This is the time of year that brings hurt and tears in high school basketball.

A finality sets in for teams since a loss means the end of the season.

It’s especially tough for seniors and can be hard on coaches as well.

Northwestern’s Chris Deutsch was as bothered by his team’s loss to Allentown Central Catholic as he has ever been after a game, feeling that he had let down his players who made up a team that he ranked as one of the most coachable and fun teams that he ever had in 23 seasons of coaching.

The Lady Tigers’ season ended with a 46-42 loss to the Vikettes in the District 11 4A quarterfinals Saturday afternoon at Catasauqua High School.

Players on both sides got into foul trouble with a total of 48 foul shots being called in the game. While the Vikettes appeared to be undaunted by the foul issues, Northwestern players may have become a little tentative.

“There were just a lot of fouls,” said Deutsch. “They were calling them on both teams, so it wasn’t like it was lopsided or anything, but there were a lot of fouls called. It’s tough to play that way and I think maybe we were a little too conscious of that and looked to stay out of trouble.”

Northwestern took a 17-12 lead after the first quarter.

Central struggled to find shots in the second quarter and settled for a pair of foul shots by Morgan Seagreaves for its only two points. By halftime, the Tigers were up 26-14.

The Vikettes fell behind by 14 points early in the third quarter, their deepest deficit of the game. They started to work their way back when Alyssa Hursh hit a three-pointer and both Skylar Taylor and Seagreaves followed with baskets a little later and cut the lead to seven at 29-22.

Northwestern senior Olivia Reinhart cut the rally short with a three-pointer and Natalie Conner hit a turnaround jumper in the last minute to make it a 36-25 game in favor of the Lady Tigers.

“I thought we were playing really well,” said Deutsch. “We got an early lead, and our defense was playing well, but things just started to come apart for us and we couldn’t get back on track.”

Conner, senior Emma Freeman, and Reinhart all picked up their fourth fouls of the game less than two minutes apart.

Central trailed 39-33 when the defensive holes started to open for Northwestern, scoring 13 unanswered points to take its first lead of the second half.

Freeman got the final basket of the season for Northwestern at the buzzer, but it wasn’t enough as the Vikettes eliminated Northwestern 46-42.

Deutsch had said at the start of the season that he felt this team had a lot of promise because it had developed such great chemistry and was a fun group of players to be around.

“I feel like I left these girls down because they put in such hard work and were such a great group to work with,” he said. “We have four seniors who I have become very fond of and who gave everything they had for this team, and I really wanted more for them.

“It’s hard to go out this way, and I told them that I could not be prouder of their effort all through the season.”