It’s rare to see a mid season matchup that offers a playoff type feel and atmosphere to it.

But on Saturday, just off Fireline Road in Palmerton, the Blue Bombers’ gymnasium was rocking.

Palmerton and Saucon Valley - two teams that sit at the top of the Colonial League boys basketball standings - battled hard for four quarters, but it was the Bombers that were able to string together a few more offensive runs than the Panthers to come away with the key league victory.

“This was just such a great environment today,” said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini, whose team improved to 13-1 overall and 9-1 in the CL. “Many thanks to our community and their community for coming out and creating a great atmosphere for these players.

“Every game is big and you need to treat every game like that, but to be able to go head-to-head with a highly-successful team, and a team that knows our package so well because their head coach was a coach in our program for three years, I think that says a lot about our players.”

The Panthers - coached by Palmerton alum and former assistant coach Brett Snyder - started off the ballgame on a 5-0 run. But it didn’t take long for the Bombers to find their bearings.

Inserting full-court pressure after Saucon Valley (11-3; 8-2) jumped out to the early advantage helped Palmerton’s offense get going, with junior guard Brayden Hosier scoring the next 10 points to help the Bombers take back momentum. Hosier’s backcourt mate, Matt Machalik, would then get his offensive game going as well after the 10-0 run, scoring seven points to help the home team take a 17-9 lead after eight minutes of play.

Machalik would continue to be aggressive, attacking the basket in the second quarter, scoring all nine of the Bombers’ points in the frame as they would hold a 26-16 advantage at the half.

“Hosier got hot in the first quarter, and then Machalik got rolling as well,” said Termini. “Those two guys in the first half got our offense going for us. I mean, nobody else scored for us in the first half other than Hosier and Machalik, and the key for us in the second half - and why we were able to pull this game out - was that we got 14 points in the second half from players not named Machalik and Hosier.

“In this game when five play as one, that’s when you will always play your best. It was just a great effort from everyone.”

Palmerton continued to control the game through the third, heading into the fourth with an 11-point lead (40-29).

But the Panthers did not go away as they were able to chip away at the deficit in the fourth. Saucon Valley actually outscored the Bombers in the final frame, and after cutting the lead down to single digits for the first time since late in the second stanza, it was able to get as close as six with around 1:30 remaining.

A Jacob Klotz triple would get the Panthers within striking distance, but critical defensive stops and clutch foul shooting down the stretch would help Palmerton close out the 10-point win.

“I think our defense all year long has been pretty good,” said Termini. “We have only been giving up 37 points per game coming into this, and we got some big stops down the stretch to finish out the game.

“We have guys like Kendall Robinson, who I think should be an All-League selection just based on his defense this season, and another guy in Justin Sebelin, who when he comes in can shut guys down as well. In all, everybody that got on the floor today stepped up and helped us get this win.”

DOWN THE STRETCH … Palmerton made the plays at the end of the game to pull this one out, going 7-for-9 from the foul line in the final minutes to clinch the victory.

DYNAMIC DUO … Machalik and Hosier combined for 40 of the Bombers 54 points. The two were responsible for all of Palmerton’s 26 first-half points. Machalik finished with 21 and Hosier with 19.

IN THE PAINT … The Bombers were faced with a significant height disadvantage to a much bigger Saucon Valley team, which featured a starting lineup with players at 6-0, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 and 6-4, and were able to out-rebound the Panthers 14-11 in the first half.

SAUCON VALLEY

Magnotta 3-0-0-6, Donahue 1-1-2-3, Albert 3-1-2-7, Robertson 5-0-0-10, Klotz 3-1-2-8, Joseph-Davis 2-0-0-4, Clark 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 20-3-6-44.

PALMERTON

Machalik 8-4-6-21, Sebelin 0-0-0-0, Robinson 2-0-0-4, Reph 1-2-2-4, Grammes 1-0-0-2, 4-9-10-19, Z. Anthony 2-0-1-4, L. Anthony 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-15-19-54.

Saucon Vy. 9 7 13 15 - 44

Palmerton 17 9 14 14 - 54

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Hosier 2, Machalik 1; Saucon Valley - Klotz 1.