The past week of games in the Colonial League showed a lot about how the postseason may play out.

Three of the top four teams in the league – Northwestern Lehigh (9-4 Colonial, 14-4 overall), Notre Dame (13-1, 15-3), and Palmerton (12-0, 16-1) – all played each other.

The results showed Palmerton appears be the favorite as the Blue Bombers downed both of their opponents.

Northwestern was the latest victim after Palmerton handed it a 46-31 setback on Thursday night.

The Tigers held Palmerton’s leading scorer, Hannah Barry, to nine points, but Sydney Frantz scored 12 and sophomore Courtney Connell finished with 13 to more than make up for the scoring void.

Connell also pulled down nine rebounds for the Blue Bombers, who were consistently able to get multiple chances on offense while limiting Northwestern’s chances.

“We have really been preparing to face Northwestern again, because we know they are a really good team, and we needed to beat them because of how close the standings are right now, so this was a big win,” said Connell.

The game teetered back-and-forth early, but Palmerton opened up a six-point lead midway through the first quarter, only to see the Tigers come back to cut the lead to two on a pair of drives through the lane by Cara Thomas.

Palmerton worked the lead back to 15-10 at the end of the first quarter on a late basket by Megan Matsko, which sparked what would be a 7-0 run. Later in the second quarter, an 8-0 run put the Bombers up 28-12 for their largest lead.

Palmerton’s defense was stifling throughout. Junior Ella Baumgardt had the unenviable task of guarding Thomas and held her to 14 points - four below her season average. Baumgardt was also a spark on the offensive end of the court for Palmerton, contributing seven points, including a third quarter three-pointer that put Palmerton up 40-27 going into the final quarter.

“This kid is by far the best defensive player in the league, and it’s not close,” said Palmerton coach Jeremy Coleman. “Every game, she is on the opponent’s best player, and she limits their scoring. She is a shutdown defender in every sense of the word.”

Sensing victory, Baumgardt and the rest of the defense simply overwhelmed Northwestern Lehigh and limited them to just four points, all by Thomas, in the final quarter. Connell added four points to her total down the stretch, and continued to work hard on the boards to limit opportunities for Northwestern Lehigh.

Palmerton remains undefeated in league play, and wants to stay that way heading into the postseason as it looks for a deep run in both the Colonial League playoffs and in districts.

“Last year we lost to Northwestern in leagues, and to Pen Argyl in districts, and we want to turn those around. It’s important to us that we stay undefeated in the league and then of course, keep winning in the postseason. We don’t want this season to end like we did last year,” said Connell.

The Tigers lost showdown games to both Notre Dame and Palmerton this week, but coach Chris Deutsch was especially upset by how his team played in the loss to Palmerton.

“I’m more disappointed tonight than I was the other night (against Notre Dame) because at least then we made a run at them. I thought tonight they had us under control all night, and our effort was not really good tonight, and it was really disappointing,” said Deutsch, who emphasized that Palmerton is also a really good team. “I don’t mean it to take anything away from them because they are quick, they handle the ball well and they are just a tough team to beat. Our effort just didn’t match theirs.”

PLANTING SEEDS … As things stand now, Palmerton and Notre Dame would be division winners, and be the first and second seed in league playoffs, getting first-round byes. Pen Argyl (11-3, 14-4) would be the three seed and leave a logjam for the final three spots in the playoffs. In league play, Northwestern is 9-4, Bangor and Northern Lehigh are both 9-5, and Catasauqua is 8-5, which leaves the four teams to squeeze into three spots. The Tigers finish the season with home games against Northern Lehigh and Catasauqua in early February.

PALMERTON

Pengelly 0-0-0-0, Baumgardt 2-4-2-7, Frantz 4-2-2-12, Barry 3-2-1-9, Matsko 2-2-1-5, Andrews 0-0-0-0, Connell 6-1-1-13, TOTALS: 17-11-7-46

NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH

Balliet 2-2-1-6, Schaffer 0-0-0-0, Freeman 0-0-0-0, Thomas 5-6-4-14, Fenstermaker 1-0-0-2, Minnich 0-0-0-0, Conner 0-0-0-0, Gober 1-0-0-3, Reinhart 3-1-0-6, TOTALS: 12-9-5-31

Palmerton 15 14 11 6 - 46

Northwestern 10 8 9 4 - 31

Three-pointers: Palmerton – Frantz 2, Barry 2, Baumgardt 1; Northwestern Lehigh – Balliet 1, Gober 1.