BETHLEHEM TOWNSHIP - Panther Valley came out on fire in Thursday’s District 11 Class 3A boys quarterfinal. But eventually No. 2 seed Notre Dame of Green Pond was able to put out the flame.

While the Crusaders never caught fire, it was their defense and a lot of layups that led to a 75-58 win over the Panthers, and in the process advance to Saturday’s semifinals.

“They came out ready to play, and we were a step slow,” said Notre Dame head coach Pat Boyle. “They had seven threes in the first half. We kind of weathered the storm, and I thought if we can get tied or lead by halftime we’d be OK.”

Panther Valley hit five three-pointers in the first quarter and held a 23-11 lead with 26 seconds left in the first period.

The Crusaders’ Zach Rodgers made his team’s only three of the game at the end of the first quarter to start an 11-0 run that spanned through the first three minutes of the second quarter and got the Crusaders within a point at 23-22.

The teams traded the lead a few times in the second quarter. Back-to-back treys from Benjamin Kindt and Chase Weaver put the Panthers in front 31-28 with 1:44 left in the first half, despite the fact they committed seven turnovers in the period.

The Crusaders scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. They held a 36-33 lead at halftime and pushed it up to 49-37 through the first three minutes of the second half.

“There was a stretch there where they went on a little run and their pressure ... over time it got to us a little bit,” said Panther Valley head coach Pat Crampsie, “I thought that was the turning point right there.”

The Panthers (4-17) held Notre Dame’s leading scorer and Colonial League MVP Brendan Boyle to just 10 points. Crampsie used several players to guard the junior sharpshooter, who went 5-for-15 from the floor, including 0-for-7 from three-point range.

Austin Hadley and Bryce Krapf took turns on Boyle for most of the night, while Ben Kindt also put in a shift or two.

The No. 7 seed Panthers’ defense forced the Crusaders (14-3) out of their usual game plan, but great teams adapt and survive. After going 1-for-12 from outside the arc early on, ND played more of an inside game the rest of the way.

“We’re a three-point shooting team,” said coach Boyle, who is Brendan’s father. “We just locked it down and said, ‘lets work until we get a layup. Let’s screen for Brendan’.

“Brendan didn’t have a good shooting night, but we knew their defense was focused on him. We knew if we could screen for him and get him the ball, he would get layups for his teammates and that really worked.”

Boyle dished out four assists in the second quarter and continued to find teammates all night. Logan Rickert led Notre Dame with 19 points.

Despite the season-ending loss, Crampsie liked the way his team handled the postseason atmosphere.

“We wanted to be playing our best ball at the end of the year,” he said. “After a lot of inconsistencies throughout the year, I thought they did that tonight. They weren’t intimidated. I thought they brought the energy, they brought the passion in a tough environment with none of our fans against one of the best 3A teams in the state.

“I thought our kids showed no fear. They showed a lot of grit. I was real happy with their performance.”

Stephen Hood led the Panthers with 22 points, including four three-pointers. The freshman also pulled down 13 rebounds. Kindt, a junior, scored 16 points.

Notre Dame moves on to Saturday’s District 11 semifinal. It will host No. 3 seed Palmerton, which beat Catasauqua 67-47 in the quarterfinals.

YOU SAY GOODBYE ... Panther Valley graduates three seniors from this year’s team in Krapf, Anthony Fatzie and Seth Birk. “Those three guys have been through a lot. All three of them have fought through injuries. We had a lot of young guys playing this year, and those seniors were tremendous leaders. We’re going to miss them. They were a huge part of our program the last four years.”

AND I SAY HELLO ... The Panthers return a large part of their lineup next year as three freshman started against Notre Dame.

PANTHER VALLEY

B. Hood 0-0-0-0, Krapf 1-0-0-3, Kindt 6-2-4-16, Pascoe 3-1-4-7, S. Hood 7-3-4-22, Hadley 1-0-0-2, Kokinda 2-0-0-6, Weaver 1-0-0-3, Berk 0-0-0-0, Fatzie 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-6-12-57

NOTRE DAME

Boyle 5-2-3-10, Rickert 7-5-6-19, Becker 3-0-0-6, Spirk 0-0-0-0, Carew 6-0-0-12, Howlett 4-3-3-11, Disora 0-0-0-0, Carson 0-0-0-0, Rodgers 1-3-4-6, Galle 2-1-2-5, McMenimen 0-0-0-0, Altmire 0-0-0-0, Marcks 1-2-2-4. TOTALS: 29-16-20-75.

Panther Valley 23 10 15 10 - 58

Notre Dame 14 22 21 18 - 75

Three-pointers: ND - Rodgers 1; PV - S. Hood 4, Kindt 2, Kokinda 2, Krapf 1, Weaver 1.