When last we saw the Northwestern Tigers on the basketball court, they were taking a 48-34 win over Catasauqua that put them at 11-11 on the season and gave them a spot in the district playoffs. Without a berth in the Colonial League playoffs, Northwestern Lehigh has been off since that game on February 7.

While some time off is always nice after a long season, 17 days between games can be tough. For a young Northwestern Lehigh team, how it will respond to the break is going to be interesting to see.

When the Tigers had their backs against the wall and needed wins to reach districts, the team won three of its last four games to finish at the .500 mark that guarantees a district playoff spot.

Throughout the season, the team rode a roller coaster of wins and losses, high points and low points, much like many young teams will find themselves doing.

Sophomore Gavin Nelson led the team in scoring with 13.1 points per game, followed by Cayden Fitch, who averaged 10.7 in his senior season. Fitch is the only senior on the roster and Ethan Kozlowski is the only junior. All the other players are sophomores and freshmen, who are new to the varsity postseason experience.

The team did reach districts last season and lost to Bethlehem Catholic in its first game. The only sophomores who played against the eventual district champions from Beca were Nelson and Eli Zimmerman. Nelson finished with 13 points and Zimmerman received rave reviews from Bethlehem Catholic players who noted his defense and ball handling skills after the game.

Northwestern comes in as the seventh seed and gets to face Allentown Central Catholic in its opening game.

The Vikings finished the regular season 14-8 and then downed Freedom, top seed Emmaus and No. 2 seed Pocono Mountain West to win the EPC championship. They come in as the number-two seed behind Blue Mountain, winners of the Schuylkill League.

The Vikings have been tested throughout the year. They opened the season with four straight losses and had to scurry to get themselves back into the playoff hunt.

In the league final, they were up by 16 only to have Pocono Mountain West come all the way back in the game. Central Catholic regrouped and won 61-54.

A key player to watch is sophomore Jahrel Vigo, who played a reserve role as a freshman but has grown into a team leader this season for the Vikings, leading the team with 304 points scored, averaging 12.2 points per game. Sophomore Lucas Mushrush is next with 11.4 PPG, followed by senior Nico Pulieri (10.6 PPG) and senior Anthony Jones (9.2 PPG).