The Northwestern boys basketball team had a long wait until it could get the season underway. The players and coaches were part of an excited group of fans cheering on the football team on its way to the state finals.

The football roster and basketball roster have nine players in common and the early season games for basketball were postponed allowing the team to get to full strength before opening their season.

Once the basketball season opened, there was no holding back as Northwestern (2-0 Colonial, 3-0 overall) won three straight to open its delayed season. Northwestern blasted rival Northern Lehigh 77-22, beat Pottsville 64-59 in a nonleague game and finally, knocked off Catasauqua 71-32.

Against Northern Lehigh (0-4, 1-6), the Tigers led wire to wire with Shane Marth opening the season by hitting a three-pointer, one of 10 that the team hit on the night. Northwestern opened an eight-point lead after one quarter and outscored the Bulldogs 16-4 in the second quarter, leading 33-13 at halftime.

“I’ve spent a lot of time in [the Northern Lehigh gym] in my life, but tonight’s trip is definitely one of the best ones,” said Patrick Wanamaker, Northwestern’s first-year coach who played and coached at Northern Lehigh. “We came out and set the tone on the defensive side of the floor and made some shots and that’s a recipe for success.”

Northwestern opened the second half by getting the final six points in an 11-0 run to up their lead to 26. Northern Lehigh’s Nick Buskirk broke the streak by putting a shot off the glass and in to make it a 39-15 game. The basket did little to slow down Northwestern, who seemed to hit any and every kind of shot they put in the direction of the basket as they scored 21 unanswered points for a 60-15 lead.

The key the entire night for Northwestern was balanced scoring. Of the 15 players who got into the game for Northwestern, 12 of them scored and the three who did not score played sparingly after the game was well in hand.

Gavin Nelson led the team with 16 points and Mason Bollinger chipped in with 10. Northern Lehigh was led by Connor Simms, who finished with eight points, all in the first half.

“The biggest thing that we talk about is focusing on the next play,” said Wanamaker. “No matter how big a play or how bad a play, we focus on the next one. We’ll celebrate this one tonight and then tomorrow (Friday) get ready to play Pottsville Saturday night.”

Against Pottsville (4-0 Schuylkill, 5-3 overall), three players scored double digits with Nelson getting 21, Del Tyler right behind with 19 points, and Eli Zimmerman scoring 10 in the win. Christian Alvarez led Pottsville with 17 points in the game.

Monday night against the Rough Riders (1-3, 1-6), Nelson made it a three-peat as the team’s top scorer by dropping in 15 points and Shane Marth had 12 for Northwestern Lehigh.

Hitting the 70-point mark in two of their first three games is impressive since the team had just three practices with their entire roster before opening the season.

While most teams have an extended break over the holidays, the Tigers will be in action with home games against Palmerton (4-0, 4-1) and Salisbury (1-2, 3-2) coming up before Christmas and games against Southern Lehigh (1-2, 1-3) and Northampton (4-1 EPC, 5-1 overall) between Christmas and New Years.