ALLENTOWN – When one looked at the team records, Palmerton’s bus ride to Salisbury High School on Monday night should have been the bumpiest part of the trip.

Instead, the Bombers found some rough going on the court as the Falcons refused to quit.

In the end, Palmerton rode home with a 36-26 victory, but it certainly wasn’t easy.

Salisbury took an early 8-5 lead by the end of the first quarter and stretched it to 12-9 midway through the second.

From there, Palmerton senior Cate Morgan hit a pair of 3-pointers to spark a 10-0 run and a 19-12 halftime lead. Morgan finished the first half with 10 points, and went on to post a game-high 16.

“We knew they could give us a battle coming into the game, but their defensive pressure made it tough,” Morgan said. “We also didn’t have our best offensive night, but our defense picked it up and really pushed us tonight.”

Once play resumed, Palmerton’s Hailey Barry knocked down a pair of shots for an 11-point lead, which grew to 27-14 by the midway point of the third quarter. Salisbury’s Kendra Morgan then drove the lane for a basket, and Roxanna Cardenas followed with a 3-pointer to trim the deficit to 27-19 heading into the final quarter.

“Without Courtney (Connell), we’re just trying to distribute the ball as best we can,” Morgan said of the Bombers’ injured senior forward. “We’ve all been playing with each other since we were seven or eight years old, so we all really know how to work well with each other. We just have that next-man-up mentality, and we just have to play for each other.”

At the time, few realized those baskets would ignite an 11-1 run for the Falcons, as Palmerton’s game-high 13-point lead shrank to 28-25 with 3:00 left in regulation.

Palmerton answered by forcing turnovers down the stretch. Emma Rex hit a short jumper, and Morgan added a long-range 3-pointer to push the lead to 33-25 and regain control.

The injury to Connell has left a difficult role to fill, but other players have stepped up to pick up the slack.

Connell’s experience and leadership have been especially hard to replace.

“We miss having that size in there and her physical play on the court, but also losing her leadership is difficult,” Palmerton coach Jeremy Coleman said. “The girls are used to having her around for three or four years now, and when you take away her on-the-court leadership, things can kind of fall apart a bit.”

Salisbury hurt its chances by going 1-for-4 from the free-throw line late, while Palmerton made a couple of key stops to close out the win.

In addition to Morgan’s 16 points, Rex finished with eight and Hailey Barry scored five, all in the second half. Salisbury’s Kendra Morgan led the Falcons with nine points, six of which came in the first half.

“I kind of knew that we were going to come out a little bit flat and not play as intensely as we might normally do,” Coleman said. “I know Salisbury has been struggling lately, but I also know that they are a better team than their record might indicate, and better than they have been playing lately.”

WORKIN’ FOR A LIVING ... The game at Salisbury opened a stretch of three games in four days for Palmerton, with two of those contests requiring fairly long bus rides. In addition to the trip to Salisbury, the Bombers travel to Lehigh Valley Charter Academy on Thursday night, after hosting Palisades tonight.

PALMERTON

A. Barry 1-0-0-3, Rex 3-2-2-8, Rumfield 0-0-0-0, Schneider 1-0-0-2, Morgan 6-1-3-16, Green 1-0-0-2, H. Barry 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 14-4-11-36.

SALISBURY

Cardenas 2-1-2-6, Suleiman 1-0-0-2, Nimeh 0-0-0-0, Morgan 3-3-7-9, Gonzalez 3-1-4-7, Kemmerer 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 10-5-13-26.

Palmerton 5 14 8 9 - 36

Salisbury 8 4 7 7 - 26

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Morgan 3, A. Barry 1; Salisbury - Cardenas 1.

Records: Palmerton (11-4; 10-3); Salisbury (7-7; 5-6).