You’ve got to be in it to win it.

Tuesday night, Northern Lehigh advanced to the District 11 Class 3A quarterfinals with a 52-25 win over Lehigh Valley Academy in a first-round game. The eighth-seeded Bulldogs eliminated the ninth-seeded Jaguars to move on in the bracket.

Northern Lehigh got off and running in the opening period. After Anndy Little opened the scoring for Lehigh Valley Academy with a bank shot, the Bulldogs responded with a 17-2 run sparked by Teegan Simms, who scored eight points during the four-minute stretch. Jaylene Ramos and Ella Tosh each added jumpers to push the home team to a 17-4 lead.

“We needed a fast start,” said Bulldogs coach Brandon Hibbler. “I liked the way we attacked the basket, and we forced some bad shots from them.”

The Jaguars came roaring back, scoring seven of the game’s next nine points. Letizia Buzzi’s putback and Jeida Read-Lugo’s three-point play highlighted the rally.

The second period was much more physical than the first eight minutes. Eight fouls — three of which were player-control calls against Northern Lehigh — changed the nature of both teams’ scoring ability. The Bulldogs missed their first 10 shots, and didn’t score from the field until Simms hit a 3-pointer with 1:35 left before the intermission. Lehigh Valley shot just 1-for-8 during the quarter and, after 30 points were scored in the first period, the teams combined for just eight in the second.

Despite that, Coach Hibbler didn’t make significant strategy changes during the break.

“I told them to keep the physical intensity and stay focused.”

Kylee Snyder increased her team’s lead to 14 points with a bank shot to start the third. Buckets by both Buzzi and Madalyn Hothouse trimmed the deficit to 29-19 with 3:45 to go, but that proved to be as close as the Jaguars would get.

Northern Lehigh finished the third period with seven straight points — a 3-pointer from Tosh, a banker from Ramos and a driving layup from Simms. Hibbler’s defense held the Jaguars to just one field goal and four free throws, giving the Bulldogs a 36-19 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

“I told them to keep focused,” he said, “and that we needed everybody to maintain their intensity on both ends of the court.”

Northern Lehigh slowed the tempo to begin the fourth period, running 1:35 off the clock before a putback by Simms and a layup off a steal by Ariana Williams lifted the Bulldogs to their largest margin at 40-19. They sealed the win with a 12-6 finish for the 27-point victory.

Hibbler called three timeouts in the waning minutes.

“I told them to remain calm, take time and don’t rush to try to score.”

He attributed the Bulldogs’ 27-12 second-half advantage to Lehigh Valley’s defensive adjustment.

“They’re mostly a 3-2 zone team, but they switched to man, which I think worked to our advantage. We were able to score inside with good percentage shots.”

Simms led Northern Lehigh with 20 points. Ramos added 10, while Tosh finished with nine. Buzzi paced Lehigh Valley Academy with 10.

NO BOUNTY OF BASKETS… Both teams struggled offensively. Northern Lehigh shot 38 percent for the game, while Lehigh Valley Academy shot 25 percent and scored only one basket in both the second and third periods.

NO FREEBIES… Only nine free throws were attempted in the game, and just two by Northern Lehigh.

NEXT UP… The Bulldogs will face top-seeded Notre Dame-Green Pond in Friday’s quarterfinals at 7 p.m. at Executive Education Charter High School. The Crusaders defeated Northern Lehigh 51-33 in early December.

LEHIGH VALLEY ACADEMY

Buzzi 5-0-0-10, Little 3-2-2-8, Hothouse 0-4-4-4, Patel 1-1-2-3, Gillmeyer 0-0-0-0, Stone 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 9-7-8-25.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Simms 8-0-4-20, Ramos 5-0-0-10, Tosh 3-0-0-9, Snyder 3-0-0-6, Williams 2-0-0-4, Gad 1-1-2-3, Ramaley 0-0-0-0, Powell 0-0-0-0, Ash 0-0-0-0, Thompson 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-1-2-52.

LV Academy 11 2 6 6 — 25

Northern Lehigh 19 6 11 16 — 52

3-pointers: LVA –– none; NL — Simms 4, Tosh 3.

Records: LVA (10-12); NL (12-10)