Tuesday night brought a collective sigh of relief for Northwestern basketball players and their fans.

On the final night of the regular season, the Tigers picked up a 48-34 Colonial League win over Catasauqua to finally secure a spot in the District 11 playoffs.

Rightfully, it was Cayden Fitch - Northwestern’s lone senior - who led the way on Senior Night with a game-high 16 points.

Perhaps because of the gravity of the game, Northwestern (11-11 overall, 9-8) came out looking tight and fell behind 6-0 before coach Cory Cesare used an early timeout to get his team on track. By the time the first quarter was over, the Tigers had rallied to tie the game at 10-10.

It took Northwestern until the 6:21 mark of the second quarter to take its first lead of the game, which came on a three-pointer from sophomore Eli Zimmerman that put Northwestern up 13-12.

From there, the Rough Riders were never able to regain the lead.

“We came into the game knowing that they are a pretty good team,” said Zimmerman. “They took us to the wire in the last game we played them, so we really had to take care of the ball tonight and limit turnovers. I think we did that today, and Cayden helped us a lot on offense.”

Leading 20-17 at halftime, Northwestern took control of the game with a 12-3 run in the third quarter, and worked its lead to 12 points. There was no letup in the final quarter as Northwestern led by as many as 19 points with 3:05 left to play.

While the Tigers were hurt by turnovers in the first meeting between the two teams, it was Catty (4-18, 4-13) that had trouble controlling the ball this time around, committing 21 turnovers - many of which were forced by a tough Northwestern defense.

“It’s been a roller-coaster ride. I have definitely lost some hair over the course of the season, but it’s been fun,” said Cesare with a laugh. “We have gotten better, especially on defense and rebounding.”

As the team’s lone senior, Fitch has been a team leader throughout the season, and is excited about extending his high school career.

“Anytime you get to the postseason, it’s a great building block for the future,” said Fitch. “We have so many young guys and a lot of talent. We just have to keep progressing, and I am going to do my best to help lead them through the postseason.”

LITTLE BIG MAN ... Zimmerman lacks height, but nobody on the court outplays him. In the win over Catasauqua, the sophomore scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds, including three offensive rebounds.

ONE FITCH FOR ANOTHER ... With just over two minutes left to play, Cesare called a timeout to make a special substitution. Cayden Fitch came out of the game, exiting to a big hug from his freshman brother, Cannon, who came in to finish the game.

CATASAUQUA

Juica 1-0-0-3, Pushkar 0-0-0-0, Rivera 2-0-0-4, Cofie 3-0-0-6, Torres 4-1-2-9, Jenkins 1-0-0-2, Bright 1-0-0-2, Pujols 3-1-2-8, LaPointe 0-0-0-0, Lopez 0-0-0-0, Fischl 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-2-4-34.

NORTHWESTERN

Cay. Fitch 4-7-7-16, Zimmerman 4-1-2-10, Wambold 0-0-0-0, Bollinger 3-1-2-7, Nelson 3-1-1-8, Kozlowski 0-0-0-0, Marth 3-1-1-7, Tyler 0-0-0-0, Miller 0-0-0-0, Can. Fitch 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-11-13-48.

Catasauqua 10 7 9 8 - 34

Northwestern 10 10 17 11 - 48

Three-pointers: Catasauqua - Juica 1, Pujols 1; Northwestern - Cay. Fitch 1, Zimmerman 1, Nelson 1.