ALLENTOWN – Under the brightest lights and on the biggest stage, Raegan Cooper seemed right at home.

And the junior’s sharpshooting helped Notre Dame Green Pond take aim at a second District 11 title in three years.

Cooper and the top-seeded Crusaders captured the Class 3A crown with a 48-35 victory over Palmerton at the PPL Center on Tuesday.

“If anybody on our team needed it, it was Raegan,” said Notre Dame head coach Josh Kopp. “She’s been struggling a little with her shot-making, but we have the utmost confidence in her.

“She’s such a great shooter, and our kids did a really nice job of finding her when she was open.”

And Cooper delivered.

As the Blue Bombers trimmed the Crusaders’ lead to eight (38-30) midway through the fourth quarter, Cooper responded with back-to-back treys to push the advantage back to double digits.

Cooper finished with a game-high 20 points, including four 3s.

“I have been able to really improve with my shots, and we were moving the ball really well looking for good passes,” said Cooper. “We played really well together; we were making our shots and playing really good defense, just doing everything really well as a team.”

That rhythm didn’t come right away for Notre Dame.

Palmerton, the No. 2 seed in the tournament, held a 10-5 lead after the first quarter, surrendering just one field goal.

A 16-2 run - which included seven points from Cooper - seemed to put the Crusaders in control.

But the Blue Bombers closed the first half with a 6-0 surge, highlighted by Kiersten Gursky’s basket at the buzzer to cut the deficit to 21-18 at the break.

“I thought we were getting some good looks,” said Palmerton head coach Dan Beck. “With Gursky (six points) in there, we did a little high-low action, but they adjusted and we couldn’t make the outside shots.”

Notre Dame opened the third quarter with a 6-0 run of its own before a Gursky basket with 3:31 left in the period made it 27-20.

That’s the closest the Bombers would get before trailing by eight in the fourth quarter.

Grace Medei added nine points for the Crusaders, while Antonia Bates finished with eight, adding to the balanced attack.

“We were very stagnant on offense in that first quarter,” Kopp said. “We did a lot of standing and watching people dribble around; maybe we were just getting a feel for how this arena is.

“But we challenged them. When we move the ball around, and we share the ball, we’re an exceptional team. If we stand around and watch people dribble around, we’re average. That second quarter showed that once we made some extra passes and got high percentage looks, we have kids one-through-five that are able to make those shots.”

None more so than Cooper.

“I set up wherever I’m hitting them, or wherever I’m open,” she said.

Brianna Moore led the Bombers with 12 points. Raegan Nemeth hit three treys and finished with 11.

It wasn’t the ending Beck envisioned for his squad, which also made it to the Colonial League final this season.

But with no seniors in the starting lineup, and Gursky the only upperclassmen on the roster, Palmerton appears primed to be back in the spotlight soon.

“I think the girls represented their school, their community very well,” Beck said. “I’m proud of them. They put in a lot of hard work, and hopefully we’ll be back next year. These girls got great experience this season.”

RUBBER-MATCH … Notre Dame won the first meeting against Palmerton this season, 55-54 on Feb. 8. The Bombers got a measure of revenge with a 34-32 win over the Crusaders in the league semis on Feb. 24.

LAST TIME … In the Colonial League semis, Cooper finished with five points. “You definitely learn a little bit of their strengths and weaknesses, but they also learn your strengths and weaknesses,” Cooper said of the previous meetings. “They play very good defense, so we knew we had to move more on offense to get open.”

READY FOR ANOTHER RUN … Palmerton started two sophomores in Kelsey Balliet and Bethie Morgan, a pair of juniors in Moore and Nemeth, and a freshman in Megan Matsko.

PALMERTON

Frantz 0-0-0-0, Gursky 3-0-1-6, Barry 0-0-0-0, Matsko 2-0-0-4, Balliet 0-0-0-0, Nemeth 4-0-0-11, Morgan 1-0-0-2, Moore 4-4-10-12, Bollinger 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-4-11-35.

NOTRE DAME

Medei 3-2-2-9, Grim 2-0-0-4, DeFranco 1-0-0-2, Gormley 0-0-0-0, Micklos 2-1-2-5, Cooper 8-0-0-20, Santos 0-0-0-0, Atileh 0-0-0-0, Bates 1-5-6-8, Altmire 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-8-10-48.

Palmerton 10 8 4 13 - 35

Notre Dame 5 16 13 14 - 48

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Nemeth 3. Notre Dame - Cooper 4, Medei 1, Bates 1.