Northwestern rallies past Northern Lehigh

There’s nothing like a good rivalry game to get your blood flowing.

When you add in a packed house and two teams on the verge of qualifying for District 11 playoff berths, you’ve got a big night of high school basketball

Northern Lehigh entered Thursday’s game needing one win to clinch a district playoff spot, while Northwestern was just two wins away from its first district bid in 10 years.

The Bulldogs opened a big early lead, but Northwestern fought its way back for a 60-57 Colonial League win.

“We were in our head too much, thinking ‘we’re playing our rivals and we don’t want to let them get to districts.’ We were too energetic and trying to do too much, and we just had to get back to playing our game,” said Northwestern junior Brandon Mengel about his team’s slow start.

In the first seven minutes, both Devin Thomas and Sam Yadush picked up two fouls, and the Tigers turned the ball over and settled for quick shots. The result was a 21-12 lead for the Bulldogs after the first quarter.

After Northern Lehigh (10-8, 7-7) stretched the lead to 11, the Tigers calmed down and began to chip away to cut it to a 34-29 deficit at the half.

Brandon Hess had 10 first-half points for the Bulldogs, while both Nate Keller and Preston Kemmery had nine.

The second half of the game was a different story. Northwestern got back to its style of play and pounded the ball inside to Deven Bollinger, who took good shots and bounced the ball back outside when there was nothing inside. That was perfect for Mengel, who hit two second-half three-pointers and finished with 13 points.

“We worked the ball on offense and it wasn’t first shot, take it. We tried to pound the ball inside because we knew that it would open up everything else, and Brandon Mengel stepped up and hit some key shots tonight,” said Tiger coach Billy Hallman. “He just goes and plays and does a great job, and he brings a lot of energy, which is what we need.”

Northwestern’s Derek Hebelka drove for a layup with 5:40 left in the third quarter to tie the game at 36-36.

The Tigers (10-7, 7-6) stretched their lead to as many as seven points in the third quarter, but Northern Lehigh didn’t lose composure and fought back to put themselves in position to tie the score with time running out in the fourth quarter.

Hess took a long three-pointer from the right side, but it bounced off the rim and Northwestern grabbed the rebound as time ran out.

“I think this is one of our biggest wins this season,” said Mengel. “Because we stopped our rivals from getting to districts and we’re one step closer to leagues and we’re one step closer to districts, two places we haven’t been in a long time.”

YOU’RE OUT ... While Northwestern got into early foul trouble, in the end, it was Northern Lehigh that ran into issues. Nick Seier fouled out with 2:19 to play and Gio Colon followed with less than a minute to play. Overall, the Bulldogs were 8-for-16 from the line, while Northwestern went 12-for-20.

HE’S OUT ... Sophomore Luke Hallman, who provided Northwestern with a big, physical presence inside, is lost for the season with a torn ACL. When he was first injured, coach Hallman was hoping Luke would return against Northern Lehigh, but the injury turned out to be worse than expected, and ended Hallman’s sophomore season early.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Kemmery 8-0-0-17, Colon 2-0-0-4, Shoff 2-1-3-5, Seier 0-2-3-2, Seiler 2-0-0-5, Keller 2-1-3-7, Hess 6-4-7-17. TOTALS: 22-8-16-57.

NORTHWESTERN

Habelka 1-1-2-3, Seyfried 4-2-2-11, Yadush 4-2-4-11, Mengel 4-2-3-13, Bollinger 4-4-7-13, McCann 0-0-0-0, Henry 0-0-0-0, Thomas 4-1-2-9. TOTALS: 21-12-20-60.

Northern Lehigh 21 13 6 17 - 57

Northwestern 12 17 15 16 - 60

Three-pointers: Northern Lehigh – Keller 2, Kemmery 1, Seiler 1, Hess 1; Northwestern - Mengel 3, Seyfried 1, Yadush 1, Bollinger 1.