NORTHAMPTON - Offensive firepower.

Those two words pretty much sum up what the Southern Lehigh girls basketball squad has been about this season.The Spartans (22-1) offensive prowess was on full display Tuesday night against Northwestern in the Colonial League postseason semifinal at Catasauqua High School. Southern Lehigh's up-tempo style, paired with its ability to spread the ball around, was too much for the Tigers (16-8) to handle.The end result was the Spartans advancing to the Colonial League championship, defeating the Tigers 54-38. It was another dominant effort from a team that was riding a 48-game Colonial League regular season win streak."We came out and really moved the ball well early. I always tell the girls, the ball moves faster than you, so we were able to get them out of position at times," said Southern Lehigh head coach Matt Cooper. "We also did a good job of attacking the gaps in their zone and overall, we shot the ball pretty well. The girls just did a great job of executing tonight."Northwestern stayed close to the Spartans in the first quarter, battling back from an 8-0 Southern Lehigh lead to trail by just six after one.In the second, Southern Lehigh kicked it into high gear. The Spartans, leading by seven with 3:09 left in the half, used a three-point barrage to go on an 11-0 run to end the quarter with a 31-13 lead. Southern Lehigh hit four triples in the frame, helping them carry all the momentum into the locker room."I think the real critical part of this game was the last four minutes of the second quarter. They went on a big run to go up 18 at the half and I think that was the difference," said Tigers head coach Chris Deutsch. "I think we played 28 minutes of pretty good basketball, but to beat this team, you have to play 32 and we weren't able to do that. Credit first has to go to them, because they played a great game tonight."For the rest of the game, the Tigers were in crawl-back mode and at times were just on the cusp of getting back into the mix.In the third, the Tigers outscored the Spartans 16-11 to get within 13 heading into the fourth quarter. Northwestern's Leighanna Lister was the difference during that stretch.Lister brought her lunch pale in the third because she went to work in the post, scoring 11 points to give the Tigers some confidence on the offensive end.However, Southern Lehigh loaded up and showcased its firepower once again to start the fourth. The Spartans began the final stanza with an 8-2 run to extend the lead to 50-31 with six minutes remaining. It was just too high of a mountain for the Tigers to climb with not enough time left on the clock."I think there are a lot of positives to take away from the game tonight. That team had a lot of offensive skill and firepower, so we have to give them all the credit," said Deutsch. "For us, we have a lot to look forward to."We have a chance to make some noise in districts and we're excited about that."SPREADING IT AROUND ... The Spartans had many offensive stars on the night and hit the Tigers from ever angle. Avery Bennett led the winners with 18 points, while Amanda Mobley and Olivia Snyder added 11 and 10. Ellie Cassel added eight points and Jenna Cyr also chipped in with six.GOING TO WORK ... The Tigers' Lister was the best post player on the floor on Tuesday night, scoring 18 points and getting to the charity stripe 13 times.NORTHWESTERNStitzel 0-0-0-0, Lister 5-8-13-18, Chisdak 1-0-0-3, G. Sevrain 3-0-0-6, S. Sevrain 2-1-3-7, Williamson 0-0-0-0, Christopher 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 13-9-16-38.SOUTHERN LEHIGHCyr 2-0-1-6, Mobley 4-2-2-11, Bennett 7-2-2-18, Schaffer 0-0-0-0, Snyder 5-0-2-10, Cassel 4-0-2-8, Miller 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 22-5-11-54.Northwestern 6 7 16 9 - 38So. Lehigh 12 19 11 12 - 54Three-pointers: Northwestern - S. Sevrain 2, Chisdak 1; Southern Lehigh - Bennett 2, Cyr 2, Mobley 1.