Much has changed since their first meeting of the season back in mid-December, one in which Palmerton won 62-54.

After opening the Colonial League slate with three consecutive losses, including that one to Palmerton, Northwestern reeled off five straight victories to right the ship and get back into playoff contention.The Blue Bombers, meanwhile, lost two of three conference games as the new year approached after winning their first six games overall and four in league play.And while the two teams entered Thursday's tilt separated by just a game-and-a-half in the standings, Palmerton was in a familiar position when the clock hit all zeros. Jade Farquhar (18 points) and Madison Mummey (17) combined for 35 points in the Bombers' 42-39 victory at Northwestern High School."We have a little rivalry going on here," Farquhar said. "We beat them the first time around. They had home court advantage this time, and we knew coming in here that it was going to be quite the tough game. It's exciting. It definitely gives us an advantage going into leagues, districts and all of that."The Tigers (9-5 overall; 5-4 in Colonial League), who were without one of their top players in Sarah Segan, pulled to within 40-39 with 1:19 to play after Erika Thomas' jumper. It was the closest Northwestern had been since late in the second quarter.But Farquhar hit two free throws with 42 seconds to play that made it 42-39, and the Tigers could not capitalize on two separate possessions in the final seconds."I told our girls lets not use that as an excuse," Northwestern head coach Chris Deutsch said of Segan's injury. "Give Palmerton credit, they were the better team tonight. I thought we played them tough. It was our third game in three days. I thought our effort was really good."While the two teams were tied three times in the opening quarter, Northwestern never led once in the entire 32 minutes."We did everything we could," Deutsch said. "We just didn't make enough shots. That's the bottom line. But I'm very encouraged with what I saw tonight. From where we were at the beginning of the year, to where we are now, I think we've gotten a lot better in my opinion."Clinging to a three-point lead going into halftime, the Blue Bombers (13-2 overall; 8-2 in Colonial League) came out of the break led by their leader.Farquhar opened the third with back-to-back three-pointers in the first minute of play to push the Blue Bombers' lead to 29-20. Following a Tiger three-pointer from Megan Landrigan, Farquhar's rebound and putback made it 31-23 midway through the period. She hit two free throws seconds later to give Palmerton its first double-digit lead of the game at 33-23."It was right after we cooled down a little bit," Farquhar said. "I unfortunately banked one in, but the bank is open I guess on Thursdays."Northwestern rallied after being down 10, scoring seven of the next eight points to get within four in the opening seconds of the fourth quarter. But every time the Tigers threatened to take a lead, the Blue Bombers had an answer."If we can stop great athletes like they have, then we can stop the people that we previously lost to," Farquhar said. "We can match up with them. We learn a different fundamental every game we play. We come out and try to learn something new."Without one of their top attackers on offense, the Tigers shot 32 attempts from three-point range, while making just six of them, four coming from Thomas. It may have been a high number for Deutsch's squad, but he didn't feel as if the Tigers were rushing shots from the outside."She [Segan] does drive and attack the basket very well," Deutsch said. "It gave other girls an opportunity that maybe don't get those chances, and I thought they did a nice job. We did take a lot of threes, but for the most part I didn't think we forced shots. I thought we took some good looks that just didn't go down."Sabrina Mertz scored 11 of her team-high 17 points in the first half. Thomas added 15 for the Tigers.PALMERTONReimer 2-0-2-4, Mummey 5-5-6-17, Leister 1-0-1-3, Farquhar 6-5-6-18, Sterling 0-0-0-0, Beers 0-0-0-0, Nemeth 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-10-15-42NORTHWESTERNMertz 7-1-4-17, Landrigan 1-0-0-3, Chisdak 0-0-0-0, Divers 0-0-0-0, Koenig 0-0-2-0, Williamson 0-0-0-0, Thomas 4-4-4-15, Anderson 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 14-5-10-39Palmerton 14 9 11 8 - 42Northwestern 9 11 8 11 - 39Three-pointers: Palmerton - Mummey 2, Farquhar 2, Leister 1; Northwestern - Thomas 3, Mertz 2, Landrigan 1.