In basketball, there are a ton of cliches that have become popular over the years.

But there is one above the rest that seems to hold true no matter what occurs throughout the course of a game.

That cliche is, “Basketball is a game of runs.”

On Friday night, that timeless basketball saying was unfortunately accurate for Palmerton, as Moravian Academy put together more consistent offensive runs, including a big one in the third quarter, to come away with a 57-50 Colonial League victory.

The theme of the contest was the Lions (5-3) getting out to a lead and the Blue Bombers (7-3) having to play catch up.

The first frame was a good indicator of that as Moravian jumped out to an 11-2 advantage. Six early points from Marina Falzone sparked the Lions run and they continued to keep Palmerton at a distance, leading by seven after one.

A quick bucket by Moravian to start the second extended the margin to nine, but the Bombers were able to make their first run of the game, going on a 6-2 spurt to get within five. Strong defense and five turnovers by the Lions helped Palmerton close within three at the half.

Brianna Moore’s seven points in the quarter, and her 12 points in the half, kept the Bombers within striking distance.

“The girls fought hard all night, they practice hard, they play hard, they definitely battled,” said Palmerton head coach Dan Beck. “Just at some points throughout the game we were a bit outmatched because of their size. Offensively, we’ve been living and dying with our outside shot and you could see that again tonight. We’re getting better at moving the ball, moving around, but we still need to continue to work at it.”

The third was a tough shooting frame for the Bombers. Those shooting woes, coupled with consistent offensive and defensive play from Moravian, equaled a game-changing 12-4 Lions run and a 39-28 lead entering the fourth.

A big reason for the Bombers offensive struggles was Moravian’s 6-4 center Maya Ettle, who protected the rim throughout the game. Ettle had 10 rebounds and five blocks to go along with 12 points.

No better stat revealed Ettle’s impact on the game than the Bombers’ 26 three-point attempts.

“Ettle was big for us tonight,” said Moravian head coach Steve Turpening. “She doesn’t need to be scoring a ton of points to have an impact on the game. Her presence in the paint simply stops players from driving to the basket.

“You have to give Palmerton credit though, they kept battling back. We would pull away, they would come back, but I think our size and our guards penetrating and kicking did enough to keep us ahead.”

Turnovers would plague Moravian once again as seven miscues in the fourth, due to the Bombers full-court pressure, helped them close again. A three-pointer by Reagan Nemeth cut the gap to four with 5:04 remaining. But that’s as close as Palmerton would get as another quick 8-2 run by Moravian would extend the lead back to 10.

Moravian would shoot well down the stretch from the foul line to finish out the seven-point victory.

SHOOTING STRUGGLES ... Palmerton got plenty of good looks from behind the arc, but just wasn’t able to knock down its opportunities consistently, going 8-for-26 from three-point range.

LEADERS ... Palmerton was led by Bethie Morgan’s 16 points. Moore finished with 14 and Kayla Cincilla added 10. For Moravian, Ettle, Quinn O’Connor and Grace Moser all finished with 12.

MORAVIAN ACADEMY

Moser 5-1-2-12, T. Tout-Puissant 0-0-0-0, S. Ettle 4-0-0-8, M. Falzone 5-1-2-11, H. Falzone 1-0-0-2, G. Tout-Puissant 0-0-0-0, M. Ettle 3-3-6-12, O’Connor 2-8-10-12. Totals: 21-13-20-57.

PALMERTON

Guedes 0-0-0-0, Papay 2-0-0-4, Cincilla 5-0-0-10, Nemeth 2-0-0-6, Morgan 5-5-7-16, Moore 6-0-0-14, Nothstein 0-0-2-0. Totals: 20-5-9-50.

Moravian A. 18 9 12 18 - 57

Palmerton 11 14 4 22 - 50

Three-pointer: Moravian Academy - M. Ettle 1, Moser 1; Palmerton - Moore 2, Nemeth 2, Morgan 1.