Chris Heery knows the level of competition in the Colonial League.

He has previously coached basketball for close to a decade at Northwestern Lehigh, and has recently spent the last few years as an assistant at Southern Lehigh.

In his first season as the Northern Lehigh girls’ basketball head coach, however, the seasoned mentor would like nothing more than to have his Bulldogs amongst the top teams within the Colonial League.

“Our league is always a tough league,” Heery said. “And I think we can be competitive with most of those teams. Obviously, there’s a couple standouts in there.

“But I want our team to be competitive with all those teams, and hope at the end of the season, we have a good chance to be in the league playoff. And, that’s really what my goal is at this point.”

Although he still feels the program has “many things to work on” to be able to maintain status among the league’s elite, Heery believes the Bulldogs will “bring a lot of energy and hustle to the game” each time they step on the hardwood.

“We want to push the ball and dictate tempo,” Heery said.

Returning to Heery’s roster and keyed in on helping the Bulldogs control the game tempo are a trio who return with plenty of varsity experience to their credit.

Emma Niebell is a seasoned Bulldog, who played in all 14 games last season, in which they finished with a 7-7 overall (4-5 in the CL) record. Cadence Whalen and Cadence Peters played in all but one game a year ago.

Niebell is a versatile player, and can play either the guard or forward position. Niebell also has no hesitation putting points on the board as she was second on the team last season with 13.14 points per game.

“First of all, she leads by example,” Heery said. “She’s the hardest worker in practice. We had one scrimmage so far, and nobody outhustled her out there.

“She’s also one of the more vocal leaders on the team. She’ll help players out. She let them know where they’re supposed to be in a positive way. And really, she’s my quarterback out there.”

Whalen will be seen playing either guard position – point or shooting guard, while Peters will be making some noise underneath the basket for the Bulldogs.

“Whalen has a great outside shot, and she has a good decision making coming down the floor,” Heery said. “And, Peters is probably the strongest post player out there for us.”

While Madison Seier and Emily Hunsicker have graduated, the Bulldogs are also without the presence of their leading score from last season. Aubrey Pollard, who averaged 14.4 points per game, decided to take her skills elsewhere and has transferred to a private school in the Lehigh Valley.

Seniors Sophie Lear and Stefany Steckel, junior Kaylee Wilk, sophomore Danielle Dougherty, and freshmen duo – and twins – Dakota and Katelyn Barthold also have stepped up in the preseason and ready to help fill those voids from last season.

Heery believes the Bulldogs will look to take control of the tempo in each game, and believes he has the talent at the guard position to help make that possible.

“If we’re going to be successful this year, obviously we’re guard oriented, so we’re going to be looking to kind of platoon the girls as much as possible,” said Heery. “Keep fresh legs there and keep pressure on teams. If we can score in transition, we’re going to be OK.”

While the talent is there and the attitude is positive, Heery knows the younger players must continue to learn and gain experience.

“While we have good senior leadership, we will be a young team and we will look to make good strides as our players get more experience,” Heery said. “We’re hopeful that we can start to hit our mark halfway through the season. If we can start to gel as a team mid-season, hopefully by the time season is wrapping up is where we’re hitting our stride.”