As a game between Northwestern Lehigh and Allentown Central Catholic usually does, the District 11 Class 4A boys basketball championship game on Friday night was a constant swing of momentum.

There were five lead changes in the game that saw two big offenses combine for just 55 points with the Vikings winning the replay of last year’s district final with a 33-22 victory.

“If you would have told me coming in that we would hold them to just 33 points,” said Northwestern head coach Patrick Wanamaker. “I would have thought there was no way we would have lost this game.”

The low-scoring total has become the norm for the Vikings when they play at Allen High School. Their last three games there they have averaged just 35 points per game.

In a regular season game against Allen, they lost 47-39. In Tuesday night’s semifinal game, they beat Salisbury 33-32 repeating the 33-point performance against the Tigers.

The first lead change came with 3:56 left in the first quarter when Central Catholic’s Di’Quiawn Leak got a steal at midcourt and took the ball to the basket for a 4-3 lead. The first quarter ended with just 10 points being scored as the Vikings won the quarter 6-4.

When Yariel Gonzalez opened the scoring in the second quarter with a three-pointer, it was the last time that Central scores until :30 into the second half.

Down 9-4, the Tigers’ Mason Bollinger started the comeback, and Cannon Fitch tied the game with a three to make it 9-9. Bollinger picked up four more second-quarter points to give Northwestern a 13-9 halftime lead.

“I thought we were in pretty good shape at that point,” said Wanamaker. “We did a good job of keeping them in check and battling against them.”

Just as the Tigers held Central to three points in the second quarter, the Vikings got some pay back when they held Northwestern to a single bucket in the third.

Gonzalez made an inside spin move to the basket to make it 14-13. A minute later Bollinger hit on a driving layup to give Northwestern the lead again at 15-14.

That lead lasted just 1:10 as Gonzalez put the Vikings back on top where they stayed for the rest of the game. He also closed out the quarter with a baseline drive that led to a layup and a foul as the Vikings built a 19-15 lead going into the final quarter.

The closest the Tigers got the rest of the way was when Brady Krimmel turned a layup into a three-point play to make it 19-18.

At that point, Northwestern put up some good shots that went just off the mark or even appeared on the way through the basket only to pop back out.

Central Catholic started to flex its muscles on the boards and when Leak pulled down an offensive rebound and went right back up with it for two, the Vikings were up 27-18 with 2:08 left in regulation.

“They have their two 6-6 guys (Gonzalez and Ford) to go up against, and that’s a lot to handle,” said Wanamaker. “We did a pretty good job against them early, but we had to fight for every rebound we got and I think it wore us down a little.

“Late in the game, that really made a big difference.”

Krimmel hit one of two foul shots and Leak again picked up a basket and drew a foul to go up 30-19.

Krimmel buried a three from the top of the key, but when the game shifted to the other end of the court Jared Ford hit a jump shot for a 32-22 lead.

Gonzalez finished off the scoring when he made one of two foul shots to wrap up the game for a 33-22 victory.

Central Catholic was without sophomore guard Grayson Schmell, who was injured in Tuesday night’s semifinal win over Salisbury.

“I did think they would do some different things against us defensively,” said Wanamaker. “Because I was hearing rumors that (Grayson) Schmell wasn’t going to play. When I heard that, I thought they might look to do things a little differently.”

The Central Catholic defense held two of Northwestern’s top five scorers – Malachi Coleman and Brady Zimmerman – scoreless in the game. Neither player had gone without a point in any game during the season. Only three players – Bollinger, Fitch, and Krimmel – scored for Northwestern and none of them were able to reach their season averages.

Spring sports practices began this week, but they’re going to have to start without any of the basketball players who also play spring sports.

Even with the loss, Northwestern still gets a bid into the PIAA tournament and will even start play with one last home game Friday against Dallas High School, the runner-up of the District 2 tournament.