Four area teams opened the basketball season with dominant performances Friday night, as the Northwestern and Tamaqua girls teams each rolled to double-digit victories behind strong outings from their top scorers. Northern Lehigh and Lehighton also advanced to the championship round of the Hamburg Area Tip-Off Tournament.

GIRLS BASKETBALL

Northwestern–S. Columbia

Natalie Conner scored 17 of her game-high 21 points after halftime to spark Northwestern to a 51-18 win over Southern Columbia in an opening-round game of the Hamburg Area Tip-Off Tournament.

The Tigers will face Eastern Lebanon County in tonight’s championship. ELCO defeated Hamburg 58-28.

NORTHWESTERN

Bernhard 2-0-0-6, Freeman 2-3-4-9, Zentz 1-0-0-2, Snyder 1-0-0-2, N. Conner 9-2-3-21, M. Conner 2-0-0-5, Leh 1-0-0-2, Reinhart 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 20-5-7-51.

SOUTHERN COLUMBIA

Swank 4-2-4-11, Martino 0-0-2-0, Leslie 0-0-0-0, Zsido 1-0-0-3, Snyder 1-0-0-2, Reuter 0-0-0-0, Jones 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 7-2-6-18.

Northwestern  18 7 20 6 — 51

Southern Columbia  9 7 2 0 — 18

Three-pointers: Northwestern — Bernhard 2, Freeman 2, N. Conner 1, M. Conner 1. Southern Columbia — Swank 1, Zsido 1.

Records: Northwestern (1-0); Southern Columbia (0-1).

Tamaqua–ES South

Tamaqua raced out to an 18-2 lead in the first quarter and never looked back, rolling to a 47-17 victory over East Stroudsburg South in Friday’s season opener at the Tamaqua Athletic Center.

Millie Black powered the Lady Raiders with a game-high 21 points, while Lauren Ligenza added 14. Kendle Miller scored five points and collected five steals for Tamaqua, which built a 39-8 halftime advantage.

Riley Rasmussen led the Cavaliers with eight points.

Tamaqua also won the JV game, 27-19. Elaina Coleman scored 14 points for the Blue Raiders.

TAMAQUA

Osenbach 0-0-0-0, M. Black 9-3-3-21, Ellington 1-0-0-2, Bamford 1-0-0-2, Ligenza 5-4-10-14, Coleman 0-0-0-0, Miller 2-0-0-5, Conahan 0-0-0-0, L. Black 1-1-4-3, Gormley 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-8-17-46.

EAST STROUDSBURG SOUTH

Phillips 0-1-2-1, Marejon 0-0-0-0, Pluviose 0-0-0-0, Rasmussen 3-0-0-8, Page 1-0-3-2, Rodriguez 1-0-0-2, King 0-0-0-0, Johnson 2-0-0-4, Marte 0-0-0-0, Guerra 0-0-0-0, Howard 0-0-0-0, Vidal 0-0-0-0, McAllister 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 6-1-5-17.

Tamaqua  18 21 6 2 — 47

East Stroudsburg South 2 6 3 6 — 17

Three-pointers: Tamaqua — Miller 1. ESS — Rasmussen 2.

Records: Tamaqua (1-0); East Stroudsburg South (0-1).

Jim Thorpe–Wilson

Wilson jumped out to a big first-half lead and rolled to a 61-33 victory over Jim Thorpe in the season opener for both teams.

Julianna Bonham paced the Warriors with 24 points, while Emma Dalpe added 11.

Brooklynn Yuhas scored nine points and Olivia Snisky chipped in seven for Jim Thorpe under new head coach Tom Ferguson.

WILSON

Colon 0-3-4-3, Schmitt 2-2-8-8, J. Bonham 8-5-13-24, Dalpe 5-1-2-11, Thomas 1-1-2-3, Stackhouse 1-1-2-3, T. Bonham 3-0-0-7, Hartzell-Ham 0-2-2-2. TOTALS: 20-15-27-61.

JIM THORPE

Yeakel 1-0-0-2, Lees 2-0-0-4, Yuhas 3-2-4-9, Snisky 2-2-2-7, Confer 2-1-2-6, Wolf 2-1-2-5, Garritano 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 12-6-12-33.

Wilson  15 21 10 15 — 61

Jim Thorpe  6 7 9 11 — 33

Three-pointers: Wilson — J. Bonham 3, Schmitt 2, T. Bonham 1. Jim Thorpe — Yuhas 1, Snisky 1, Confer 1.

Records: Wilson (1-0); Jim Thorpe (0-1).

BOYS BASKETBALL

Northern Lehigh–Hamburg

Kellen Bauer scored 12 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter to help Northern Lehigh pull away for a 67-47 victory over host Hamburg in the opening round of the Hamburg Area Tip-Off Tournament.

The Bulldogs erupted for 27 points in the final period to break open what had been a close game. Northern Lehigh will face Lehighton in tonight’s championship.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

LoPinto 2-0-0-4, Dauber 1-2-2-5, K. Bauer 12-10-12-35, Ouaziz 0-0-0-0, Karetsky 2-0-0-4, Schaffer 3-0-2-8, M. Bauer 4-3-4-11. TOTALS: 24-15-20-67.

HAMBURG

Henderson 2-2-2-6, Beritz 2-0-0-5, Arroyo 4-5-8-14, McFadden 0-0-0-0, Kline 1-1-2-3, Barata 1-0-0-3, James 3-2-4-8, Gottschall 1-0-0-3, Castro 2-0-0-5. TOTALS: 16-10-16-47.

Northern Lehigh  12 15 13 27 — 67

Hamburg  11 8 12 16 — 47

Three-pointers: Northern Lehigh — Schaffer 2, K. Bauer 1, Dauber 1. Hamburg — Beritz 1, Arroyo 1, Barata 1, Gottschall 1, Castro 1.

Records: Northern Lehigh (1-0); Hamburg (0-1).

Lehighton–Shenandoah Vy.

Lehighton erupted for 23 second-quarter points and cruised to a 78-38 win over Shenandoah Valley in the opening round of the Hamburg Area Tip-Off Tournament.

Blake Roberts led the Indians with 21 points. Talin Fairchild added 19, and Cole Dietz scored 13.

Niko White finished with 18 points for Shenandoah Valley.

The Indians will meet Northern Lehigh in tonight’s championship.

LEHIGHTON

McCarroll 2-0-0-4, Solt 1-4-4-6, Meek 4-0-0-8, Fairchild 7-0-0-19, Roberts 10-1-2-21, Blair 3-0-0-7, Dietz 4-4-6-13. TOTALS: 31-9-12-78.

SHENANDOAH VALLEY

Reyes 0-0-0-0, Rivera 0-1-2-1, Gonzalez 0-0-0-0, White 8-0-0-18, Burrous 3-0-0-7, Lopez 5-0-0-10, Hernandez 0-0-0-0, Berch 0-0-0-0, Townes 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 17-1-2-38.

Lehighton  17 23 20 18 — 78

Shenandoah Valley 13 9 8 8 — 38

Three-pointers: Lehighton — Fairchild 5, Blair 1, Dietz 1. Shenandoah Valley — White 2, Burrous 1.

Records: Lehighton (1-0); Shenandoah Valley (0-1).