The balance in the Lehighton–Palmerton rivalry continues to shift.

It’s been just over a year since Palmerton rolled to a 51-18 win over Lehighton, but after taking the next two meetings, the Indians have shown how much progress can be made in a short time — growing from a rebuilding program into one firmly in the Colonial League conversation.

Lehighton hosted Palmerton on Monday night in a clash of two teams that entered undefeated overall and in Colonial League play. The teams traded runs throughout the game, with the Indians remaining a step ahead before using a fourth-quarter surge to secure a 39-25 victory.

“A lot of the girls said, ‘We want to be around in the summer to work on things,’ and so they were around all spring, all summer, and we did everything we could to be around,” Lehighton coach Nadia Gauronsky said of her team’s improvement. “What we’re seeing on the floor is just the hard work and the effort that the girls put in over the offseason.”

Monday’s game was another example of that offseason preparation paying off.

A quick 9-0 run put Lehighton up early before Palmerton responded with an 8-3 spurt that carried into the second quarter. While trailing just 16-10 at halftime, the Bombers were largely stymied by the Tribe defense, and Palmerton coach Jeremy Coleman sensed something wasn’t quite right.

“We just came out a little bit flat,” he said. “Shots weren’t falling, and we just had a difficult time kind of getting things going. I don’t think that we kept our composure very well. We didn’t run some of our sets and our offense as crisply as we needed to. Timing of things were off, and that type of thing needs to be top-notch against a tough opponent, and it just wasn’t there today.”

The third quarter followed a similar script, with Palmerton hanging around but still unable to fully close the gap. That changed in the fourth, when the Lady Indians finally broke through with a decisive 10-2 run to put the game away.

Offensively, Olivia Serfass led the way with a team-high 12 points to go along with six rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Ryleigh Trotman also stood out with eight points, a team-leading eight rebounds and three blocks.

“I wouldn’t be able to perform like that without my team, and we did this all together,” Serfass said. “Our chemistry is high right now. We were able to capitalize off of our energy. So this one’s huge for us, and we’re super happy about it.”

“It was a very intense game,” Trotman said. “We really wanted to win. It’s our senior season, and we just brought it to them. Palmerton has always been our biggest rivalry, so winning definitely feels very great.”

Defensively, Lehighton turned in an impressive performance, holding Bomber seniors Hailey Barry and Courtney Connell to a combined four points. Gauronsky credited that effort as another sign of her team’s continued growth.

“Defensively, I think it was really where we keyed in on a lot of things,” she said. “This doesn’t get in the box score, but Cayley Reph and Brielle Parliman did a phenomenal job shutting down Hailey Barry. Serfass and Trotman did an awesome job inside on (Connell). They both guarded her at different points during the game. I thought we controlled the boards against her, and that’s a team effort as well.”

BUSY STRETCH ... Palmerton continues a demanding run of three games in three nights, traveling to Jim Thorpe on Tuesday before hosting Catasauqua on Wednesday. Lehighton wraps up the week on the road at Palisades on Wednesday and Juniata on Friday.

PALMERTON

A. Barry 0-0-0-0, Rex 2-0-2-4, Scheider 1-0-1-2, Morgan 2-2-3-6, Green 2-5-5-9, H. Barry 1-0-0-2, Connell 0-2-4-2. TOTALS: 8-9-15-25.

LEHIGHTON

O. Serfass 4-3-3-12, Reph 0-0-0-0, Uyvari 2-5-6-10, Trotman 4-0-1-8, A. Serfass 2-2-4-6, Parliman 1-0-2-3. TOTALS: 13-10-16-39.

Palmerton 4 6 13 2 - 25

Lehighton 9 7 13 10 - 39

Three-Pointers: Palmerton: None; Lehighton - O. Serfass 1, Uyvari 1, Parliman 1.

Records: Palmerton: (4-1; 4-1 CL); Lehighton (5-0; 5-0 CL).