ND pulls away from Bombers

Momentum is one of the key things in the game of basketball. Momentum can either propel a team to victory, or keep them from earning a win.

On Wednesday night, momentum was the difference as Notre Dame erupted in the second half to come away with a 66-39 Colonial League victory over Palmerton.

With the loss, Palmerton (9-11, 7-9) will need to win its final two games of the season to qualify for the postseason.

Momentum was actually on the side of Palmerton in the first half. Trailing by 10 after one quarter, hot shooting got the Bombers back in the game. Four triples split evenly between Nate Dougherty and Eric Baumgardt helped Palmerton to a one-point advantage at the half. The momentum-swinging play of the half came just before the buzzer when Dougherty drained a jumper from deep, which sent the Bombers into the half with a jolt of energy.

“When you’re hitting the three, usually everything is going to go well for you, and we were able to do that in the second quarter,” said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini. “We switched to zone too during that run, and that helped us as well, but we had trouble scoring in the second half,and when you don’t score, it’s hard to get back into that.

“Credit to Notre Dame, they came out with a lot of energy on both the offensive and defensive end. They started to hit some shots and gain confidence, and that hurt us.”

But the second half was all Notre Dame, as it outscored the Bombers, 42-14.

The third quarter was the difference. Notre Dame’s switch to a three-quarter court zone trap defense from half-court man-to-man gave the Bombers fits and setup the Crusaders with a lot of quality offensive possessions. The result was a 19-4 run for Notre Dame in the third, which stole all the momentum from Palmerton and gave the Crusaders a 14-point lead going into the fourth.

“Our goal was to come out and attack the rim, drive the basketball and make things happen,” said Notre Dame head coach Pat Boyle. “We settled for jump shots in the second quarter and we need to be more aggressive. The switch to the zone pressure is something we’ve been doing a lot now over the last two years. It really fits our personnel, and the kids do a great job at it. They rotate well, and it creates some offense for us at times.”

In the fourth, a hoop plus the harm to start the quarter by the Crusaders’ Zach DeFoe set the tone for the frame, extending the lead to 17. Notre Dame (15-5, 12-3) outscored Palmerton by 14 in the fourth, which helped it to the 27-point victory.

LEADERS ... Jaden Cunningham led the Crusaders with 19 points, while DeFoe added 18. For Palmerton, Dougherty led the way with 16 points. Justin Hosier chipped in with 10.

TWO AND IN ... The Bombers must win their final two games of the season. They will face Southern Lehigh and Northern Lehigh in their final two matchups. “We have played some pretty good basketball at times this season. I think sometimes it’s forgotten that we lost 20 games last year, and now we’re playing meaningful basketball late in the season this year,” said Termini. “We’ve made great strides, but we’re not satisfied. We want to be in the playoffs.”

NOTRE DAME

Baldo 1-0-0-2, Cunningham 9-1-2-19, Melham 1-1-2-4, Cornish 1-0-0-2, Hohl 2-1-2-6, Demeuse 0-0-0-0, Myers 0-0-0-0, DeFoe 7-6-9-18, Omick 3-0-1-8, Korpies 1-1-2-3, Sanders 0-0-0-0. Totals: 25-8-15-66.

PALMERTON

Yacone 1-0-0-2, Young 0-0-0-0, Baumgardt 3-1-2-9, Dougherty 6-1-2-16, King 0-0-0-0, Kratzer 0-0-0-0, Hosier 4-1-1-10, Buck 1-0-0-2, Silfies 0-0-0-0, Taschler 0-0-0-0, Beahm 0-0-2-0, Quinn 0-0-0-0. Totals: 15-3-7-39.

Notre Dame 20 4 19 23 - 66

Palmerton 10 15 4 10 - 39

Three-pointers: ND - Omick 2, Hohl 1, Melham 1; P - Dougherty 3, Baumgardt 2, Hosier 1.