As two of the top teams in the Colonial League, Northwestern Lehigh and Palmerton have had some epic battles the past few seasons. Their most recent meeting was no exception as they fought to the wire with the Lady Tigers grabbing a 43-41 win over the Blue Bombers.

Both teams came into the game averaging 59 points per game, but the defenses turned in impressive performances to keep the game relatively low scoring.

The Palmerton defense held Northwestern’s leading scorer, Cara Thomas, to just five points in the game, but freshman Natalie Conner and senior Brook Balliet stepped up to score 22 and 11 points respectively. The duo also combined for six three-pointers in the win.

Conner has adapted quickly to the rest of the team and has averaged 16.2 points per game this season, teaming with Thomas to provide a one-two punch to the offense.

“Almost instantly I felt very accepted,” said Conner. “In practice every day everyone was very welcoming, and all the seniors were great. It was a really cool experience, and we all play very well together. The coaches have all encouraged me to take the shot when I’m open and they’ve put a lot of confidence in me and that’s meant a lot.”

The two teams will meet in the final regular season game of the season and could meet again in both the Colonial League and District 11 tournaments in the postseason. Gaining an early upper hand could be important for seeding in the postseason meetings.

“Palmerton always gives us a good run and they have a lot of athletic players, but we always match up well with them and it’s always a good matchup,” said Balliet of the rivalry between the two teams. “Everyone’s goal is to take down the top seeds, so this is a nice win for us to get.”

Northwestern Lehigh struggled to hit foul shots down the stretch and hit just 36-percent (5-14) of their foul shots against Palmerton. On the season, the Lady Tigers have shot 57-percent (69-122) from the line.

“Foul shots are something that we need to work on because it’s important in these close games,” said Balliet. “We work on it a lot in practice, so I’m not sure why we can’t hit them in games. We’ll just have to keep working on them and hopefully we can improve on that.”

Over the past week, Northwestern played two other games and picked up wins over both Saucon Valley and Pottsville. The Tigers destroyed Saucon Valley in a 67-17 blowout with Thomas scoring 24 points and Conner scoring 15 in the win. Monday night at Pottsville, Northwestern stretched its winning streak to 10 straight games with a 65-46 win in a nonleague game against the Crimson Tide.

The Tigers have an extended break over the holidays and won’t return to the court until Jan. 3 when they host another top Colonial League team in Notre Dame of Green Pond (7-0 Colonial, 7-1 overall).

Like the game against Palmerton, the matchup with the Crusaders could play a key role in seeding for the league tournament. Because of different classifications, Northwestern Lehigh and Notre Dame would not meet in the District 11 tournament.