The Marian girls will try to make it back-to-back District 11 championships when they face Tri-Valley in the Class 2A title game today.

Meanwhile, the Northern Lehigh and Northwestern girls, along with the Palmerton boys, will be trying to extend their seasons with consolation game victories.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

D-11 Class 2A championship

Marian vs. Tri-Valley

Saturday, 1:30 p.m. at Martz Hall

LEADING OFF

Marian (24-2) looks to continue a dominant season by taking on fellow Schuylkill League member Tri-Valley (20-5) for the District 11 2A championship. The Fillies are gunning for their second consecutive District 11 title after winning the 1A championship last season. Marian has won 10 district titles in program history.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Marian - Senior center Fatikha Tikhtova was impressive in the District 11 2A semis, scoring 14 points and collecting six rebounds. Tikhtova shot 6-for-8 from the field. Carly Minchhoff also scored 14 points in the semis, while Frankie Martinelli

added 13.

Tri-Valley - Hope Colahan had a big night in the district semis against Minersville scoring 17 points. Grace Header

added 12 points against the Battlin’ Miners.

BY THE NUMBERS

5

- The Fillies have won at least one district playoff game five years in a row. That is the longest current streak in the area. The next closest is three by the Palmerton boys. The Marian girls program had a streak of 16 straight years with at least one district playoff win from 1993-2008.

37

- Marian’s margin of victory (54-17) in the regular season meeting between the teams on Jan. 19.

147

- The Fillies have hit 147 three-pointers on the season, which is the most by any girls team in the Times News area. They hit six in the semis and five the last time they played Tri-Valley.

200

- Marian has four different players that have scored at least 200 points this season. The Fillies are the only team - boys or girls - in the Times News area that can make that claim. The four include Carly Minchhoff (287), Frankie Martinelli (249), Ashley Pleban (214) and Fatikha Tikhtova (203).

652

- The Fillies have scored 652 more points than their opponents this season. That averages out to an average victory margin of 26 points per game.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

“Tri-Valley is a very well coached team and they have had a very good season. We know they will be well prepared and they are coming off a big win over Minersville. Again, we just need to execute and do what we do. We’re excited to be playing for a district title and we need to come out focused and play with the tenacity that we have played with throughout the season.” - Marian head coach Damian Fritz.

D-11 Class 2A consolation

No. Lehigh vs. Minersville

Saturday, 12 p.m. at Martz Hall

LEADING OFF

Northern Lehigh (14-11) has a chance to qualify for the PIAA state tournament as it takes on Minersville (18-6) in the District 11 2A consolation game.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Northern Lehigh - Aubrey Pollard has been a double-double machine this season. Pollard is averaging 16.8 points per game and 12.9 rebounds per game. She scored 17 points in the 2A semis. Katelyn Barthold

is averaging 11.3 points a game for the Bulldogs.

Minersville - Kaycee Raczka leads the Miners in scoring at 13.4 points a game and also averages 9.4 rebounds per game. Brooke Kopinetz

averages 12.7 points a game

BY THE NUMBERS

4

- The Bulldogs have qualified for districts for the fourth straight season. Before that, they missed districts the previous seven seasons.

7

- Northern Lehigh has played seven games decided by less than 10 points. The Bulldogs are 4-3 in those games.

19

- This is the Miners 19th straight season in the District 11 playoffs. They have seven district titles in program history, including four straight from 2014-2017.

146

- The number of free throws Pollard has taken this season. That figure is the most by any one player, boys or girls, in the Times News area.

2011

- The last time the Northern Lehigh girls played a state playoff game. The Bulldogs, who were the district runner-ups that year, defeated Bishop McDevitt in the first round of states before losing Mid Valley. Nolehi was led by Aimee Oertner and Sonya Josephson.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

“This is a huge game for us. We need to crash the boards with all out effort and we have to take care of the ball. We also need to get out in transition and run the floor any time we see the opportunity is there to do so. We also have to limit their transition chances.” - Northern Lehigh coach Chris Heery.

D-11 Class 4A consolation

N’western vs. Blue Mountain

Saturday, 5:30 p.m. at No. Lehigh

LEADING OFF

Northwestern is back in action in the consolation game in search of a state berth after they were defeated at the buzzer by North Schuylkill in the Wednesday’s semifinal round game. The loss snapped a 24-game winning streak for the Tigers (25-2). Blue Mountain (21-5) was beaten by top-seeded Allentown Central Catholic, 52-44, in Wednesday’s semifinal round game. Northwestern defeated Blue Mountain, 45-41, in a regular-season meeting on Dec. 12.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Northwestern - Paige Sevrain topped the 1,000-point career scoring mark this season and leads the team in scoring with a 12.6 average. Cara Thomas averages 10.24 per game. Brook Balliet

, who had made a team-high 35 three-pointers, chips in 8.5 points per contest.

Blue Mountain - The Eagles have been consistently led by Kylie Conway (15 points per game) and Emily Heydt

(nine points) this season.

BY THE NUMBERS

7

- Sevrain will enter the game seven points shy of tying the all-time Northwestern girls basketball scoring record of 1,246 points held by Sara Jones and set in 2013. Sevrain currently has 1,239 points.

23

- Northwestern’s average margin of victory this season. The Tigers have averaged 48.0 points a game while they have held their opponents to an average of 25.1

2006

- The last time the Tigers advanced into the PIAA state playoffs. Northwestern has qualified for district’s 16 times in the 17 years since 2006, but failed to advance in any of those seasons.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

“We had a tough loss at the buzzer to North Schuylkill (in the district semis). We got off to a slow start with too many turnovers. I was proud of the way we came back after being down 14 points in the fourth quarter. But that’s now in the past. Now our sole focus is on Blue Mountain and we’re excited to have an opportunity to continue our season and to qualify for states. We had a very tough, close game when we played them earlier this year, and we’re expecting a similar game this time. We will need to continue to get balanced scoring and play good defense.” - Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch

BOYS BASKETBALL

D-11 Class 3A consolation

Palmerton vs. Notre Dame

Saturday, 4 p.m. at Pleasant Vy.

LEADING OFF

Palmerton (19-7) is coming off a 54-42 loss to top-seeded Executive Education in the semifinal round, while No.2 seed Notre Dame (21-4) was upset by Saucon Valley, 54-51, in the other semifinal. Notre Dame had a 14-game winning streak snapped in the process. Both teams are looking to punch a ticket to the state tournament.

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Palmerton - Brayden Hosier is averaging a team-leading 16.69 points per game this season and has 30 three-pointers. Hosier has 818 career points. Matt Machalik is right behind Hosier at 16.27 points per game. He has scored 1,008 career points. Chase Reph

averages 6.6 points a game for the Bombers.

Notre Dame - Zach Rodgers leads the Crusaders in scoring at 14.3 points a game and three-pointers with 64. Chase Marcks averages 12.28 points a game, while Darrin Vassola

is just below double figures at 9.4 points a game.

BY THE NUMBERS

6

- Notre Dame has beaten the Bombers six straight times. The last Palmerton win over the Crusaders was Jan. 20, 2020. The Bombers won that game, 71-65.

9

- Palmerton is averaging just nine turnovers per game this season.

15

- Palmerton’s average margin of victory this season. The Blue Bombers are averaging 56.3 points a game offensively and allowing just a 41.7 points per game defensively

CLOSING THOUGHTS

“Notre Dame is a well-coached, talented team full of hard-working kids. We need to do a much-better job defensively than we did the last time we played them. We also need to be more poised with the ball and cut down on our mistakes. (Zach) Rodgers can create and score. We want to limit his touches.” – Palmerton coach Ken Termini.