It was relentless. It created havoc. And it paved the way to an opening night win.

Palmerton’s pressure defense gave Lehighton fits Friday night, creating numerous turnovers during a 45-26 girls basketball victory.

The Blue Bombers forced 15 Indian miscues in the first half to build a double-digit lead and were never threatened.

“That’s kind of what we want to build our team off of,” said Palmerton head coach Jeremy Coleman, who won in his Bomber debut. “We have the depth and the bodies to do it, so we just keep bringing girls in one after the other and stay fresh. We like that type of game and that type of pressure.

“We definitely want to go after teams ... The girls are a bunch of really good athletes, they have good anticipation, and they’re aggressive. And they definitely get after it, so our whole thing this year is just defense, effort, and try to take it to teams.”

While the defense was solid from the start, it took a while for Palmerton’s offense to get going. During the opening four minutes, neither team hit from the field and the game’s only points came on a pair of free throws from Lehighton’s Emma Repsher.

But when Mikayla Pengelly and Courtney Connell came off the bench late in the opening frame, the two seemed to give the Bombers a spark. Connell got free inside for a basket and Pengelly hit twice during a 12-0 run that closed out the period.

“With all the bodies that we have, you never know which night who’s going to give you a spark,” said Coleman. “Those two just happened to do that tonight. We love what Mikayla brings us. She gives us energy, and she gives us intensity. Courtney does a great job and is pretty quick for being a post player, so that certainly helps in our press. We just want to play with energy.”

The Indians had some life to start the second quarter, scoring on their first three possessions to cut the gap to 15-9. But the comeback was short-lived as Palmerton answered with five baskets - all from inside - to stretch the advantage to 25-12 at the half.

“The first four, five minutes of the game I thought both teams put it all out their on the defensive side of the basketball,” said Lehighton head coach Joe Berezwick. “We had some opportunities early that we didn’t capitalize on, but you’ve got to give Palmerton credit. After that first four, five minutes they just took control of the game.

“We just couldn’t sustain that energy (after the early second-quarter spurt) ... We just dug ourselves too deep of a hole and against a good team like that, we just couldn’t recover.”

It was more of the same for the Bombers in the second half. The defense caused seven more turnovers in the third quarter, and a 10-0 run - which included three-pointers from Cate Morgan and Hannah Barry - extended the margin to 23 points.

The Indians managed to trim the deficit to 15 midway through the final frame, but that’s the closest they got.

“We had to make more shots, and we didn’t hit them,” said Berezwick. “But also, you have to give credit to their pressure that kept us off-balanced all night ... They just flexed their muscles tonight, and we’ll just need to regroup.”

LEADING SCORERS ... Palmerton was led in scoring by Barry, who finished with 14 points. Sydney Frantz provided quality play at both ends of the floor, collecting 11 points and eight rebounds, while Pengelly chipped in with eight points. For the Indians, Repsher accounted for half of her team’s points with 13. Ryleigh Trotman added eight.

FROM THE FIELD ... The Bombers shot 17-of-42 from the floor for a .405 percentage. Lehighton struggled, finishing 10-of-37 for 27%.

PALMERTON

Pengelly 4-0-0-8, Frantz 3-5-10-11, Schneider 0-0-0-0, Morgan 1-0-0-3, Han. Barry 6-1-1-14, Matsko 0-0-0-0, Hai. Barry 0-0-0-0, Andrews 0-2-2-2, Rex 1-1-2-3, Connell 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 17-9-15-45.

LEHIGHTON

Barthol 0-0-0-0, McHugh 2-0-3-5, Klotz 0-0-0-0, Uyvari 0-0-0-0, Trotman 3-2-2-8, Repsher 5-3-7-13, Costenbader 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 10-5-12-26.

Palmerton 12 13 11 9 - 45

Lehighton 2 10 4 10 - 26

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Morgan 1, Han. Barry 1; Lehighton - McHugh 1.