In the blink of an eye, Panther Valley went from in control to in trouble.

Trailing by double digits late in the third quarter, Saucon Valley unleashed a 59-second flurry to get back into the game.

Saucon then built on that momentum swing to eventually take the lead midway through the final quarter and pull away for a 53-43 victory on Saturday afternoon at Northwestern High School.

The District 11 Class 3A consolation game win propels Saucon Valley into the PIAA State Tournament. Meanwhile, the loss ends Panther Valley’s season with a 14-11 record.

“We were really struggling to finish for most of the first three quarters,” said Saucon Valley head coach Brett Snyder. “We were getting the paint touches we wanted, but we weren’t converting.

“Finally, during that stretch late in the third quarter we got some shots to drop. Jack (Robertson) hit some big buckets, and I thought our three-quarter court pressure gave them some trouble. It was probably the key stretch of the game because Panther Valley had been pretty comfortable up until that point.”

Robertson was a huge part of the stretch that Snyder referred to. He scored eight points and forced a pair of turnovers during a 10-0 Saucon Valley run that began with his three-pointer at the 1:52 mark of the third quarter and ended with his fastbreak layup with :53 left in the period. The eruption turned a 36-25 PV lead into a one-point game.

It looked like Panther Valley was going to be able to absorb the hit when Stephen Hood drilled a clutch three-pointer just before the third-period buzzer to put his team ahead 39-35.

But Saucon Valley got the momentum right back, tying the game at 39-39 and 41-41 before eventually taking the lead - its first of the game - on an Adam Clark layup with 3:35 remaining. Saucon then pulled away as Robertson scored eight of his team’s final 10 points down the stretch.

“We saw Saucon in person a couple of times and watched them on film several times as well,” said Panther Valley coach Pat Crampsie. “That’s something we noticed about them ... they can struggle to score points at times, but their size and athletic ability also allows them to go on runs.

“That’s exactly what happened today. I thought we did a nice job defensively on them for most of the game, but I think their physicality wore on us and they got a couple of runs that we weren’t able to answer.”

While Saucon’s 10-0 third-quarter burst struck like a lightning bolt to change the game’s momentum, it was a prolonged 16-2 run to open the final quarter that eventually proved to be the difference - turning a 39-35 PV lead into a 51-41 Saucon advantage with a minute left to play.

“I thought we had weathered that third quarter run they made,” said Crampsie. “Stephen Hood hit a couple of big shots to keep us ahead and we had our chances.

“Even after they took the lead, we got some good looks in the final minutes when we were down just a possession or two that if they go down we are right there. Unfortunately for us, they just didn’t fall.”

The loss ended the careers of several Panther Valley players who have been the heart and soul of the program the last several seasons. The Panthers had nine seniors on the roster and seven of them played on Saturday - Hood, Drew Kokinda, Chase Weaver, Thomas Buyce, Tyler Black, Eli Maynard and Hayden Goida.

“I’m super proud of this team,” said Crampsie. “Division 1 of the Schuylkill League can be brutal, and it can produce some tough nights. But these kids showed a lot of toughness and a lot of guts. Any time we got knocked down, they found a way to bounce back.

“I’m especially proud of our seniors. It’s a group that did a lot of great things in their time here. Several of them have been multi-year starters who have been part of a lot of wins. They will be missed.”

JACK ATTACK ... After not hitting a field goal and scoring just two points in the first half, Robertson exploded for 21 second-half points for Saucon (17-9).

DOUBLE-DOUBLE ... Hood had team-high totals of 16 points and 10 rebounds for the Panthers, making several big plays to help PV forge ahead early and stay in the game late.

CHASING CHASE ... Weaver added 11 points for Panther Valley, but Snyder said after the game that it wasn’t just his scoring that was causing defensive problems for his team. “We’re primarily a man-to-man team, but we were having trouble staying in front of Weaver. He was hurting us with his penetration, so we switched to a little bit of zone and zone trapping to try and control him better.”

IN CONTROL ... Panther Valley had double-digit leads at one point in each of the first three quarters.

GETTING HOT .. Saucon was shooting just 10-for-39 (26%) from the field up until its spurt in the final minutes of the third quarter. It then shot 9-for-14 (64%) over the game’s final 10 minutes.

LOCAL CONNECTION ... Snyder is a former standout player at Palmerton, and was an assistant coach there before getting the Saucon Valley position a couple of years ago.

PANTHER VALLEY

Kokinda 0-0-0-0, Weaver 4-0-0-11, Fisher 2-1-4-5, Penberth 2-4-4-9, Hood 6-2-2-16, Buyce 0-0-0-0, Jones 1-0-0-2, Black 0-0-0-0, Maynard 0-0-0-0, Goida 0-0-0-0. TOTALS 15-7-10-43.

SAUCON VALLEY

Miller 0-0-2-0, Weiss 4-0-0-9, Donahue 1-0-2-2, Robertson 5-11-17-23, Clark 7-1-4-15, Grim 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 19-12-27-53.

Panther Valley 16 11 12 4 - 43

Saucon Valley 6 11 18 18 - 53

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Weaver 3, Hood 2, Penberth 1; Saucon Valley - Robertson 2, Weiss 1.