Palmerton came out of the gates with both intensity and tenacity against Northwestern in its Colonial League girls matchup on Monday night.

The Blue Bombers jumped out to a 9-0 start that built momentum, and although the Tigers battled back several times, Palmerton answered the bell.

The Bombers knocked down key open shots, and paired that with a big-time performance from Courtney Connell to help them defeat Northwestern 56-52.

“It was a tough, close game with them at their place the last time,” said Palmerton head coach Jeremy Coleman. “That was the message to our team tonight. It was just a two-point loss on the road, and now we got them at home. We didn’t lose a game at home this season. That was the message — that it was a whole new ball game on our home floor.

“The girls came out and they played with energy and confidence. Getting off to that good start was also key. But I told the girls tonight, if they play with that type of energy and confidence, we can compete with anybody.”

Five early points from Hailey Barry led to the Bombers’ quick start. Northwestern went on a run of its own to tie the game at 11-11 late in the quarter. Seven points from impressive Tigers’ freshman Natalie Conner during that span got Northwestern back in the game.

A bucket by Ella Baumgardt to end the frame gave Palmerton a two-point edge after one.

The game stayed close throughout the second with the Bombers holding a slight lead. After four points in the first quarter, Connell heated up in the second and scored seven more, using her quickness from the forward spot to bring defenders out of the paint and attack the basket with her dribble drive.

Connell, which had 16 rebounds in the first meeting between the two teams, had seven boards in the first half. Deuces from both Connell and Alisyn Green to end the frame gave the Bombers a 26-21 lead at the half.

“We really liked that match-up tonight, and we thought Courtney could take advantage of that,” said Coleman. “She’s been really good on the boards for us all season long. And then when she gets it going in the scoring department, she’s really tough to deal with. She had a fabulous game, and I couldn’t be more proud of her.”

A huge three to open the third by Barry made it an eight-point lead for the Bombers, who started to pull away. Palmerton led by as much as 13 after another big Barry triple from the right corner came at the 3:05 mark. Back-to-back makes from Hannah Gober to end the third helped the Tigers finish strong and cut the deficit to eight going into the fourth.

“Palmerton came out tonight and played with a lot of energy and effort,” said Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch. “I thought they outworked us for three out of the four quarters. We were able to do some good things late in the fourth quarter by playing some desperation defense, but credit to Palmerton for coming to play tonight.

“We just struggled to guard them tonight. We didn’t have an answer for Connell, and they hit critical shots when they needed to. Hopefully this is a learning lesson for us in the sense that you can’t just show up. You have to be ready to play. You have to play with a sense of urgency. Starting (Friday), it’s one and you’re done. It’s survive and advance. You have to come out and match your opponents’ intensity.”

A hoop plus the harm from Connell gave Palmerton early momentum to start the fourth. The Bombers stayed in control for a majority of the final frame until about the two-minute mark. Trailing 51-43, a clutch three-pointer from Paige Bissell cut into the deficit. The Tigers’ full-court pressure then gave the Bombers fits for the next minute-plus and the lead shrank even more — down to three at 53-50 after two free throws from Conner — with 25.9 seconds left to play.

However, the Bombers handled the Northwestern pressure the rest of the way and two clutch foul shots by Barry put Palmerton up five with just 15 seconds remaining.

“We did a great job moving the ball tonight and finding open shooters, and we made some big shots,” said Coleman. “When the ball sticks, that’s when we struggle, so that was a great job by our girls.

“We treated this one just like a playoff game tonight. Everyone you play from here on out is going to be a tough team. Again, just proud of our girls for their effort, and that was a big momentum win for us late in the season.”

LEADERS … Connell scored a game-high 25 points for the Bombers. Barry was also key, scoring 15, including three triples. Conner led the Tigers with 23, while Thomas added 13.

WINDEX WOMAN … Connell was dominant on the glass all game long, hauling in an impressive 17 rebounds. In two games against the Tigers this season, she’s notched 33 rebounds.

PALMERTON

Pengelly 1-1-2-3, Baumgardt 1-3-5-5, Morgan 2-0-0-4, Green 2-0-0-4, Barry 5-2-2-15, Connell 10-5-7-25. TOTALS: 21-11-21-56.

NORTHWESTERN

Balliet 0-2-2-2, Bissell 2-0-2-5, Freeman 0-0-0-0, Thomas 4-5-10-13, Gober 3-2-2-8, N. Conner 7-7-8-24, M. Conner 0-0-0-0, Reinhart 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-16-24-52.

Palmerton 13 13 16 14 - 56

Northwestern 11 13 13 18 - 52

Three-pointers: Palmerton - Barry 3; Northwestern - N. Conner 3, Gober 1.