Head coach Chris Deutsch is the leader of the Northwestern Lady Tiger basketball team. He is the one that answers the questions and takes flack when things go south.

However, he isn't the only one guiding these girls' to success and according to Deutsch, he isn't the most important either.

"Our coaching staff, in my opinion, is the best that there is," said Deutsch. "I couldn't do this all by myself. I have great assistant coaches who don't get the recognition that sometimes the players or that I do, but they do a lot of work behind the scenes. They are a big part of the success of these girls."

Deutsch and his staff, including, Wayne Horn, Billy Hallman, Bob Mazziota, Derrick Reinert, Shannon Kistler and Nathan Hunsicker, have coached the Lady Tigers to an unblemished 5-0 record through Tuesday.

The girls opened league play with a 51-34 defeat of Pen Argyl last Tuesday. The Tigers then defeated Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua by scores of 59-15 and 64-15, respectively.

Seniors Sabrina Mertz and Trista Cunningham along with sophomore Erika Thomas have produced well for the Lady Tigers' during this three-game stretch. Mertz posted 15 against the Bulldogs and 16 against the Rough Riders, but Thomas took the crown against Catty as she dropped 17. Cunningham scored 12 against Northern Lehigh.

"We are happy to be where we are at," said Deutsch of his team. "You don't want to be at your peak this time of year either. You want to keep getting better as it goes along and keep improving. There are tons of improvements we need to make to get to the next level."

Deutsch said that he likes his team's depth as they play roughly nine girls per game. Any one of his starters - Mertz, Cunningham, Thomas, sophomore Megan Landrigan and junior Sarah Segan - could be the leading scorer on any given night.

There is one big positive Deutsch sees in this team though.

"This team is so unselfish," he said. "They share the ball, look for the open teammate, have confidence that their teammate will make a shot or give up a shot for a better one. They just play the game the right way.

"I think the girls give great effort out on the floor. I think we play extremely hard on the defensive end and for us to get where we want to be, it is going to be with our defense."

Northwestern plays two tough opponents before getting a break from game action for the holidays. The Tigers play at Bangor Thursday night and host Liberty of the Lehigh Valley Conference Monday afternoon. Deutsch is looking forward to those two games as he want to see how his girls' react if things go wrong and he knows they need to come out victorious against those teams as well.

"To be the best, you have to beat the best," said Deutsch. "That is the bottom line."