The first day of practice for the 2025-26 basketball season was Nov. 14.
On Dec. 11, Northwestern Lehigh’s boys team played its first game.
It was worth the wait for the Tigers as the defending league champions shook off some early rust and used a dominant third quarter to pave the way to a 61-56 Colonial League win over host Southern Lehigh on Thursday night.
Northwestern Lehigh’s run to its third straight PIAA 3A football final was the primary reason for the long delay in the season’s start. Southern Lehigh, of course, had its own football run, but its basketball roster wasn’t as affected and the Spartans played three games – all wins – before Thursday night.
Malachi Coleman and Cannon Fitch each scored 16 points, and Brady Krimmel hit four key free throws late to help the Tigers hold off Southern Lehigh, as the home team cut a 58-49 deficit with 1:20 left down to 58-55 with 53 seconds remaining.
“It was almost a month since we started practicing, at least some of us, but even the guys who just came off the football field were ready to go tonight; they were eager,” Northwestern Lehigh coach Patrick Wanamaker said. “Southern Lehigh-Northwestern Lehigh has become a rivalry in the last couple of years in a couple of other sports. We keep having games like that; it’s going to become a basketball rivalry, too.”
The Tigers had six turnovers in the first quarter, 10 in the first half, and trailed 9-3 at the outset and were still down 33-31 at halftime.
Southern Lehigh, under new coach John Arcidiacono, had beaten Blue Mountain, Easton, and Saucon Valley in its 3-0 start. The Spartans made five 3-pointers and had 13 points from Wyatt Adams in the first half.
But Adams didn’t score in the third period, and Southern Lehigh didn’t have a 3-pointer as Northwestern Lehigh went on a 13-3 run to go up 48-40.
“We took care of the ball better in the second half and made good decisions,” Wanamaker said. “We battled foul trouble in the second half, and got a little fatigued, but Michael Lagowy, who was a JV guy for us last year and had little varsity time, went in there and did a really good job and finished the game for us.”
Wanamaker said he wasn’t happy with how his team finished the game, but credited the Spartans, who were hurt by 11 missed free throws.
“They didn’t back down,” he said. “They did a lot of really good things, too, and made us earn it.”
Adams led all scorers with 19, and Jack Fistner added 13 with nine, including a pair of 3-pointers, in the fourth quarter. Fistner’s back-to-back got the deficit to three in the final minute and he made a foul shot to make it 59-56 with 8.4 seconds left. He intentionally missed the second free throw and Krimmel’s two free throws with 5.6 seconds to go finished it off.
“The foul shots were dropping early, but I made them in the clutch, and that’s all that mattered,” said Krimmel, son of former Parkland and DeSales standout Dak Krimmel. “I was so happy to play a game. I was waiting all week. Once the football kids were back, we went right back to it. It’s tough to wait, but I support the football team, and this was the third year in a row they went so far. I was at the game on Saturday supporting them. The seniors went 57-5. That’s crazy.”
The basketball team would like to make its own run, but it may take time. Fitch said a slow start was expected.
“We haven’t played since we had a scrimmage against Tamaqua, and that was quite a bit ago,” said Fitch, who had four of his team’s seven 3-pointes. “We were missing five football guys, and we only practiced as a full team for three days, but I am really proud of our guys. We’re going to keep working hard, and I think we’re going to get better from here.”
Northwestern Lehigh has its home opener Saturday afternoon against Catasauqua. Southern Lehigh was scheduled to play at Palmerton on Friday night.
Northwestern Lehigh 61, Southern Lehigh 56
Northwestern Lehigh 14 – 17 – 19 – 11 — 61
Southern Lehigh 16 – 17 – 10 – 13 — 56
NORTHWESTERN LEHIGH (61)
Mason Bollinger 3 1-2 7, Michael Lagowy 0 0-2 0, Cannon Fitch 6 0-1 16, Brady Krimmel 2 5-8 10, Harrison Wertman 1 1-2 3, Malachi Coleman 5 5-9 16, Michael Mish 1 0-0 3, Braidon Berk 2 2-2 6. Totals 20 14-22 61.
SOUTHERN LEHIGH (56)
Gabe Ruggeri 1 1-1 3, Morgan Capuano 1 1-4 3, Joseph Plessl 2 0-0 4, Jack Fistner 3 4-6 13, Sean Brogan 0 0-0 0, Josh Helms 1 1-2 3, Parker Spigelmyer 2 0-0 6, Michael Fry 2 0-0 5, Wyatt Adams 6 5-8 19, Lucas Sutyak 0 0-2 0. Totals 18 12-23 56.
3-pointers: Northwestern Lehigh 7 (Fitch 4, Krimmel, Coleman, Mish). Southern Lehigh 8 (Fistner 3, Spigelmyer 2, Adams 2, Frey).
Other Colonial League games
Catasauqua 67, Saucon Valley 46: The Rough Riders, defending District 11 3A champs, got 21 points from Frankie Pujols in their season opener. Aalani Nix and Caiden Weaver added 13 and 12 points respectively, while Mike Magnotta scored 11 for Saucon (2-3).
Lehighton 69, Pen Argyl 48: Cole Dietz scored 25 points, and Blake Roberts added 16 as the Indians improved to 3-2, 2-2 league. Talin Fairchild chipped in 11 for the Indians while Kaen Kaiser scored 15 and Mason Soos scored 13 for the Green Knights, who fell to 2-2.
Salisbury 57, Jim Thorpe 36: Steven Lozada and Garrett Leiner scored 15 points apiece and Drew Petrie added 10 as the Falcons improved to 4-0.
Bangor 59, Palmerton 45: Loren Gaines scored 20, and Jason Marcantonis added 17 as the Slaters improved to 2-1. Tate Buck led the Blue Bombers (1-4) with 17.
Wilson 55, Northern Lehigh 34: Lafayette Acree and Andrew Powell scored 15 and 13 points, respectively as the Warriors improved to 3-0. Kellen Bauer led the Bulldogs (2-3) with 18.
