Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch couldn’t remember a season where he had just one senior. This year’s team has just one outgoing member, Paige Stitzel, and she got the start on senior night as the Lady Tigers defeated Pen Argyl 56-34 in a Colonial League girls basketball game.

Not only is Stitzel special for being the solo member of this year’s senior class, but also for the work she put in over the years and for what she gave up to have that spotlight of the Northwestern Lehigh High School Gymnasium during pregame on Tuesday night.

“She sacrificed this year,” Deutsch. “She gave up her cross country [season] because she has a very bad knee. She is going to have surgery after the season. She wanted to play her senior year of basketball. She wanted to stick it out.

“For her to be a big contributor for us off the bench means a lot to this program. She does the little things and it means a lot to the players and the coaches.”

Stitzel, who will be attending Moravian College, finished the game with two points, but a smile still came across her face when she talked about that pregame senior night ceremony.

“Honestly, it was good to get all of the attention,” she said. “It obviously would’ve been really great to have other seniors around you experiencing the same thing. It was just a really cool experience. These girls are just really great to be around.”

Stitzel got increased playing time with those girls during the tilt against Pen Argyl where the Green Knights finished with 34 points and 27 turnovers, a ratio that the winless team could not overcome.

Leading 12-7 after the opening frame, Northwestern (13-7 overall, 11-5 Colonial League), took advantage of nine straight turnovers from Pen Argyl to start the second quarter as the Lady Tigers went on an 8-0 run during that stretch.

Piloting Northwestern’s offense were the two forwards in the starting lineup. Junior Leighanna Lister notched a game-high 18 points while sophomore Sage Christopher chipped in 11 points.

“I was really proud of the way tonight that we attacked their zone defense,” Deutsch said. “They came out in a 1-3-1. Then they played 2-3. I think [Lister] and [Christopher] really work well together and look for one another with high-low passes. They really feed off of each other. I thought they made some really beautiful passes to one another. I was really proud of our execution offensively.”

The offensive execution continued throughout the second half as Northwestern went on a 7-1 run over the first four minutes of the final period to secure the victory, which left Deutsch feeling good about his team with just two games remaining until the postseason.

“I think we are playing our best basketball right now,” he said. “Going into league play, I’m confident that we can play with anyone, but it won’t be easy. Right now, there is Southern Lehigh and then everyone else. They are the team to beat.”

The Lady Tigers visit Salisbury on Thursday and travel to Catasauqua on Feb. 7 for the regular season finale.