The holidays were no time to rest for the Northwestern Lehigh boys basketball team.

The team’s schedule stayed busy and the Tigers kept rolling along as they played seven games in 14 days.

The 2025 portion of the schedule opened with a visit from Kutztown on Friday and saw senior Gavin Nelson reach the 1,000-point mark for his career on the first basket of the game.

Nelson has been the team’s leading scorer throughout the season and is showing no signs of letting up as he threw down 23 points in a 76-54 win over the Cougars. Eli Zimmerman contributed 16 points in the win for Northwestern Lehigh.

The only team that has been able to slow down Nelson this season was Notre Dame of Green Pond, which held Nelson and Zimmerman to just eight points each as the Crusaders downed Northwestern 68-52, handing the Tigers their first loss in eight league games this season.

The two teams along with Lehighton, Wilson, and Bangor are jockeying for the top spot in the league standings with Notre Dame being 9-0 in league play. With the Crusaders focusing elsewhere, Mason Bollinger scored 18 points, including hitting three shots from beyond the arc.

While the loss hurt a little, the Tigers brushed it off and went up against another top challenger in the Wilson Warriors, getting right back on track with a 68-47 win.

The Northwestern offense was on full display with four players – Nelson (15), Bollinger (15), Shane Marth (13), and Zimmerman (12) – all hitting for double digits. Northwestern held a 39-30 lead at halftime and put the game away by outscoring the Warriors 16-5 in the third quarter.

The next night, the Tigers reset their season high for points as they downed Northern Lehigh 78-47. Nelson scored 21 points and Zimmerman finished with 11 in the win.

There is still plenty of basketball to be played, but it is worth noting that of the five teams that are distinguishing themselves in the league. The Tigers have wins over Wilson and Bangor, which could come in handy when it comes time to seeding for the Colonial League playoffs.

Northwestern travels to Lehighton next week for the first meeting of the season against the Indians. That game will have implications not just for league playoffs, but the two teams, along with Wilson and Allentown Central Catholic, are fighting for the top spot in the 4A classification for district playoffs. Notre Dame of Green Pond (9-0) has wins over three of the other contenders and face Wilson for the first time this season on Saturday.

The Tigers have another pair of back-to-back games against Pen Argyl and Salisbury this week and a stretch of three games – at Palisades, home against Jim Thorpe, and at Lehighton – in four days starting on Monday.