The Northwestern boys basketball team made it through a stretch of 10 games in 17 days in good shape and earned a bit of a rest with just one game in the past week. That game was an important one as the Tigers made the trip to Lehighton to square off against the Indians and came away with a 72-63 win.

The Tigers (12-1 Colonial, 15-2 overall) got 29 points from leading scorer Gavin Nelson in the win with Eli Zimmerman scoring 19 points and Mason Bollinger scoring 13. As a team, Northwestern sank eight three-pointers with Zimmerman leading the way with three from beyond the arc.

Lehighton (9-4, 13-4) is trying to catch Northwestern in both the league and District 11 4A standings.

The Tigers entered this week with a 1 ½ game lead over Lehighton in the West Division and a 2-2 mark against division rivals. Palmerton (5-9, 6-11) is two games behind Northwestern.

After beating Lehighton, Northwestern has wins over both the Indians and Blue Bombers this season, but the Tigers also have to play both of those teams down the stretch. Palmerton would have to claw its way past Lehighton and Northwestern and win the division to make the Colonial League playoffs.

In the 4A district standings, Allentown Central Catholic holds a slight lead over Northwestern Lehigh in the power rankings. Both teams have identical 15-2 overall records, but the Vikings receive extra points because they play against larger schools. Lehighton has also wrapped up a spot in districts and is currently ranked third in 4A. Palmerton needs to win all five remaining games to qualify for districts.

Northwestern has five regular season games remaining and the schedule starts with a game at Northern Lehigh. From there the Tigers host Lehighton and Moravian Academy over the next week. The final two games are a trip to Jim Thorpe and a regular season finale at home against Palmerton.