There's much to understand about the game of basketball. However, one of the game's biggest unsolved mysteries will forever be how "momentum" works.

After Palmerton dominated the first quarter in its Colonial League contest against Northwestern, the Tigers opened up the second frame on a 13-0 run and never trailed after that. Northwestern kept momentum on its side and posted a 57-49 victory.The Blue Bombers did whatever they pleased in the first period, opening the game up with an 8-0 run. All of the Bombers' first frame points were scored in the paint, as they utilized their height and didn't settle for a single jump shot."We got out to a good start. We were very positive early having a lot of good looks inside," said Palmerton head coach Leigh Keenan. "We kind of got away from that. We had some turnovers and missed layups. The pressure built so much and it was overwhelming for us."Mark Quinn of Palmerton was a man amongst boys in the paint early in the contest. Quinn was a huge part of the early Palmerton success as he scored a dozen points and ripped down eight boards by halftime.The second quarter was a different story as the Tigers erased a double-digit deficit in the first three minutes of the second quarter."We talked about buckling down in between quarters," explained Northwestern head coach Billy Hallman. "The first quarter didn't go well but we knew we were still in the game. We had to shut them down inside first and that was a key tonight."The Tigers are one of the most balanced-scoring teams in the Colonial League."Any night someone can step up. We have six or seven guys who have confidence in one another," Hallman said, "Nobody cares about numbers here as long we come out with a win."Just in the last few weeks, the football guys have really meshed well with the rest of the guys. We're in the heart of the season now and everyone seems to be working well together."Parker Jones led the Tigers with 18 points during the win. Starting point guard Josh Williamson scored 15, including a bunch of late free throws which helped put the game away."It's a big win for us after losing to Catty," said Williamson. "We came out a little sloppy in the first quarter but I'm glad we were able to come back and win."They have a big presence, we're not too big but we had to rebound. We never gave up and came back."Hallman said of his point guard, "He's our coach on the floor. He gets everyone in their sets and he attacks the basket. The defense has to respect it and he opens it up for the outside guys."We're going with a one game at a time approach. Our goal at the beginning was to get to districts, but right now we can't look past anyone. We want to get up and down the court and they love to run."Palmerton trailed by 10 with four minutes left, and at one point cut the lead to just four points with two minutes on the clock."It was similar to Northern Lehigh on Tuesday. We got close, but couldn't get over that hump at the end," said Keenan. "We're still learning. Although we have had some success at times this year, we are still learning as to where the ball can be scored."Every team hits an obstacle and this is ours. We had three home games in a week against favorable opponents. We have a winnable game Friday and sometime that's the best medicine for a loss. You have a chance to play right away and not think about it during practice."NORTHWESTERNArcher 1-0-0-2, Williamson 3-8-9-15, Mengel 2-0-0-5, Jones 7-2-3-18, Breininger 4-1-3-9, Shuey 0-0-0-0, Richardson 3-2-2-8, Haddad 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-13-17-57PALMERTONHay 6-1-2-13, Blose 0-0-0-0, Svetik 0-0-0-0, Weber 2-0-0-5, Papay 0-0-0-0, Quinn 10-0-2-20, Buck 1-0-0-3, Stasko 2-2-2-6, Suto 1-0-0-2, Stahler 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-3-6-49.Northwestern 6 23 15 13 - 57Palmerton 16 8 13 12 - 49Three-pointers - NW: Mengel 1, Williamson 1, Jones 2; P: Buck 1, Weber 1