WARMINSTER - The unknown can create fear in one’s mind. It can often be a psychological factor that needs to be overcome.

The Northern Lehigh’s girls basketball team was in that situation on Friday evening on the campus of Archbishop Wood High School.

But the Bulldogs refused to let doubt or fear impact them.

Facing an unknown opponent in the first round of the PIAA Class 2A state tournament - with no true scouting report to depend on - Northern Lehigh never flinched.

That showed early and often as the Bulldogs breezed to an overpowering 79-16 victory over MaST Community Charter.

“You never know what to expect in these type of games,” said Northern Lehigh coach Chris Heery. “We just stressed to the girls we needed to play our game. I’m happy with how we did exactly that.

“We attacked the way I wanted us to ... and we got off to that good start.”

The good start that Heery refered to was a 10-0 lead that was ignited by the Barthold sisters as Dakota and Katelyn both scored four points in the spurt. Bulldog leading scorer Aubrey Pollard then got her licks in as she nailed four straight fielders to pad the lead before freshman Teegan Simms found the range as well.

By quarter’s end, Northern Lehigh had built a 25-8 lead.

The Voyagers’ struggles continued in the second quarter as the Bulldogs passed the half-century mark by halftime, blazing to a dominating 52-14 lead.

The big advantage meant the entire second half was then played with a running clock under the PIAA’s mercy-rule format.

Simms hit another one of her bombs to open the second half and by the close of the third quarter, the Bulldogs had a 68-14 lead - a quarter in which MaST didn’t score a point.

That dryspell continued for most of the final period as well with the Voyagers scoring their only points of the half with just 1:12 to play in the game.

Northern Lehigh had plenty of offensive firepower in the game as Pollard scored 25 points, Simms netted 14, Katelyn Barthold added 13, Dakota Barthold chipped in 10 and Candece Whalen tallied nine.

The Northern Lehigh victory creates a rematch of the District 11 semifinal game with Marian - a game the Bulldogs won 53-49.

“We know each other,” Heery said about the Fillies. “We’ve played each other in districts the last two years. So unlike tonight’s game where we didn’t know a lot about the team we were playing, they’ll be no secrets or surprises on Tuesday.”

RECORDS ... Northern Lehigh improves to 17-10, while MaST - which entered the game as the District 1 runnerup - finishes its season at 13-11.

THEY CAME … Bulldog fans came to support their team. Despite the nearly two hour trip to Bucks County, Northern Lehigh was well represented.

MEDIA, MEDIA, MEDIA … Blue Ridge Cable guys were in full gear covering the game. Bravo to the broadcasting crew of Mark McKeehan and John Searfoss.

OPENER … In the first game of last night’s doubleheader, Future School used a last second 3-point shot to end Catty’s season, 37-36.

NO. LEHIGH

Whalen 4-0-0-9, Williams 0-2-2-2, Gad 0-0-0-0, K. Barthold 6-0-0-13, Pollard 12-1-6-25, Silverio 0-0-0-0, Tosh 1-0-0-3, Wentz 1-0-0-2, D. Barthold 5-0-0-10, Richards 0-0-0-0, Simms 6-0-0-14, Snyder 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 35-4-10-79.

MAST

Foster 1-0-0-2, Nelson 1-0-0-3, Birkholz 3-0-0-6, Foster 1-2-2-4, Verdanidze 0-0-0-0, Futann 0-0-0-0, Bolds 0-1-2-1, Rios 0-0-0-0, Fleming 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 6-3-4-16.

No. Lehigh 25 27 16 11 - 79

MAST 8 6 0 2 - 16

Three-pointers: No. Lehigh - Simms 2, Whalen 1, Tosh 1, K. Bartthold 1. M - Nelson 1.