During the season, Aubrey Pollard has encountered plenty of situations when she figuratively put the team on her back.

When the basketball stage and spotlight becomes bigger and brighter, Northern Lehigh’s leading scorer (17.50 points per game) takes her game to the next level.

The senior post player is the centerpiece of the Bulldogs’ attack, but she has seen and understood the importance of overall team development heading into the next round of the postseason.

“I believe our team is playing at its greatest ability right now,” said Pollard. “We have developed a lot since the beginning of the year.

“Plus, since we were in states last year, it brings a little less pressure for everyone as we prepare to play the best of the best.”

Pollard and her teammates will return to the PIAA Class 2A tournament Friday night to meet Philadelphia’s MaST Charter at Archbishop Wood High School for a 7:30 tip.

Northern Lehigh (16-10) will enter the tournament off a 55-49 loss to Minersville in the District 11 Class 2A championship.

But head coach Chris Heery is confident his team can put the Minersville game behind it and take the next step in the “bigger” dance.

MaST II Charter has an overall 13-11 record. The Voyagers are led by 5-9 center Rylie Fitzsimmons, who averages 9.4 points and 10.8 rebound per contest. Kyleigh Murphy complements Fitzsimmons, averaging 9.9 ppg.

MaST II plays an uptempo style in the usually physical and competitive Philly Public League style. They lost to Frankford, 47-26, in the second round of the Public League tournament.

“We’ll be facing a good team, but I think we can play with them,” said Heery. “Our girls play to win until the very end. They are warriors out there.”

The Bulldogs coach knows his team’s checklist for a victory.

“In order for us to win, we have to pressure the ball better than we did in our last game,” said Heery. “We also have to own the boards. Minersville gave us trouble there in the district title game.”

Heery saw his team take an upward swing this season that included big regular season wins against both Bangor and Northwestern - the victory over the Tigers snapping a 25-game losing streak against their rivals that dated back well over a decade.

“The Bangor game was big.” said Heery. “It is always tough to play there, and to come up with a double-digit win was huge. In addition, we finally broke the streak against Northwestern. Those two wins showed the girls they could play with anybody.”

NL senior Cadence Whalen is optimistic the team’s strong finish and prior experience can make the difference. The veteran Bulldog’ unit has won 12 of its last 16 games.

“I think we are more comfortable going to states having been there before,” said Whalen. “We don’t want it to be our last game. I think all our games moving forward are going to be intense, and we have to be ready for whatever. We have to be able to respond to it like we know how.”

Junior Katelynn Barthold – the team’s second-leading scorer at 14.72 ppg - believes those signature wins and a tough schedule has prepared them well for any opponent ahead.

“We had a hard schedule at the end of the season, and that has prepared us,” said Barthold. “Going to states this year is more comfortable considering we qualified earlier when we beat Marian.

“Hopefully Friday, we play the same way we have been playing down the stretch and get the win.”