As a league champ, the Northwestern Lehigh boys basketball earned a bye for the District 11 4A tournament and a bye through to the semifinal round.

Of course, rest isn’t something that this team is used to.

“I kind of think the success of the football team year after year has become a bit of a good-luck charm for us or something,” said Tiger head coach Pat Wanamaker with a smile. “Our guys are used to having the schedule messed up and a bunch of games pile up and they just play through it.”

The Tigers will face either North Schuylkill (13-9) or Bethlehem Catholic (12-10) in semifinals next Tuesday, Feb. 24. The Hawks and Spartans meet Friday night at Allen.

Northwestern has averaged 58.6 points per game this season and has held opponents to 49.3 points per game.

The Tigers have three players averaging in double digit scoring per game with senior Mason Bollinger leading the way with 13.6 points per game. Junior Brady Krimmel (11.4) and Malachi Coleman (11.2) are next in line.

Coleman and fellow senior Cannon Fitch give Northwestern long range power and have combined for 69 three-pointers this season. Bollinger does much of his work down low while Krimmel can be found all over the court.

“Our guys have played together pretty much, and they know who they can look to in different situations,” said Wanamaker. “We do like to control the game, and we have the guys who are good enough to do that out on the court.”

Northwestern is looking for its first district championship since winning the 2A classification in the 1997-1998 season.

“The first step was to get through the Colonial League and then go after that district championship,” said Krimmel. “We all want this, but it would be especially sweet for our seniors and they deserve it.”