Jerry Lloyd’s first season as the head coach at Northwestern Lehigh may have started slowly, but the team came together for a season that concluded with a run into districts before a loss to Allentown Central Catholic ended the season. Overall, Northwestern finished at 14-6 on the season after opening with back-to-back losses in nonleague games.

After falling to Executive Education Academy and then Pottsville, Lloyd regrouped the team and made a couple tactical changes. While the team was equipped to play an up-tempo style of basketball, it was trying to play at a pace that led to too many turnovers and translated into losses.

Using a slightly slower pace, the team went on a three-game winning streak and saw its point totals rise while their opponents sometimes struggled to score.

“We went back and fixed that,” said Lloyd at the time about the up-tempo style. “I think we were just trying to play at a level that wasn’t going to be sustainable, so it was a matter of slowing things down just a little and it made a big difference.”

Perhaps the game of the season was an overtime win against Southern Lehigh in the Colonial League quarterfinals. Having lost to the Spartans earlier in the season, the teams needed overtime to settle the playoff game and newcomer Dylan Witkowski put on a show in the second half of the game and then scored all eight of the Tigers ‘points in OT.

Witkowski, a junior, was a top storyline for the Tigers all season after he transferred into the district from Emmaus. Not only did Witkowski provide heroics throughout the season on offense, but he showed that he could contribute defensively as well. When all the numbers were crunched, Witkowski led the team in scoring with a 10.10 points per game average.

“Dylan showed time after time that he was able to contribute on both sides of the court and that was big for us,” said Lloyd. “We have a lot of guys who don’t focus just on scoring but are able to help shut down the other team, too.”

Northwestern ran into an overpowering defense in the Colonial League semifinals and fell to Bangor 59-40. In districts, Northwestern was seeded third and had a first-round bye before they beat Lehighton 45-31 in the quarterfinals before falling to Central Catholic.

While Northwestern didn’t come away with a league or district championship, it did reach the district semifinals and put together a strong season. As for the future, there is reason to believe that the team has plenty of wins to come down the road. This year’s roster had just three seniors – Andres Garrido, Nick Henry and Jared Stitzel – and saw several younger players emerge.

Sophomore Cayden Fitch finished the season just behind Witkowski in scoring by averaging 9.25 points per game and edging out Witkowski for the lead in three-pointers by a slim 39-38 margin. Another sophomore, Cade Christopher scored 5.67 points per game. Among the juniors, Ethan Lazarus and Justin Holmes averaged 4.86 and 4.65 points per game respectively.

“We’ve really got some good young players who are contributing and our seniors kind of set the pace and do their job as team leaders and the younger guys are picking it all up,” said Lloyd earlier in the season. “We’ve got kids who are going to help us both now and down the road and that’s a good mix to have.”