Tigers fall to L. Moreland

LOWER MORELAND — Handling pressure.

On Friday, in the quarterfinal round of the District 11/1 playoffs against No. 2 seed Lower Moreland, No. 7 seed Northwestern knew the to key to a “W” was handling the Lions chaotic full-court pressure defense. Unfortunately for the Tigers, in their first district berth since 2008, the Lions pressure “D” was too much to handle.

From the onset, Lower Moreland (19-7) used its jump-and-run style to set the tone, forcing 24 turnovers en route to a 60-43 victory. The Lions will now move on and host Tamaqua Tuesday in the semifinal round.

Lower Moreland wasted no time forcing the Tigers (12-11) to play its style of basketball. Quickly, the Lions jumped out to a 23-8 lead after the first quarter, using their jump-and-run pressure to create offensive opportunities. Northwestern stayed competitive early, trailing by just two points with six minutes remaining in the frame, but a furious 17-2 Lions run certainly put the momentum on their side.

“We like to create chaos and really get after it defensively, and we play at a fast pace. We were able to play our style of basketball tonight,” said Lions head coach Seth Baron. “The key for us was also to get an early lead because of our strong guard play. We can really control the tempo then. It’s hard to really pressure us or steal the ball from our guards.”

Northwestern made its run in the second quarter, showing that it did not want to go quietly into the night. The Tigers applied a little full-court pressure of their own, throwing a 1-2-2 trap at the Lions, which stalled the Lower Moreland offense. The Tigers outscored the Lions by six in the frame to get within nine at the half.

The low post duo of Devin Thomas and Devin Bollinger helped to keep Northwestern in the game, combining for 14 points and double-digit rebounds in the first half.

“I was real proud of our kids tonight, because they didn’t give up, they really battled to get back in the game in the second quarter,” said Tigers head coach Billy Hallman. “We switched some things up on them and caused some turnovers, and we attacked the basket. We knew coming in that if we took care of the ball we would get good looks, but we just weren’t able to do that consistently.”

Turnovers once again plagued the Tigers in third quarter. That, coupled with deadly three-point shooting by the Lions, extended Lower Moreland’s lead to a more comfortable 15 points. The Lions hit four triples in the third, with Joey Cerrutti knocking down two in that span.

In the fourth, it was much of the same for the Tigers as they just couldn’t figure out a way to handle the Lions pressure. Lower Moreland extended its lead to as much as 19 before eventually coming through with the 17-point win, advancing to the semis.

POSITIVE OUTLOOK ... The Tigers return almost their entire roster for next season. Qualifying for the district playoffs after 10 seasons was a goal they achieved and a step in the right direction. “Our goal was to get here, we worked hard and accomplished that goal,” said Hallman. “This stings a little bit, but we have nothing to hold our heads down about. I already can’t wait for the start of next season.”

LEADERS ... Thomas led the way for Northwestern with a game-high 17 points, while Bollinger chipped in 10. Shane Cohen led the Lions with 16 points.

NORTHWESTERN

Rosamalia 0-0-0-0, Hebelka 0-1-2-1, Seyfried 1-0-0-2, Yadush 2-0-0-5, Mengel 1-0-0-2, Bollinger 5-0-1-10, McCann 0-0-0-0, Rebert 1-0-0-2, Henry 0-0-0-0, Snyder 1-0-0-2, Thomas 7-3-5-17, Holmes 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 19-4-8-43.

LOWER MORELAND

Cerrutti 4-0-0-11, Cohen 7-2-2-16, Himmelstein 2-1-1-5, Shimon 2-0-0-5, Horn 5-1-1-13, Key 2-3-3-7, Zoubroulis 0-0-0-0, Finnegan 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 23-7-8-60.

N’western 8 13 12 8 - 43

L. Moreland 23 9 18 10 - 60

Three-pointers: Northwestern - Yadush 1; L. Moreland - Cerrutti 3, Horn 2, Shimon 1, Finnegan 1.