. to take on No. 2 seed Notre Dame Green Pond. The Panthers are guaranteed one more game either way with 3A taking three teams to the state tournament.

PANTHER VALLEY

Kokinda 1-0-0-2, Weaver 4-4-8-14, Fisher 4-2-4-10, Penberth 3-0-0-7, Jones 1-0-0-3, Hood 9-0-1-21, Goida 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 23 6-13 59.

PALMERTON

Serfass 2-0-0-6, Machalik 6-7-9-19, Jac. Grammes 1-2-4-4, Leister 0-0-0-0, Hosier 11-0-3-24, T. Stahler 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 22 9-16 57.

Panther Valley 17 10 17 15 - 59

Palmerton 19 20 6 12 - 57

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Hood 3, Weaver 2, Jones 1, Penberth 1; Palmerton - Hosier 2, Serfass 2.