With 3.8 seconds left on the clock and the score tied at 58-58, a scramble under the Palmerton basket resulted in a jump ball that awarded possession to the Bombers.

During a time out, Palmerton Coach Joe Egan drew up a play for what he hoped would be the winning shot.

“It was just the day before that the play was given to me by a longtime coach at Central Catholic so I decided to use it,” he said.

The play called for the inbounds pass from behind the baseline to go to Logan Anthony and once he got the ball, he had two options.

“Option A was for me to set a screen and hand off the ball to a teammate cutting to the basket,” said Anthony. “Well that wasn’t there, so I went to option B.”

And option B where he was supposed to take the shot worked perfectly for Anthony and the Bombers.

He turned and pivoted in the paint and threw up a hook shot that bounced off the glass and into the basket for a thrilling 60-58 Palmerton victory over Lehighton on Wednesday.

For Trevor Miller’s Indians, not much went his team’s way in the final two minutes of the game.

Leading the entire fourth period up to that point, Lehighton’s strategy was to kill time off the clock and force Palmerton to foul in the final seconds. And much of it worked.

The Tribe took possession with 2:09 left to play and up by three points at 58-55 At the 1:40 mark, Palmerton’s Brady Reph stole the ball and drove the full court with a driving layup to cut the home team’s margin to one.

Lehighton resumed its kill-the-clock plan and held possession of the ball until a Palmerton foul put a Tribe player on the free throw line. After two misses, the Bombers regained possession until Corey Serfass was fouled. He sank one of two free throws that tied the game and set the drama for the Anthony’s game-winner.

Miller’s disappointment with his team’s overall effort and performance was evident following the final horn.

“If we want to be successful the rest of the season, we have to find ways to stop teams when we have the lead,” he said. “Missing two free throws, and then having a foolish foul near the end of the game is not what we expect from our players.”

Miller was also unhappy with other aspects of his team’s play.

“Our execution was poor. We took bad shots in the fourth period, and in the final three minutes we didn’t do much right. We didn’t play with enough heart and effort for sure.”

Lehighton jumped out to a 9-2 lead, with six of those points scored by Blake Roberts, who had a team-high 18 for the Tribe. Palmerton closed the gap to 18-14 on a three-pointer by Serfass, who led all scorers with 27 points.

The second period saw Palmerton storm back to outscore Lehighton, 17-7, and take a 31-25 lead at halftime. While Serfass and his teammates grabbed the 10-point advantage, Anthony was a defensive force, blocking shots and grabbing rebounds.

“Logan has become one of the best big men in the league,” said Egan. “I also think we kept both Roth and Dietz from scoring big numbers, too.”

In the third, Lehighton regained the lead at the 3:40 mark when Roberts drained a three ball and built a six-point advantage — helped by two threes by Talin Fairchild and a change in defensive strategy with their forwards coming to the top of the key and putting pressure on Palmerton’s guards.

The Bombers protected the ball from the pressure and set the stage for Anthony’s buzzer-beater.

Asked if he felt the pressure before taking what would become the game-winning shot, Anthony said he expects to help his team win close games.

“This was my second game-winner this season,” he said. “My first was against North Schuylkill (in a 46-44 win).”

Egan’s team has now won four of their last five.

“We really didn’t have much of an offseason prep,” he said, “but now we are starting to jell. This was a nice come-from-behind win for us.”

TEAMS TRENDING … While Palmerton continues to improve, Lehighton has now lost four of its last five.

BOMBER REVENGE … The Bombers avenged a 65-62 loss to Lehighton earlier in the season.

PALMERTON

Serfass 10-1-2-27, Pengelly 3-1-3-8, Reph 3-0-0-8, Anthony 3-2-2-8, Delgado -2-1-1-6, George 1-0-2-2, Carrelli 0-1-2-1, Jedrejeczyk 0-0-0-0, Zulik 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-6-12-60.

LEHIGHTON

Roberts 6-3-6-18, Dietz 4-3-3-13, Roth 3-6-6-12, Fairchild 3-1-1-11, Solt 1-2-2-4, Light 0-0-0-0, Meek 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-15-20-58.

Palmerton 14 17 10 19 - 60

Lehighton 18 7 22 11 - 58

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Serfass 6, Reph 2, Pengelly 1, Delgado 1; Lehighton - Roberts 3, Fairchild 2, Dietz 2.

Records: Palmerton (7-11; 6-9); Lehighton (13-5; 9-5).