POTTSVILLE – Dame Fortune can sometimes be kind and sometimes be cruel.

Just ask the Northwestern Lehigh and Blue Mountain girls basketball teams.

On Saturday in the District 11 Class 4A semifinals, one felt her comfort, while the other felt her wrath.

When the Tigers sauntered to an 11-point lead late in the third quarter of this District 11, Class 4A semifinal game, the lady was all smiles for the Colonial League reps.

But in a snap of a finger, a dark cloud hovered over the Northwestern bench. Suddenly, a game that looked so promising took a dead-end turn as the Eagles got a breath of fresh air.

The result was a 49-44 comeback victory for Blue Mountain.

Now instead of a chance at a district gold, Northwestern will be looking to keep its season alive with a win in the consolation game against North Schuylkill on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Blue Mountain.

Meanwhile, the Eagles and their No. 1 seed fly into the championship round where they will face third-seeded Allentown Central Catholic on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Martz Hall.

Where the winds started to change was late in the third quarter when Blue Mountain (22-6) caught a huge lift of momentum as it cut a 36-25 deficit to six points when senior Makayla Keck zipped in five straight points.

“Keck got us going with that three-point shot,” second-year coach Rose Carper said about the late third-quarter rally.

Perhaps sensing that Northwestern might be getting leg weary on the bigger Martz Hall floor, Carper decided to put her team’s full-court press back into play.

“I said ‘what the heck let’s go back to our press.’ It wasn’t effective in the first-half, but I felt let’s give it a shot,” Carper explained.

Indeed, it was a turning point. The Tigers got a huge bucket to open the fourth quarter when sophomore Emma Freeman flung in a triple from the wing to put her team up 39-30 at the 6:39 mark.

But then Woosh!

In a flash, Blue Mountain was dealing and coming on strong. After Kylie Conway posted up for a basket, Heydt took over, scoring five straight points to cut Northwestern‘s lead to 39-37.

Freeman tried halting the rally when she sank another triple, but Conway answered by recycling a missed shot.

Northwestern looked like it might hold off the Eagles’ charge when Oliva Minnich scored at the 1;52 mark for a 44-39 lead.

But, it proved to be the final points for Northwestern.

Blue Mountain dug deep as Keck flung in a triple (44-42), and its full-court defense then forced the Tigers into three straight turnovers.

Conway regained her composure after missing four free throws in the opening half and proceeded to knock down four straight charity stripe tosses to give her team a huge lift. Heydt and Keck then put the finishing touches on the comeback.

“We couldn’t finish the deal,” said Northwestern coach Chris Deutsch. “We were winning most of the way.

“I think a lot had to do with their late pressure. We had a nine-point lead in the final quarter, but the last four or five minutes they were better than we were.”

MILESTONE ... There was some joy amidst the disappointment for the Tigers (19-7), as their terrific junior guard, Cara Thomas, wrote her name into the Century Club scoring her 1,000th career point in the third quarter - but Thomas would be the first to tell you, she would have gladly traded the milestone moment for a win. “Obviously, it’s exciting, I worked so hard to get it. I watched my sister Erica score her 1,000th-point and my brother (Devin) play. I was trying not to think about it, but I knew how much I needed. I know I should be happy, but overall I wanted to win. The good news is I’m glad we can still advance to States.”

QUOTABLE … “I’m really proud of her doing it as a junior. She’s such a hard worker. She does a lot for us offensively as well as defensively.” said Deutsch on Thomas’ scoring milestone.

FAMILIAR … The Eagles and Tigers met earlier in the season with Northwestern winning that one, 47-45.

DIFFERENCE MAKER … Where the Eagles soared was off the glass with a huge 46-24 advantage. Conway picked off 12 boards for Blue Mountain. Thomas had eight for Northwestern.

STRONG PLAY … The Tigers also got strong play from Brook Balliet, Mallory Conner and Oliva Reinhart.

NORTHWESTERN

Freeman 3-3-3-11, Balliet 4-1-1-9, Thomas 2-4-4-8, Minnich 4-0-2-8, Conner 2-0-0-6, Reinhart 1-0-0-2, Schaeffer 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-8-19-44.

BLUE MOUNTAIN

Keck 4-6-6-17, Conway 3-6-10-12, Heydt 2-6-11-10, Faust 3-1-2-7, Place 1-0-0-2, Armenise 1-0-0-2, Campbell 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-20-31-49.

Northwestern 14 10 12 8 - 44

Blue Mountain 11 7 12 19 - 49

Three-pointers: Northwestern - Freeman 2, Connor 2; Blue Mountain - Keck 3.