EASTON — The magical carpet ride for the Palmerton girls basketball team took an unfortunate U-turn Saturday against one of District 11’s perennial powerhouses — Allentown Central Catholic.

As much as the clock was part of its demise, it was the Vikettes’ length, timely shooting and a fourth-quarter rally that sent the Blue Bombers down to a tough-luck 45-33 defeat in the District 11 Class 4A championship game at the spacious Easton Middle School arena.

“Hey, the way we played over the past (few) weeks, I have no complaints. I am very proud of our team, our efforts,” said Palmerton head coach Jermey Coleman.

The win by ACC was its 24th District 11 gold medal going back to 1986. The program had claimed the last two district crowns.

The loss doesn’t put an end to the season for Palmerton, which still advances to the first round of the PIAA Class 4A tournament.

The two teams entered the title matchup as the Nos. 3 (Bombers) and 4 (Vikettes) seeds, which made for interesting theater.

Palmerton pulled off wins over Wilson and North Schuylkill to reach the final.

“We had some great wins,” Coleman said. “I’m proud of their efforts, even going back to that last game (against North Schuylkill), the way we got that buzzer-beater … I know it’s disappointing for them (now) and they will look back (on this loss).”

Palmerton was close to making another miracle finish, or at least a win if it shot better down the stretch.

To which Coleman said, “… today wasn’t our day shooting.”

Palmerton struggled to put the ball in the bucket over the final eight minutes of play, while ACC was slowly gathering momentum and using its bigs to seize the opportunity for a victory.

The Bombers’ Courtney Connell (15 points) was outstanding trying to stave off Central’s inside trio Skylar Taylor (5-10), Milly Wolf (5-10) and Morgan Seagraves (5-8).

Her effort, as well as the rest of the team, had Palmerton within just three points entering the fourth quarter.

Taylor hit a foul shot early in the fourth for the Vikettes to make it 33-29 lead before Connell matched that. After that, though, a slide ensued for the Bombers, who couldn’t find the much-needed range to convert.

Palmerton’s dynamite players — Mikayla Pengelly, Hailey Barry and Cate Morgan — were tiresome in their efforts, but unfortunately to no avail. Meanwhile, ACC started to set sail, as it ran off a 7-3 spurt that reeked of a winning formula. Wolf buried a trey, Seagraves used her soft southpaw hands for a bucket before Wolf sank a pair of charity shots to forge a 40-32 lead with 1:57 remaining.

Fouls were weighing on Palmerton, which had two players exit with five. Its only answer were three Connell conversions from the charity stripe before she had to leave the floor with her fifth foul after a superb afternoon of battling.

ACC visited the foul line on four straight trips, sinking five shots to stash away the decision.

Before all that late-quarter rally by the eventual winners, Palmerton didn’t cave. It had moxie for sure to open the second quarter.

The Bombers fell behind 11-5, but got a huge lift when Morgan, Connell and Barry all came to the forefront to cut into the lead. However, the Vikettes quickly responded with Seagraves pouring in four points to close the first quarter with an 18-11 lead.

Things turned in favor of Palmerton over the next two quarters of play when the Colonial League squad put its best foot forward and started to gain some momentum.

Connell opened the second quarter with a putback, but Seagraves answered at the foul line. Then it was Morgan’s time to shine, as she dropped in five unanswered points, including a hustling rebound bucket against the taller trees of ACC, and by the half it was 21-18.

Even though Palmerton trailed, the signs were all positive.

After Central sank four straight points to go on top, the Bombers got a big lift when Morgan and Barry dropped in back-to-back triples. ACC later answered with a triple from Annika Spinosa to give her team a 32-29 lead after three quarters.

Palmerton could never get it going in the fourth, struggling from the floor down the stretch, while the newly crowned district champs raced in front 38-30 with 2:25 to play.

GAS TANK EMPTY … ACC’s physically taller club wore down the Bombers. One could sense Palmerton was losing its legs as the fourth quarter unraveled. It missed all nine shots in the quarter, while the Vikettes methodically ran their offense waiting patiently to get their inside game in gear.

EVEN UP … It was even off the glass as both sides had 24 rebounds. Barry hauled in six and Connell had four. Wolf led the winners with seven and Spinosa added five.

SHOOTING AWAY … Palmerton went 11-of-38 from the floor, while ACC shot 13-of-26.

UP NEXT … Palmerton will host Valley View on Saturday at 2 p.m. in the first round of states.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC

M. Seagraves 4-5-6-13, Spinosa 3-4-6-12, Wolf 2-4-6-10, Taylor 3-1-3-7, Roberts 1-0-0-3, C. Seagraves 0-0-0-0, Bubnis 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-14-24-45.

PALMERTON

Connell 5-5-9-15, Morgan 4-1-2-10, Barry 1-2-2-5, Pengelly 1-0-0-3, Baumgardt 0-0-0-0, Green 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-8-11-33.

Central Catholic 18 3 11 13 - 45

Palmerton 11 7 11 4 - 33

Three-pointers: Central Catholic - Spinosa 2, Wolf 1, Roberts 1; Palmerton - Morgan 1, Pengelly 1, Barry 1.

Records: Palmerton (21-7); Central Catholic (15-10).