On Wednesday night, Palmerton built an early lead and constantly hit big buckets to maintain their intensity en route to a 64-61 upset victory over top-seeded Notre Dame of Green Pond in the District 11 Class 3A semifinals.

In the other half of the bracket, Panther Valley took on New Hope-Solebury in the other semifinal contest. With New Hope outrebounding the Panthers 50-31, it utilized their inside game to register a 60-40 win.

Since the Lions are not a District 11 team, Palmerton’s triumph clinched the district title — the program’s first since the 1988-89 season.

With the championship decided, the Blue Bombers and New Hope will face off this afternoon at 1 p.m. at Quakertown High School for bragging rights in the subregional final, a better seed in the PIAA tournament and a closer site for that first-round game.

With the 3A bracket taking two teams, both Palmerton and New Hope-Solebury will be participating in the state playoffs, marking the first time that the Blue Bombers are doing so since 2000.

For Palmerton (12-11), head coach Ken Termini will look to senior guard Nate Dougherty, who averaged 19.91 points per game during the regular season and eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for his career. In the semifinal against Notre Dame, Dougherty finished with 25 points and seven rebounds and has been looking more and more confident of late.

Junior Justin Hosier (17.91 ppg) is also looking to make his mark this afternoon, after finishing the semis with 20 points and 12 rebounds (four offensive). Sophomore guard Kody Kratzer (11.73), who faced early foul trouble, finished with 11 points, including two big triples to keep his team ahead of the Crusaders.

Sophomore Owen Buck (3.50) and junior Seth Young (2.91) will also be looked to for point production and all-around effort against New Hope.

For the Lions (14-10), head coach Richard Fidele has the luxury of starting 6-7 senior center Topher Taylor. The inside presence not only scored 13 points, but snared 25 rebounds in the semifinal bout against Panther Valley, and altered plenty of the Panther shots in the paint.

Fidele’s squad likes to slow the tempo of the game down and set up in deliberate half-court sets. They utilize the inside-outside game, with several capable guards who can hit the outside shots, and also create on drive opportunities.

Patrick Cooney, a 6-2 senior guard, led the Lions in the semis with 17 points, while 6-2 sophomore Alex Walinsky added 11, and Phillip Weinseimer chipped in with eight.

The Lions also have sophomore guard Kyle McLaughlin (5-7).

Termini is aware of the challenge that awaits them against the Lions, but has plenty of faith in his surging Blue Bomber club.

“With the long layoff, we had some time to kind of reinvent ourselves a bit and we worked on changing up our defense, and we also worked a lot on rebounding,” Termini said.

That hard work need to pay off against the taller Lions and Taylor’s inside abilities. The Bombers will have to rely on Hosier, Buck, and reserve Zach Silfies to combat the height of their opponent.

“They are an excellent team, but every team is beatable,” Termini said. “To win, we have to continue to play with poise, but be physical, show patience by not taking quick shots, and we must protect the ball.

“Hopefully, we can understand their tendencies and play some strong team defense, but most importantly, we need to rebound the ball and limit their second-chance shots.”

With the upset win in the semifinals, Palmerton has built some momentum going into this match-up, and the Bomber faithful seems to be growing as well.

“This will be interesting, and hopefully, we can have everyone on defense do their job,” Termini said. “We want to have five guys, playing as one.”