Panther Valley uses length to breeze past Palmerton

Panther Valley looks slightly different this season — they’re longer.

And that length proved to be a big problem for Palmerton during the Panthers’ 50-26 non-league win on Monday night.

“We’re tall and we got some length this year,” said Panther Valley head coach William ‘Dapper’ Lynn. “Athletic-wise, with Olivia Dacey and Erika Dubosky, we’re long. We’re young and they’re going to be good ballplayers down the road.”

After leading by five after one quarter, the Panthers extended their lead to 13 before intermission. Dubosky put in work on the glass, while scoring six of the Panthers’ 14 in the second frame.

“She definitely helps us out as another big and also on the guard end,” said Christina Dacey of Dubosky. “She’s very versatile and it’s nice to have someone else like that here.”

Christina Dacey heated up after intermission, as she scored the third quarter’s first basket with a floater down the lane. She finished the game with four three-pointers and scored 11 of her game-high 17 points in the second half.

“In the beginning, nothing was falling for me,” Dacey said. “My coach kept telling me to drive the lane. That’s what I did to start the (second half), and everything else just fell in place.”

The Panthers came out after halftime in a 1-3-1 defense, which seemed to puzzle Palmerton — so Lynn and his team stayed in that defense for the duration of the contest.

“We have a lot of big girls, so we can play wide,” said PV’s Molly Sheridan. “It’s hard for them to take shots. Linnaea (Leister) is their No. 1 player. She usually scores, so we did a good job of shutting her down. It’s good that we won. Now other teams are going to be intimidated.”

Trailing 24-11 at halftime, Palmerton tried to make a run behind Baylee Guedes and Kayla Cincilla, who combined for eight of the 10 Bombers’ points in the third quarter. But Dacey’s scoring kept PV in control.

“This year, we came back with a lot of bigger and taller players,” said PV’s Abby Hoben. “ It’s great. I feel more confident, I hope they do too. I feel like we put the game away in the third quarter by working together as a team.

PV held a 35-21 lead after three and closed the door on Palmerton in the fourth to open up the season with a victory.

BIG RUN … The Panthers ripped off a 10-0 run in the fourth to extend their lead from 15 to 25 points. Hoben hit a three to start the sequence, followed by a Megan Pascoe trey and two foul shots, before Rachelle Filer ripped down an offensive board and hit a put-back to cap the spurt. “With Molly (Sheridan), Abby (Hoben), and Christina (Dacey), we can shoot the ball,” Lynn said. “Our last scrimmage, against Northern Lehigh, we didn’t shoot the ball well. But at practice, we’ve been lights out.”

IN THE ZONE … Pascoe and Filer were extremely active in PV 1-3-1 zone, running from sideline to sideline — both seemed to be big keys to the success.

PALMERTON

H. Guedes 1-0-0-2, B. Guedes 3-2-8-10, T. Hirochek 1-0-0-2, Cincilla 2-3-4-7, Leister 0-0-0-0, Frantz 1-0-0-2, Beahm 1-0-0-2, Recker 1-1-2-3, Mihalko 0-0-0-0. TOTAL: 10-6-16-26

PANTHER VALLEY

Pascoe 1-4-4-7, Steber 0-0-0-0, Dubosky 4-6-6-14, O. Dacey 0-0-0-0, Hoben 2-0-0-5, Markovich 0-0-0-0, Sheridan 0-0-0-0, C. Dacey 6-1-2-17, Filer 2-3-4-7, Jones 0-0-0. TOTAL: 15-14-16-50

Palmerton 5 6 10 5 - 26

Panther Vy. 10 14 11 15 - 50

Three-pointers: Palmerton – none; Panther Valley – C. Dacey 4, Hoben 1, Pascoe 1.