PHILADELPHIA — The Blue Bombers dropped a ton of bombs from beyond the arc in the first half of their PIAA 4A first round matchup against District 12 No. 2 Audenried on Saturday.

Palmerton’s hot shooting start from deep kept it within striking distance at the half, but a big third quarter by the Rockets helped them to pull away for a 66-52 victory over the Lady Bombers.

Audenried, who is one of the best girls basketball squads in the City of Philadelphia and has been to two straight state semifinals, looked like it might run away with things in the first half, but Palmerton’s shooting prowess kept it close.

The Rockets led 18-9 after the first quarter, with 6-3 center and St. John’s Red Storm commit Nasiaah Russell scoring seven points in the frame. Heaven Reese, a Division 1 Coppin State commit, Heaven Reese added two three-pointers in the first for Audenried.

All nine points came from three-pointers in the first for the Bombers, with Avery Barry hitting two and Hailey Barry adding one.

Audenried went on a sizable run in the second quarter to extend its lead to 33-19. An Avery Barry triple got Palmerton within four (22-18), but a bunch of Rocket buckets — capped off by a three from Iyonna Ellison — gave Audenried momentum.

The Audenried run came after its star player Russell had to leave the game with what looked like a knee injury around the 5:30 mark.

Palmerton answered the surge with its three-point bombardment. The Bombers’ 9-0 run, which came from Cate Morgan’s back-to-back hits from deep and a three from Hailey Barry — who had three three-pointers in the quarter, cut the deficit to 33-28.

A lay-in at the buzzer by Chloe Kham made it a seven-point Rockets lead at the half. In all, Palmerton hit nine-three-pointers during the first two quarters.

“Credit to Palmerton. They hit some big shots in the first half,” said Audenried coach Kevin Slaughter. “But I thought our girls were playing lackadaisical on the defensive end in the first half. All season long, it’s almost like we need to get challenged or someone needs to come out and hit us in the mouth before we start amping up our play.

“But as the game went on the girls figured it out and they started playing much better defensively. We have some tough-nosed players, and again, they almost have to feel like they’re in a dogfight in the game and that’s when they come to life, and that’s what they were able to do today, especially in the third quarter.”

Audenried took control of the game in the third frame. An 11-0 Rockets run made it a 46-28 advantage midway through the third.

Six-foot forward Ciani Scott, who is also headed to Coppin State, stepped up her game in Russell’s absence, scoring eight points with seven rebounds. Scott had four in the third, and a bunch of boards to help the Rockets pull away. Audenried outscored Palmerton 19-6 to hold a 54-34 lead going into the fourth.

“That’s kind of been the story for us this season at times, is that we play good for three quarters and then we have one quarter where we have a letdown. That was the third quarter for us today,” said Palmerton coach Jeremy Coleman. We had some good looks early at the rim, but we just couldn’t get shots to fall.

“But just so proud of the girls for their fight and for how they battled in the game. To put up 52 points on a team of this caliber, I thought, was impressive. I told our girls day one in preparing for Audenried, you’re going to have to shoot your shot. You’re going to have to let it fly. With their size and quickness, you’re going to have to hit shots against them. We live by the three and die by the three, and in that first half we had a bunch of them go in.”

The Bombers continued to fight until the very end, actually getting within 10 points (59-49) late in the fourth quarter.

Palmerton’s pressure really got to the Rockets’ reserve players, and once that gap tightened with about two minutes left to play, Audenried needed to sub its starters back into the game, and it was able to pull away one more time for the 14-point win.

LEADING SCORERS ... Reese led the Rockets with 20 points and brought down nine rebounds. Ellison added 10 points. For Palmerton, Hailey Barry scored 20 — which included six three-pointers. Avery Barry added nine.

THREE-POINT PARTY ... Palmerton went 9-for-14 in the first half from three, which accounted for all of its field goals. In total, the Bombers hit 12 in the game.

ON THE BOARDS ... Audenried dominated Palmerton on the boards, out-rebounding the Bombers 20-11 in the first half with seven offensive boards. Palmerton didn’t have an offensive board in the first half.

PALMERTON

A. Barry 3-0-0-9, Rex 2-2-2-6, Rumfield 0-0-2-0, Schneider 0-1-2-1, Morgan 2-0-2-6, Green 2-1-2-5, H. Barry 7-0-0-20, Getch 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 17-4-10-52.

AUDENRIED

Ellison 4-0-0-10, Cheeseboro 3-0-0-6, Russell 2-3-3-7, Reese 6-5-8-20, Scott 4-0-0-8, Cutts 2-0-0-6, Tiggle 1-0-0-3, Kh 2-0-0-5, Mills-Scott 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 24-8-11-66.

Audenried 18 17 19 12 - 66

Palmerton 9 19 6 16 - 52

Three-pointers: Palmerton - H. Barry 6, A. Barry 3, Morgan 2, Getch 1; Audenried - Reese 3, Ellison 2, Cutts 2, Mills-Scott 1, Kham 1, Tiggle 1.

Records: Palmerton (18-9); Audenried (23-5).