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Bomber win streak hits 8

Palmerton's Owen Buck (24) goes between a pair of Northern Lehigh defenders to put up a shot. MIKE FEIFEL/TIMES NEWS

Ken Termini knows there’s something special about the way his team is playing right now.

It was evident as Palmerton ripped off its eighth straight win Tuesday, rolling past Northern Lehigh 72-31.

With the regular season into its final week, Termini has his sights set on maintaining the focus that’s pushed the Blue Bombers forward from a 2-4 start to the season.

“The wins are nice, but what’s more important is watching them grow together as a team, and watching them mature as individuals and young men and as leaders on and off the court,” said the Palmerton coach. “Seeing them work together and play five as one, that’s much more rewarding to me than the wins we’ve strung together.”

That cohesiveness has certainly played a role during the Bombers’ (10-4) hot streak.

And it was on display against the Bulldogs (1-8) as senior Kody Kratzer dropped 21 of his game-high 30 points in the first half.

When Kratzer wasn’t getting buckets, he was facilitating to keep the offense moving.

“We started the season slow, but we’ve been working hard at practice every single day,” said Kratzer. “Just the little things, and I think that’s doing a lot for us, like hustling, having energy, and those things have really been helping us out.

“It all started with energy. In the first quarter, we came out sluggish and we didn’t really have any energy. But in the second quarter, we came out with a lot of energy and started turning it up and cheering for each other a lot more, and I think that’s got us going.”

Freshman Matt Machalik added nine points for Palmerton, which opened the second quarter on a 13-0 run to break open a tie game at the end of the opening period.

“This is a great bunch of guys,” said Machalik. “Kody is a great leader, Owen (Buck, seven points) is a great leader, and it’s just helped me fill in, and the other guys to fill in and have our roles, which has really been helping us here at the end.”

Palmerton went to work on the boards and cashed in on second-chance points, opening up a 38-20 advantage at the break.

“They switched to that 2-3 (zone) in the second quarter, and we turned the ball over a couple of times to start and they capitalized, and it kind of snowballed from there,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Patrick Wanamaker. “I’d be willing to bet close to half their points were second-chance points.

“What I told the guys at halftime, and after the game, is that’s a whole lot of ‘want to.’ And we didn’t have it tonight. We’ve been battling, we’ve been competing, and tonight we did not do that, at least outside of the first eight minutes.”

The Bulldogs led three times in the first quarter. Their last advantage came at 11-10 after a three from Aiden Parvel with 1:12 remaining in the opening period.

Kratzer responded with a trey before DeSean Smith hit two free throws in the final 30 seconds to tie the game at 13-13.

Palmerton held Northern Lehigh to just 13 points combined over the next two quarters to build a 59-26 advantage.

“I think we pretty much dominated the boards tonight, and that definitely helped,” said Termini. “But you have to give Northern Lehigh credit, they came out and shot 86% in the first quarter, and that’s a pretty good shooting performance.

“But I think we were able to crank it up to another level that they maybe weren’t able to match. When you play with passion and energy, and you play five as one, good things can happen.”

UP NEXT

... The Blue Bombers will look to keep their win streak going at home tonight against Lehighton (7-7). The Indians have won two straight after topping Tamaqua 49-27 on Tuesday.

ROLLING

... Palmerton has not lost since a 65-52 setback against Notre Dame on Jan. 23.

STATS

... Ardit Mujovic led Northern Lehigh with eight points.

PALMERTON

Connell 2-1-2-5, Kratzer 12-5-6-30, White 1-0-0-2, Reph 2-0-0-4, Whitney 1-0-0-2, Robinson 1-0-0-2, Sebelin 0-0-0-0, Bates 0-1-2-1, Hosier 1-0-0-2, Frank 1-0-0-2, Stuck 1-0-0-2, Buck 3-1-3-7, Machalik 4-0-0-9, Anthony 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 31-8-13-72.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Mujovic 2-3-4-8, Hammond 2-0-0-5, Parvel 1-3-4-6, Zambo 0-0-2-0, Smith 2-2-2-6, Herzog 0-0-0-0, Blose 0-0-0-0, Wisocky 0-0-0-0, Marlatt 3-0-0-6, Repsher 0-0-0-0, Wilk 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-8-12-31.

Palmerton 13 25 21 13 - 72

N. Lehigh 13 7 6 5 - 31

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Kratzer 1, Machalik 1. NL - Mujovic 1, Hammond 1, Parvel 1.