Sixteen years.

It’s been 16 years since the Palmerton boys basketball team went to the District 11 playoffs, but on Friday against rival Northern Lehigh the Bombers ended that streak.

A hot-shooting performance from beyond the arc coupled with a strong fourth quarter propelled Palmerton to a 51-41 Colonial League win over the Bulldogs to clinch a District 11 3A postseason berth.

“The streak is broken and my guys are proud to be the group to start writing a new chapter in Palmerton boys basketball history,” said Bombers head coach Ken Termini. “We put ourselves in position to get here and we were so close to getting in that we had to get this one.”

The Bombers (11-11) looked good early, carrying a 10-point lead to start the second quarter. A Justin Hosier triple gave them that advantage and it was the fifth three-pointer for Palmerton in just under nine minutes. In fact, of Palmerton’s first 17 points, 15 came from behind the three-point line.

But as it has all season long Northern Lehigh showed resiliency. The Bulldogs (11-11) quickly erased Palmerton’s 10-point lead by going on a 13-0 run to gain a three-point advantage with just over two minutes remaining in the half. During that span, the Bulldogs used some hot shooting of their own to get the rally started, draining three consecutive deep balls. Northern Lehigh finished the quarter strong, entering intermission with a five-point lead.

“I thought when we moved the ball with purpose and with patience we got the looks we wanted and we were fine,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Jeff Miller. “But in the second half we got impatient and we turned the ball over at key times in the game. We also didn’t have the intensity on the defensive end tonight.

Palmerton played a great game, that’s a good team, but I really think the difference was we just didn’t play well enough defensively to win.”

The Bulldogs continued to lead for most of the third quarter until the Bombers made their move. With 47 seconds left in the third and the game tied, Palmerton went on a furious 5-0 run to end the quarter. Two transition buckets off Northern Lehigh turnovers aided the run with the latter of the scores coming off a Nate Dougherty hoop plus the harm that sent the Bombers’ faithful into an uproar with just four seconds remaining.

“We came into tonight with the goal to attack the rim and protect the ball and were able to do both of those things,” said Termini. “The plays at the rim tonight were the difference in the game — we really gained a lot of momentum off of those plays.”

Doughtery’s electric play did give the Bombers momentum, but the Bulldogs still hung around in the fourth until another big hoop at the rim for Palmerton pretty much sealed the deal. With 2:33 remaining, a Hosier steal and a bucket plus the charity extended the lead to eight. Dougherty ended all comeback thoughts with a dagger a minute later to put the Bombers up double digits.

A THREE SPREE ... In the first half it was all about the trifecta. Palmerton hit five triples including four in the first, while Northern Lehigh connected on four.

LEADERS ... Hosier led the way with 15 for Palmerton, while Dougherty earned 11, and Kody Kratzer chipped in with 10. Ryan Yacone also helped out with nine. For Northern Lehigh, Brandon Hess scored a game-high 18 and Gio Colon added 10.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Kemery 2-0-0-4, Colon 3-4-8-10, Schoff 1-0-0-2, Seier 1-2-2-4, Seiler 1-0-0-3, Keller 0-0-0-0, Hess 6-2-2-18. TOTALS: 14-8-12-41.

PALMERTON

Yacone 3-1-2-9, Baumgardt 2-1-6-6, Dougherty 2-7-7-11, King 0-0-0-0, Kratzer 3-2-2-10, Hosier 5-2-3-15, Silfies 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-12-20-51

No. Lehigh 7 17 10 5 - 41

Palmerton 14 5 20 12 - 51

Three-pointers: No. Lehigh - Hess 4, Seiler 1; Palmerton - Hosier 3, Kratzer 2, Baumgardt 1, Yacone 1.