Northwestern Lehigh went up against one of the tougher teams in the Colonial League and came out strong as Palmerton needed a 5-0 run late in the first quarter to cut the Tigers’ lead to 14-13. From there though, the Blue Bombers flexed their muscles, extended the run to a 15-0 count, and went on to down the Tigers 52-38 recently.

Northwestern (8-10 overall, 6-8 Colonial League) had worked its way to a six-point lead thanks to three-pointers from Josh Wambold, Eli Zimmerman, Mason Bollinger and Ethan Kozlowski before Palmerton worked to cut down the outside opportunities. Kozlowski’s three put Northwestern up 14-8 with 2:14 left in the quarter and that would be the last of the three-pointers on the night for the Tigers and their biggest lead of the game.

Palmerton (15-4 overall, 11-3 Colonial) used sharp passing and good ball handling to work for open shots and took the lead for good when Matt Machalik hit a jumper to open the second quarter. The Bombers would not allow another Northwestern basket until the 3:00 mark of the first half when Bollinger hit on a drive to the basket.

Northwestern used late fouls to try to close the gap but were unable to get any closer than 12 points.

Palmerton had a distinct advantage on the boards, particularly early in the game having pulled down six offensive rebounds in the first half. The Blue Bombers added three more in the second half and scored a total of six points off their offensive boards. The numbers went down in the second half thanks to the presence of 6-foot-5 sophomore Shane Marth, who had nine rebounds on the night to go with a team-high 10 points for the Tigers.

“I think that’s a role that I can play for this team,” said Marth, about his rebounding abilities. His 10 points were also a career high for him in a varsity game.

Marth started the season playing varsity, but a shooting slump saw him relegated to the JV team. He put in the work to get himself straightened out and his varsity minutes are expanding, as is the quality of his play.

“I am definitely more comfortable playing varsity now than I was at the beginning of the year,” said Marth. “The added time on the court and the time that I spent at JV are paying off. Each game I play I feel like I am gaining more confidence and playing better.”

Having Marth to block shots and chip in with some points could be a big advantage for the Tigers as they fight for a spot in districts. The team has been unable to put together a consistent run and they will need to find consistency over their final four regular season games to reach districts.

“We are starting to get better. We started the season a little rough, but we are playing smarter, and we are stronger than we were at the beginning,” said Marth.

In addition to the loss to Palmerton, Northwestern fell to Southern Lehigh (13-6, 11-3) in a 65-36 contest. The Tigers’ four remaining games are against Salisbury (5-14, 5-9) and Catasauqua (4-16, 4-11) at home, and they play at Northern Lehigh (1-19, 1-14) in addition to a nonleague game at Brandywine Heights.