Catasauqua and Northwestern Lehigh’s boys basketball teams’ records were an identical 19-5 prior to the Colonial League championship final, but at the end of the night, the Tigers went one up on the Rough Riders with a 59-56 victory on Feb. 13 at Freedom High School.

“Oh, they never gave up,” said Catasauqua coach Eric Snyder of his team. “I mean, we had a chance to tie the game.”

Aalani Nix’s 3-pointer with 1:51 remaining brought down Catty’s side of the gym making the score, 52-51, Northwestern Lehigh.

“To these kids’ credit, we cut it down to one point. We just couldn’t get over the hump,” Coach Snyder said. “Credit to them, they made their foul shots. We missed our share of foul shots, and if we would’ve made half of what we missed, who knows what would’ve happened?”

Northwestern’s Brady Krimmel sank two free throws, and Cannon Fitch added two points off of a Krimmel steal with the clock at 1:18.

But Nix had another 3-pointer in his game that made the score, 56-54, Northwestern, with 48.5 left.

Nix secured the rebound on a missed free throw by Krimmel, but a Catty shot missed, and Fitch made two foul shots, 58-54.

Continuing the fight, Hamaad Jenkins’ bucket for Catty brought the Rough Riders within two points.

Down to 3.2 seconds, Fitch missed the second of two foul shots, and it appeared that Jenkins got fingers on the ball as Fitch batted it towards himself, and time ran out.

“To go full court in three seconds, I don’t know if that was gonna happen. That’s a long way to go,” said Snyder. “If it was a normal game, back and forth, four points with four minutes to go is nothing. But when you fight back like that, you’re always in that panic mode. You think you’ve got to keep doing it instead of relaxing. You get a little impatient on that.

“We had an 8-2 lead to start. We had a really good start to the game, and from that point on, though, they outscored us, 34-18, in the first half. You dig a hole, and all that energy that you used to get back, eventually, it wears you out.”

Catasauqua had some of its best opportunities in the third quarter to close the gap.

Lopez opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and Frankie Pujols followed up with two more points off of a turnover.

Jenkins converted on a three-point play, Pujols drained a 3, and Lopez added another triple.

Northwestern, however, kept a healthy lead heading into the final frame.

Catty went on an 8-0 run to start the fourth quarter, bringing the game within six points and fought to a vigorous finish.

“To our kids’ credit, their heart, guts, and desire showed what they’re made of,” Snyder said. “The best part of this is we get another chance in districts. We got back to where we wanted to be this year, and unfortunately, it was the same result.”