The last time the Palmerton girls prevailed in a District 11 basketball championship was 22 years ago, when the Nicole Levandusky-anchored squad, coached by Rodney Strohl, nabbed the title and made a deep run in the PIAA tournament, before falling to Trinity in the state semifinals.

That club, who entered the district title tilt undefeated and were heavily favored as the bracket’s No. 1 seed, faced a different scenario than this year’s Palmerton team. Head coach Dan Beck and his squad take the role of underdog into tonight’s championship contest at Catasauqua at 6 p.m. against Notre Dame of Green Pond.

The Crusaders are the top seed and have navigated their way through a difficult schedule to an impressive 20-2 regular season. They moved on to the Colonial League playoffs, where they defeated Bangor in the semis (60-50), before falling in the championship to Southern Lehigh, 44-43.

Head coach Josh Kopp then guided Notre Dame to a decisive 59-25 district win over Pen Argyl on Tuesday night, en route to the final.

The upstart Bombers maneuvered to a 10-12 mark this season, and drew second-seeded North Schuylkill in the Class 3A bracket. Palmerton took an early, second-period lead and held on for the 54-47 win, propelling them into tonight’s championship. With that win, the Bombers are also guaranteed a state playoff game, making the victory that much more enjoyable.

“After that semifinal win, it seems as though the girls have that much more confidence,” Beck said. “We’re playing better team basketball and we finally have everyone healthy and playing together.”

The only other time the two teams met this season was Jan. 10 when the Crusaders’ Cassie Murphy poured in 23 points to lead her team to a 54-30 win. The 6-0 junior forward is an All-League First Teamer and a majority of her team’s offense runs through her. In the district semifinal over Pen Argyl, she poured in 24.

Beck is aware of tonight’s challenge, saying, “Notre Dame will be tough. They’re well-coached and have some quality players like Murphy. She is very tough inside and we’ll need to limit her touches in the paint.

Hopefully their outside game is off and we also need to keep our composure against their tough man-to-man defense. But if we limit our turnovers and have a great night shooting, we can make it competitive.”

That Crusader outside game includes freshman Antonia Bates, who tallied 12 points on Tuesday. Seniors Abby Wachter (5-2, G) and MaryKate Altmire (5-10, F), and 5-5 sophomore guard Grace Medei fill out the starting five.

For Palmerton (11-12), freshman Brianna Moore has been solid this season, averaging 14.84 points per game and finished the regular season with 26 three-pointers.

Despite a mid-season injury, which saw her miss nine games, junior guard Kayla Cincilla has come on lately for the Bombers. In Tuesday’s win, she scored a game-high 18 points.

Inside, Baylee Guedes (8.64 ppg) makes her presence felt on the boards, while Casi Papay (5.32), and Raegan Nemeth (5.68) are improving and playing better ball at the right time of the year.

“The girls have a lot of excitement in practices and are thrilled for the opportunity to play for the district championship,” Beck said. “Hopefully, this year will spark the program and motivate the younger girls to get hungrier to get Lady Bomber Basketball back to where it once was.”