WHITEHALL - They’ve seen it before.

And they practiced against it.

But on Friday night, they just couldn’t solve it.

The Palmerton girls were never able to figure out Pen Argyl’s zone defense, allowing the Green Knights to pull away for a 53-36 victory in the District 11 Class 3A championship game.

The loss prevented the Bombers from defending last year’s title.

“They played all zone against us before,” said Palmerton head coach Dan Beck about the team’s previous two meetings this season. “We were ready for it, we knew it was coming. It was going to be either a 2-3 or a 1-3-1, but we just didn’t hit shots or pass very well.

“We tried to tell them to penetrate, but we just couldn’t do it. They have the two big girls up top and we couldn’t get through. They’re tough, but I also don’t think we moved the ball that well offensively. They did a nice job with their defense ... I don’t know what we shot percentage-wise. I know in the first quarter, we had more shots than them but we didn’t make many of them.”

The first quarter actually proved to be the difference as Pen Argyl scored the game’s first 10 points.

While the Bombers couldn’t knock down a three-pointer, missing all eight they took in the opening period, the Knights hit three shots inside the arc and converted on three free throws to grab a double-digit lead.

Palmerton (21-5) finally started finding the range in the second frame, using treys from Hannah Barry and Beth Morgan to quickly trim the deficit to 12-8, but the Knights responded - also from distance.

A pair of threes from Ellie Wallbillich and one by Jill Morro allowed third-seeded Pen Argyl to regain its double-digit advantage and enjoy an 11-point halftime lead at 27-16.

“They were fighting back,” said Knights mentor Todd Oessenick. “They’re so good, and I was so scared because they can make three shots and it turns into nine points in a heartbeat. They’re so good, so we were really trying to focus on keeping them off the line.

“The philosophy we came into the game with was realy simple. I wanted to keep them off the line, so we were trying to keep somebody high in the middle and on both wings, and we were kind of going to live with a little bit of a corner trouble ... And we still gave up five threes.”

Pen Argyl (21-5) continued to keep No. 1 seed Palmerton at an arm’s length in the third quarter, as the closest the Bombers could get was 34-25 after Barry drained another triple with 1:36 left in the period.

Beck’s club could never put a run together, as its defense had trouble getting multiple stops in a row while its offense continued to struggle against the zone.

“I wasn’t worried being down 10, 12 points,” said Beck of the halftime deficit. “I thought we could come back. But nothing was easy for us tonight. There were no easy shots, and nothing fell for us. It just wasn’t our night. It was a bad time for that. You don’t want to have a bad night in a district championship game.

“I think I was a little more disappointed with our defense than anything tonight. We usually hold teams to 30, 35 points, and that didn’t happen tonight.”

Wallbillich, who finished with a game-high 18 points, opened the final frame with a short jumper and Alex Marshall hit a pair of free throws to extend the Knights’ margin to 40-26. But Morgan hit a putback and then also converted twice at the line to whittle the score down to 40-30.

Macy Kotulka, however, countered with another three-pointer for Pen Argyl, and the winners were never threatened the rest of the way.

“They just worked so hard, and it finally payed off,” said Oessenick. “They finally earned something that no one can take from them ever again. Now it’s theirs forever. The seniors will be gone, but they’ll have this forever. I’m so excited for them.”

LEADERS ... Besides Wallbillich’s 18 points, Morro added 15 points - including an 8-of-9 effort at the foul line. Palmerton was paced by Morgan’s 13 points and Barry’s 11.

STATS ... Pen Argyl shot 16-of-33 from the floor, including 5-of-14 from three-point range. The Bombers ended 12-of-43 from the field, and just 5-of-27 from distance.

UP NEXT ... Palmerton will be the No. 2 seed from District 11 in the state playoffs and will play the runner-up from District 12 on Friday.

PEN ARGYL

Albanese 1-0-0-3, Wallbillich 6-4-6-18, O’Brien 1-0-0-2, C. Wilgus 0-0-0-0, Vargo 1-1-3-3, Antonioli 1-0-0-2, Morro 3-8-9-15, Kotulka 2-0-2-5, Maggipinto 0-1-4-1, Marshall 1-2-4-4. TOTALS: 16-16-28-53.

PALMERTON

Bollinger 0-0-0-0, Baumgardt 0-0-0-0, Frantz 1-3-4-6, Han. Barry 4-0-0-11, Matsko 1-0-0-2, Balliet 0-0-0-0, Andrews 0-0-0-0, B. Morgan 5-2-3-13, Connell 1-0-0-2, Hai. Barry 0-2-2-2, C. Morgan 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 12-7-9-36.

Pen Argyl 10 17 9 17 - 53

Palmerton 2 14 10 10 - 36

Three-pointers: Pen Argyl - Wallbillich 2, Morro 1, Kotulka 1, Albanese 1; Palmerton - Han. Barry 3, Frantz 1, B. Morgan 1.