The Northwestern girls basketball team came crawling out of its cage this season, losing both of its nonleague openers this season before beating Saucon Valley Monday night to gain its first win of the season.

The slow start wasn’t entirely surprising because of the fact that the team has a number of young players on its roster who are being asked to step into big roles for the team. Head coach Chris Deutsch admits there was some frustration through the first two games, but also realizes the effort is there and there is a lot to be encouraged about.

“We have some girls in different roles from where they were last year and we have to give them time to adjust to that role,” he said after a 51-46 loss to Emmaus that left Northwestern Lehigh with an 0-2 start to the season. “It’s a patience factor and sometimes, I’m not the most patient, but you have to keep it in perspective. It’s tough. I said there were things we needed to work on and a lot of people thought it was just coaching talk, but I saw some of these things that I was afraid of and I didn’t think we were there yet.”

In their first two games, Northwestern (1-2 overall, 1-0 Colonial) was victimized by strong outside shooting and allowed 14 three-pointers. Whitehall (1-2, 0-1 EPC) hit six three-pointers to edge the Tigers 41-38, while Emmaus (1-2, 0-1 EPC) hit eight three-pointers in a 51-46 win. For the Hornets, their eight three-pointers gave them 16 in their first two games.

“Defensively, we gave them some good looks and they made shots,” said Deutsch. “It seemed like whenever we left a girl open in these two games, they hit their shots and we have not. I don’t think we’ve shot well and it’s not an effort thing, it’s just little mistakes that are hurting us. It’s more mental mistakes where we know better and we’re just not doing things.”

The game against Emmaus turned into a battle of freshman players as Keziah Brantley hit for 17 points, including three three-pointers, and Paige Sevrain scored 16 in just her second varsity game for Northwestern.

“One thing I was encouraged by tonight was Paige Sevrain, who played really well,” said Deutsch. “That’s encouraging for us because we need her to give us some post presence and she did that tonight. I thought that for a freshman, she really stepped up and that’s what we need. The other girls have to play better and they’re capable of doing it and they will do it, it’s just taking a little bit longer than I wish it would.”

Things turned around decisively against Saucon Valley (0-3, 0-1) Monday night when Alex Lister scored 14 points and Kailyn Jones scored 11 in a 63-26 win for Northwestern. The win in the Colonial League opener for Northwestern may be the game that gets them pointed in the right direction. Deutsch pointed out that the first two games were against strong EPC teams who are both in the 6A classification of schools that are much bigger than Northwestern, which helps to put the two losses into perspective.

Deutsch also believes that the two early losses and the win over Saucon Valley will give the players some experience to draw from if they hit rough patches at other points in the season. He was also prophetic in predicting that his team wouldn’t stay down for long.

“This is where we tell the girls that we’re going to have some tough times, but we can’t let two games define our season,” said Deutsch. “We’ll bounce back and I’m encouraged that we’re getting to where we need to be to get it done. It starts with us [the coaches]. We have to put them in better positions to win. Better days are ahead.”

Northwestern has Colonial League games against Palmerton (3-0, 1-0) and Southern Lehigh (1-2, 0-1) this week before a nonconference game against Lehighton (2-1, 0-0 Schuylkill League) on Saturday. They return to league play next Tuesday with a game at Moravian Academy (3-0, 3-0).