It wasn’t a picture perfect beginning. It was more like Nightmare on Elm Street.

Panther Valley didn’t seem to know in what direction it was headed. On the other hand, Palmerton was frightening with its presence inside.

But sophomore Erika Dubosky and the Panthers found daylight, riding her career-high rebounding numbers on Tuesday to neutralize what seemed like an abyss for her team.

All Dubosky did was yank down 27 rebounds and pour in 19 points, as her team rallied late in the fourth quarter to stave off the Blue Bombers, 47-42, in a non-league matchup.

Where the Panthers seemed to be swallowed up, the rangy Bombers were cherry-picking rebounds left-and-right. In the first quarter alone, Palmerton collected 20 rebounds and had 34 by halftime.

And all one could hear was the plea from PV head coach William Lynn for his team to box out.

“We were nowhere near being good in that first half,” said Lynn, whose team snapped a five-game losing streak and improved to 6-5.

“The big thing (about the win) was we found a way to get it done. I’m hoping this goes a long way; we have to play in (Division I) of the (Schuylkill) league and a game like this may get us going.”

Palmerton (5-7) received strong results from Baylee Guedes, Hollis Guedes, and Kayla Nothstein. And when they needed big baskets, Brianna Moore surfaced time and again to pace her team with 16 points. Moore buried a couple of triples in the first quarter and had eight of her 13 rebounds in the first two quarters. Nothstein dropped in eight points, and collared 13 rebounds.

“I thought we did some nice things early on, then we started to unravel,” said Palmerton coach Dan Beck. “That’s our youth, we need to learn from (our mistakes) and I know we can get a lot better.”

The Panthers were better, and really good in the clutch. PV settled down after a hectic start to the third quarter, where the Bombers went full-court pressure and caused all kinds of headaches.

“The problem there was we panicked some,” said Lynn. “We had to get the ball in the middle of the floor, and we weren’t beating the pressure and we had all kinds of turnovers.”

After falling behind 24-19 to start the second half, Panther Valley had to regroup twice in the period. Rachelle Filer picked up the tempo with a pair of short-range jumpers to tie the game, but Palmerton came right back with its own rally. Baylee Guedes sank three foul shots, Moore recycled a miss and Guedes connected for one more freebie. That surge helped Palmerton gain a 36-28 lead with 2:17 left in the third quarter.

But Dubosky quickly found the foul line for two more points, and Megan Pascoe ripped home a triple, closing the gap to 36-33. That late rally carried into the fourth.

Although Palmerton nailed a pair of buckets for a 40-33 lead, the home club was about to come up big.

That started with a turnaround basket in the paint by Giana Steber. Pascoe sank a foul shot, Dubosky ripped down a rebound for a put back, and Emiline Markovich kissed a shot off the glass before Dubosky added another basket.

That rally gave PV a 45-40 lead with 1:39 to play, and the Panthers held on for the victory.

“This couldn’t come at a better time for us,” said Lynn.

BOARD POWER

… Unofficially, there was a total of 108 rebounds. Palmerton had 58. Moore and Nothstein were the leaders for the Bombers, while Casi Papay had eight, and Baylee Guedes added seven.

FIRING IT UP

… Palmerton got off 66 shots, while Panther Valley had 58. In the first half, Palmerton went 8-of-40, while the Panthers were 5-for-28. A game-changer was Panther Valley’s 18-for-25 foul shooting effort.

PALMERTON

Moore 7-0-1-16, Nothstein 4-0-0-8, B. Guedes 1-5-7-7, Papay 2-0-0-5, H. Guedes 1-2-2-4, Nemeth 1-0-2-2, Recker 0-0-0-0, Beahm 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-7-12-42.

PANTHER VALLEY

Dubosky 4-11-12-19, Pascoe 2-5-9-11, Filer 3-2-4-8, Markovich 3-0-0-7, Steber 1-0-0-2, Vermillion 0-0-0-0, Brynn 0-0-0, Wehr 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-18-25-47.

Palmerton 9 9 18 6 – 42

Panther Vy. 9 10 14 14 – 47

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Moore 2, Papay 1. Panther Valley - Pascoe 2, Markovich 1.