CENTER VALLEY - Palmerton did just about all it could Saturday to slow down Brendan Boyle.

The Notre Dame (Green Pond) senior scored 32 of his game-high 34 points over the final three quarters to lead his team to a 69-58 win over the Blue Bombers in the District 11 Class 3A boys basketball third-place game at Southern Lehigh High School.

“He just kept making play after play,” said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini. “We kept trying to adjust little things, but anytime you do something, it opens the door to something else, and he just knows what door to go through.”

No. 4 seed Palmerton (18-9) held Boyle to just two points in the first quarter. He was nearly shut out for the period, as his only basket was scored with no time left on the clock.

The Crusaders’ all-time leading scorer caught fire in the second period, going 4-for-4 from the field, all from three-point range.

The 9-0 lead the Bombers opened in the game’s first four minutes evaporated by the first minute of the second quarter.

Palmerton committed its first of eight second-quarter turnovers when Notre Dame’s Chase Marcks stole the ball and scored on a layup to make it 10-10.

The Bombers responded, as they built an 18-13 lead with 4:32 left in the first half.

But, Boyle was starting to heat up by that point, as he’d already made his first three-pointer of the game. His next one cut the lead to two points.

The Bombers got in a bit of foul trouble when Brayden Hosier and Kyle Sebelin both picked up their third fouls of the game late in the first half.

No. 3 seed Notre Dame (20-9) took the lead at the free-throw line when Boyle made a pair with 2:21 left in the half for a 22-20 advantage that increased to 33-26 by halftime.

“The kid’s a stud,” Termini said of Boyle, the Colonial League MVP for the 2021-22 season. “He’s a unanimous league MVP for a reason. Those four threes he hit in the second quarter could have broken our back. But we bounced back, and tied the score in the second half.”

Notre Dame’s lead grew as large as 37-28 early in the third quarter, but the Bombers battled back, as they cut the lead to one point (40-39) on a Hosier basket with 2:44 left in the quarter before Boyle answered with a three-point play moments later.

The Kutztown University-bound senior - who played the game with a broken hand - went 12-for-20 from the field. He missed his first two shots in the first quarter, before he made his next five attempts in the half.

“They came out and punched us in the mouth,” said Brendan’s father and Crusader head coach Pat Boyle. “Luckily we bounced back. Brendan came out and made some big plays. He was playing with a broken hand, and was a little out of it early. Their fans were getting on him when he was playing bad, and that fueled him. He was fired up.”

Palmerton refused to stand by and watch Boyle’s heroics. The Bombers were down by five when starter and senior leader Sebelin fouled out with 5:48 left in the game. But a Matt Machalik three-pointer, and a basket by Hosier tied the game at 53-53 with 4:36 left, the first tie since the second quarter.

Boyle answered with a basket just seconds later, and the Crusaders played solid defense down the stretch.

“Palmerton played fantastic, and we were able to find a way,” said Pat Boyle. “That’s what I’m most proud about.”

CLOSER BUT JUST SHORT … The loss was a lot closer than the first time these teams met. Notre Dame beat Palmerton in the regular season 92-39 on Jan. 12. Pat Boyle said he expected a closer game this time with the Bombers’ sophomore stars having “grown up since then.”

FOUR IN FOUR … Palmerton reached the District 11 semifinals for the fourth straight season, which included its district champion team in 2019 that lost to District 1’s New Hope-Solebury in the subregional title game.

FUTURE LOOKS BRIGHT … The Bombers graduate three seniors from this year’s team, but just one starter in Kyle Sebelin. Both of the team’s all-league players will return in sophomores Machalik and Hosier, along with juniors Chris Reph and Kendall Robinson, who both started Saturday’s game. Sophomore Zach Anthony also has been a starter at times this season for Palmerton.

PALMERTON

Machalik 6-8-9-16, J. Sebelin 0-0-0-0, Robinson 2-0-2-4, Reph 2-4-5-9, Leister 0-0-0-0, K. Sebelin 1-2-2-4, Grammes 0-1-2-1, Hosier 5-4-4-16, Stahler 1-0-0-2, Anthony 0-1-4-1. TOTALS: 17-21-28-58.

NOTRE DAME

B. Boyle 12-6-11-34, Rodgers 1-1-1-3, Becker 1-2-4-4, Bohn 0-0-0-0, Vassallo 1-0-1-3, C. Boyle 1-0-0-2, Howlett 4-4-6-13, Marcks 3-0-0-4, Altmire 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 25-13-23-69.

Palmerton 10 16 17 15 - 58

Notre Dame 8 25 14 22 - 69

Three-pointers: P – Hosier 2, Machalik 1, Reph 1; ND – Boyle 5, Howlett 1.