ALLENTOWN - Like most teams in the offseason, the Northwestern boys and girls basketball squads are using the summer to adjust after losing key pieces from the winter.

This week's annual Stellar Construction "Catch A Rising Star" Basketball Showcase allowed those squads to continue improving on already successful summer seasons.Of the five TIMES NEWS area teams competing in the five-day event at Allentown's Cedar Beach Park, the Northwestern boys and girls had the best outings. The boys went 1-2 and saw their tournament lives come to a close against Bonner Prendergast on Saturday afternoon; the girls also won a game and their four-point loss to Freedom minutes later also closed this chapter of summer play."We're building up there," boys head coach Billy Hallman said. "Our goal, again as it always is, is to get to .500 and play some extra games every year. Playing in an atmosphere like this is going to help you hopefully when we reach those games."The Tiger boys are dealt with the task of replacing much of last year's lineup, as a senior-laden squad from the winter leaves multiple holes in the rotation. Guards Parker Jones and Brady Mengel return as the only Tigers who saw meaningful varsity minutes in 2015.On the girls' side, much is the same when it comes to replacing talent on the court. It might even be more difficult for the Lady Tigers, who graduated Sabrina Mertz and Sarah Segan (two 900-plus point scorers for their careers), amongst others.Both are hoping the exposure to the atmosphere in the Stellar tournament and the upcoming SportsFest tournament help aid in the rebuild process."That's another positive I take out of it," Hallman said. "The first game was close. We played well the second. This game [against Bonner Prendergast] was what it was. But without Brady, we still played pretty well.""We obviously have [incoming-senior] Erika Thomas coming back," girls head coach Chris Deutsch said. "I think what we're going to need this year is balanced scoring from other girls. When you lose a Mertz and a Segan, that's great guard play, so we're going to need kids to compliment each other. I thought we did that at times."After a close defeat to open the tournament against Twin Valley, the Tigers were matched up with a fellow Colonial League foe in Pen Argyl. The boys in yellow took care of business and advanced to play later in the day on Saturday."This morning, we came out and we played the best we have played all summer against Pen Argyl," Hallman said. "Today, I think we were a little tired. Obviously they are a really good basketball team. They're long and lanky, and they can get up and down the court."But that meeting against Bonner Prendergast, a team that eventually fell to Central Catholic in its next contest, seemed to be a mismatch from the tipoff. Bonner Prendergast built a 30-13 lead at halftime and ran away with the 56-22 victory."I don't think we were shell-shocked this afternoon," Hallman said. "I think we were a little gassed, and they were the better basketball team."The Northwestern girls responded to beat Dieruff's JV squad on Saturday after their opening-game loss to Whitehall. Then, in a down-to-the-wire contest against Freedom, a couple baskets winded up being the difference in Northwestern's 41-37 defeat."I think we did some good things and some bad things," Deutsch said. "It's a young group that is starting to learn how to play together. These girls are getting some varsity experience at this level. I would say it's a work in progress."Lehighton (losses to Palisades and Trinity), Jim Thorpe (losses to Dieruff and Catasauqua), Pleasant Valley (looses to Wyomissing asnd Downingtown) and Palmerton (losses to Lincoln Leadership and Hazelton) also competed in the boys tournament.The Parkland girls won all five of their games en route to a championship with a victory over Whitehall. The Parkland boys also had a spot in the championship game, but Archbishop Carroll ended their run with a 54-45 victory.