Northwestern Lehigh’s five active seniors certainly made the most of their Senior Night.

They went on to combine for 44 points in a 63-36 Colonial League win in its home opener Thursday night against Palmerton.

Ali Lister led all scorers with 18 points, while seniors Kailyn Jones (12), Tess Ledeboer (10), Cailyn Miller (2) and Adana Funk (2) all put themselves into the scoring column. A sixth senior, Kate Betz, was unable to be at the game.

“I was really proud of our seniors tonight,” said Tigers head coach Chris Deutsch. “The five seniors got us off to a good start, and then other players came off the bench and contributed, which is what we’re looking for. We can’t just rely on Ali and Paige (Sevrain). We need contributions from other players, and that’s what we got tonight.”

Northwestern opened an eight-point advantage when Jones hit a three-pointer midway through the first quarter. Palmerton (1-1, 1-1) was not going to go quietly, though, as it put together a 9-0 run of its own to take a 12-11 lead with 1:00 left in the first quarter. Paige Sevrain hit two free throws to put the Tigers back up by one at 13-12 after the first quarter.

Sevrain, a sophomore who stepped aside to allow all five seniors to start, finished with 15 points.

Lister dominated the second quarter, scoring 12 of her 18 points, with Jones chipping in another five. Raegan Nemeth hit a three-pointer for Palmerton early in the quarter to tie the game at 15, but from there the Northwestern defense frustrated Palmerton shooters, and by halftime the Tigers led 35-21.

“We really rely on Ali a lot,” said Deutsch. “She’s the anchor on defense because she’s up top on that press, and she does an outstanding job because she’s so athletic.

“She’s a pain in the butt for the other team because with her athleticism, she can cause a lot of problems. She and Jonesy can really make things tough on the other team’s offense.”

In the second half, Palmerton didn’t get on the board until the final minute of the third quarter and trailed 46-26 going into the fourth. Sevrain scored nine points in the final stanza as Northwestern rolled to the win.

The Tigers beat Executive Education Academy, Pottsville, and Pen Argyl on the road before finally getting to defend their home court. After the recent three-week shutdown, Northwestern has gotten better each time out.

“I think we played really well tonight. Our transition game and the pressing are things that we have been working on, and it really creates a tempo for the game. We’ve also been much better at finishing, so we have everything we need to have a really successful season,” said Lister. “Our defense helps to create offense, which is what we need.”

Bethie Morgan led the Blue Bombers with 15 points, while Nemeth finished with 10.

FUNDAMENTALS ... Northwestern was 9-for-13 from the foul line, and was stingy defensively, allowing Palmerton the Bombers to reach the stripe just seven times in the contest.

ADJUSTING WELL ... The players seem to be adjusting well to wearing masks during the game. Coaches for both teams did a good job of rotating players into and out of the game to give them breathers. Many players used their time on the bench to pull their masks away from their face slightly to take some deep breaths. Games now also include a “media timeout” halfway through each quarter to give players and referees a chance to catch a few breaths.

PALMERTON

Frantz 0-0-0-0, Kursky 1-0-0-2, Barry 0-0-0-0, Matsko 0-0-0-0, Balliet 0-0-0-0, Nemeth 3-1-2-10, Morgan 7-0-1-15, Moore 3-3-4-9. TOTALS: 14-4-7-36.

NORTHWESTERN

N. Miller 0-0-0-0, A. Lister 9-0-0-18, C. Miller 1-0-0-2, Jones 5-0-0-12, Ledeboer 3-4-8-10, Balliet 1-0-0-2, Funk 1-0-0-2, Nyce 0-2-2-2, Fisher 0-0-0-0, Kirkopoulos 0-0-0-0, Sevrain 6-3-3-15. TOTALS: 26-9-13-63.

Palmerton 12 9 5 10 - 36

Northwestern 13 22 11 17 - 63

Three-pointers: P - Nemeth 3, Morgan 1; NW - Jones 2.