Northern Lehigh second-year head girls’ basketball coach Chris Heery will begin this season with a clearer picture of his club and their main task.

“We’ll be young this year,” said Heery. “We’ll probably start four underclassmen and one senior. But our expectations could be even higher than last year.

“We played well at the end of last season, and the younger girls really helped bring everything together for us.”

The Bulldogs finished with an overall record of 12-11 last season, doubling the win total from a shortened 2020 COVID season.

They ended their season with a 44-27 loss to Pine Grove in the District 11 Class 3A playoffs, but it did mark their first winning campaign since the 2010-11 season.

“We played well at Martz Hall,” said Leery about his team’s performance in the district playoff last year. “They had some steep threes at the end that hurt us. We had some jitters playing in a big place like that, but we overcame them.

“However, I believe the overall experience there will help our returning girls. It was huge for us to play in the postseason.”

Heery will need to rely on his younger players making a smooth transition this winter as the Bulldogs lost Emma Neibell, Raven Klimek, Sophia Lear, and Stefany Stecke to graduation from last year’s club.

The largest void to fill will be Neibell, who scored her 1,000th-career point last season and produced a total of 450 points last year.

“Those are some big shoes to fill,” said Heery about Neibell. “She had a great work ethic, led the team in nearly every offensive category, and played great defense. We will be attacking things a little bit differently this year without her.

“But I am excited about who we have coming back, and we’ll again play as a team.”

Sophomores Dekota Barthold and Katelynn Barthold both made a major impact last season, and Heery is confident both can raise their game this season. Katelynn is expected to run the point for the Bulldogs.

Junior Cadey Whalen and senior Cadey Peters figure to both be major contributors, while junior transfer Aubrey Pollard should fill out the starting lineup. Senior Aiyana Bosch also should see significant minutes.

Heery also expects some of the freshmen on the roster to improve their play along the way.

In the end, it will be a matter of his team jelling at the right time, and duplicating a strong run at one point last season.

“We had some big wins beating Wilson at Wilson, and Pen Argyl at Pen Argyl,” said Heery. “We had a stretch where we won five of seven games. You could see the girls stepping up, and the quality of their play getting better.”

The Bulldogs will open their season at Panther Valley Dec. 2, and then begin Colonial League play the following week. The Bulldogs will also take part in the Lady Indian Area Holiday Classic in Lehighton Dec. 28 - playing Palmerton in the opening round.

Heery is confident his team can find its identity.

“We’re not exceedingly deep, but our starting five will be pretty good,” said Heery. “I think we can surprise some people this year.”