HELLERTOWN - A few weeks ago, the backs of the Northwestern girls basketball team were against the wall. Their chances at making the league playoffs were slim at best.

But a five-game winning streak to end the regular season helped the Tigers qualify for the Colonial League tournament.On Saturday, the Tigers' journey at repeating as league champions got underway. And with the beginning of their postseason run, Northwestern may be playing their best basketball of the season.With the comfort of an early 13-0 lead in the first quarter and an 18-5 advantage following the first eight minutes of play, the Tigers were able to hold off a late Panther run to secure a 53-32 win in the Colonial League quarterfinals on Saturday night."We've been working our butts off the last couple of games," said Erika Thomas, who scored a game-high 17 points. "At practices, we were really trying to keep in mind that we could get here and we are capable of this.""I think this is the best we've definitely played in a really long time," said Sarah Segan, who added 15 points. "We need to bring that energy every game and hope for another league championship."The win sets up a meeting with No. 1 seed Southern Lehigh on Tuesday at Catasauqua High School at 7:30 p.m. in the second game of a girls double-header.The Tigers fell to the Spartans twice this season, but Northwestern trailed by just one point midway through the fourth quarter in a 45-36 defeat on January 22. That was their last league loss of the season."I think that if we keep our composure and we continue to play as a solid, unified team, we'll have no problem."Northwestern's 32-14 lead at halftime quickly dwindled to 12 points at the end of the third quarter after the Panthers doubled-up the Tigers behind six apiece from Abigail Omdahl and Bridget O'Donnell.Saucon Valley then trimmed the Tigers' lead to eight points early in the fourth quarter after Elyssa Okken's steal and layup just seconds after Northwestern's Sabrina Mertz exited with an injury.But with Mertz' exit and the Tigers struggling offensively, Sarah Segan felt a need to produce some points in the pivotal fourth quarter. Segan scored eight of her 15 points in the final 6:23 that helped the Tigers hold off that Panther surge."Because they had high pressure, if we got the ball behind them it was a wide open shot," Segan said.The Tigers led 13-0 early before the Panthers got on the board over five minutes into the game. Erika Thomas opened the game with three 3-pointers in the first quarter and hit five 3's for 15 points in the first half."My coaches have been telling me to step in and let it go when I'm feeling it," Thomas said. "I give all of the credit to my teammates because they found me when I was open."It was the Tigers' full court pressure that doomed the Panthers, particularly in the second quarter when Saucon Valley committed eight turnovers."We definitely focus on defense," Thomas said. "Our coach really likes to emphasize that. We know that our defense can create our offense."O'Donnell led the Panthers with 12 points, while Omdahl and Okken each scored nine.NORTHWESTERNMertz 1-5-5-7, Landrigan 2-2-4-6, Divers 0-0-0-0, Segan 7-1-2-15, Koenig 3-0-0-6, Williamson 1-0-0-2, Thomas 6-0-0-17, Anderson 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-8-11-53.SAUCON VALLEYOkken 4-0-0-9, Small 0-0-0-0, Omdahl 3-2-3-9, Spirk 1-0-0-2, Williams 0-0-0-0, O'Donnell 5-2-3-12, Kreschollek 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-4-6-32.Northwestern 18 14 6 15 - 53Saucon Vy. 5 9 12 6 - 32Three-pointers: NW - Thomas 5; SV - Okken 1, Omdahl 1.