Northwestern-Northern Lehigh is arguably the biggest rivalry in the Colonial League as it spans every sport. In the first match-up of the two boys' basketball teams, the Bulldogs prevailed in New Tripoli.

Tuesday night, in Slatington, had the same result.

Northwestern (4-14 overall, 1-13 CL) hung with the Bulldogs (11-7, 8-4) early on in the contest, but the Bulldogs pulled away and took the victory 61-47.

"We missed easy layups," said head coach Dan Eddinger. "Their height was an issue, but we killed ourselves tonight by missing a lot of opportunities."

The Tigers didn't miss too many opportunities early as they shot 5-for-11 in the first quarter and only trailed 13-12 after the first eight minutes.

Northwestern remained close midway through the second frame of this Colonial League North match-up as a three-pointer from sophomore Parker Jones (six points, two rebounds) knotted it at 20 with 5:27 left in the first half. A basket by senior Cam Richardson (eight points, five rebounds) two possessions later put the Tigers in front 24-23, but Northern Lehigh's Tyler Dibilio responded.

Dibilio scored six points in the final 3:15 of the first half, as he posted 11 points in the second quarter, which put his team ahead 33-27 at the break.

"I liked the way we ran the offense at times," said Eddinger. "However, we didn't run it well other times and that is when they started going on runs."

Additionally, foul trouble plagued the Tigers. That, coupled with the limited availability of senior Collin Bredinger due to illness forced Eddinger to go to his bench earlier and more often than normal.

Northwestern opened the third quarter with baskets from juniors Logan Schwartz (seven points) and Taylor Breininger (five points, three rebounds) to make it 33-31, but the Bulldogs immediately answered.

Nolehi seniors Matt Egan (20 points, six rebounds) and Josh Landsberger (10 points, 14 rebounds) combined for 11 of the team's 14 third quarter points to keep the Tigers at bay as Northwestern managed only four points in the final five minutes of the quarter.

Down 47-35, Northwestern entered the fourth quarter hoping to mount a late comeback. Despite the effort, the Tigers only managed to get within nine after a basket by senior Kevin Markovitch (eight points, 2 rebounds), who started in place of Breidinger. The Bulldogs' moved the ball well late and cruised to a 61-47 victory.

Through 18 games, Eddinger hasn't seen a big difference in his team.

"I have seen that we have missed a lot of opportunities this year," he said.

"Both Pen Argyl games, the Palisades game, both of these [Northern Lehigh] games, they are all missed opportunities. We had the opportunity to win the game, but didn't.

"I've learned that we are still doing the same things that we did at the beginning of the year. We struggle offensively and sometimes don't get back on defense. Basically, I've learned that really not much has changed."

The Tigers host Palmerton Friday and visit the North Division-leading Bangor on Tuesday.