The Northwestern Lehigh girls basketball team closed out the 2023 portion of its schedule with wins over Lehighton and Blue Mountain in nonconference games.

This time next year, Lehighton will be a part of the Colonial League, so a number of teams have them on their schedule this season to get a look at what they will be facing down the road. Blue Mountain is also a familiar opponent for many of the Colonial League teams, especially Northwestern Lehigh, which has developed somewhat of a rivalry with the Eagles over the past few seasons. Northwestern (4-1 Colonial, 8-1 overall) downed Lehighton 47-39 and beat Blue Mountain 47-45.

Against Lehighton (2-2 Schuylkill, 5-4 overall), the Tigers were led by 18 points from Cara Thomas and 12 points from Brook Balliet. In the opening quarter, Northwestern hit three three-pointers, two coming from Balliet and the other from Emma Freeman. The barrage of long balls gave the Tigers a 16-12 edge after the first quarter. The table turned a little in the second quarter as Northwestern was unable to hit from beyond the arc while Lehighton dropped two three-pointers and when the teams went into the locker rooms at halftime, it was a 27-25 lead for Northwestern Lehigh.

The Lady Tigers came out with their defense going into lockdown mode and held Lehighton to just four third quarter points. Meanwhile, Northwestern continued to look to build their lead and by the end of the quarter they had stretched their lead to nine points. It would be Thomas who would carry the team in the final quarter, scoring seven of her game-high 18 points to carry Northwestern to the win.

The Tigers had to battle from behind against Blue Mountain (3-1 Schuylkill, 4-2 overall), but came away with the two-point win to give themselves a seven-game winning streak heading into the 2024 portion of the schedule. Individual scoring and statistics from that game were not received by the Press.

After the holidays, Northwestern returns to their home court Jan. 4 against Saucon Valley (1-5, 2-6) before taking a trip to Pen Argyl (3-3, 4-4) the next night.