HELLERTOWN — Palmerton’s two best singles players made a racket on the court together again Tuesday, making the tournament’s top-seeded team earn every point during their District 11 Class AA doubles matchup.

The Blue Bombers’ Nate Andress and Mattis Willuhn took on Saucon Valley’s Tej Laliwala and Joel Thompson, who not only were seeded No. 1 but also had home court advantage.

The Palmerton duo eventually lost the quarterfinal match in straight sets — 6-3, 6-2 — but stood toe-to-toe with the Panther team.

“They had some really good shots out there, especially early, and I thought that they made them work for it,” said Bomber coach Jennifer Danzeisen.

Although Andress and Willuhn scored the first four points to take the opening game, the Palmerton team knew what they were up against.

“Those guys are two very good players and we knew we had to play our best if we wanted a chance,” said Andress.

The two teams traded the first six games of the first set, as both teams held serve.

Andress and Willuhn had to battle in that sixth game, which went to a second deuce. The two teams rapidly volleyed the ball back and forth before Andress placed a perfect shot just in play to clinch the game and make it 3-3 in the first set.

“I thought for a while there they were gonna edge them,” said Danzeisen.

But following that point, the Panthers regrouped and tightened up their game.

Laliwala and Thompson utilized powerful serves and teamwork to dominate the last three games and take the set, 6-3.

The Palmerton duo bounced right back, though, taking the first game of the second set.

Saucon Valley took the next two games, including breaking serve in the third game to take the lead.

Battling back again, the Bombers painted the corners and dominated the fifth game of the set, leaving the score at 3-2.

Like the first set, the sixth game was tight and went to a second deuce. Unlike the first set, the Panthers came away with the winning point to claim the game and widen their lead.

From there, Laliwala and Thompson went on to claim the match and advance to the semifinals.

“I got a little emotional ... because I was so excited to see them advance and play against this caliber of a team,” said Danzeisen. “For them to play a No. 1 seed and do as well as they did today is really awesome.”

The two were naturally not happy the season was over, but explained that they gave it their all.

“We played our hearts out, we wanted to win against them of course,” said Willuhn. “It’s disappointing of course, we wanted to win but they’re just both very good players and I think they deserved to win today.”

NOT SURPRISED ... Willuhn described that what looked to be a shocking day for the unseeded pair on Monday was all part of the plan. “We weren’t necessarily surprised we made it this far. We knew we were good, and we knew we could advance.”

MOVING ON ... Saucon’s Laliwala and Thompson cruised to a 6-2, 6-2 victory in the semifinals against the No. 4 team from Moravian Academy to advance to the finals. The top seed will now face another Moravian Academy duo — the No. 2 seeded Cyrus Elmi and Robbie Shaff — in the finals on Thursday at Lehigh.