POTTSVILLE - The detonating fuse of Northern Lehigh’s explosive offense on Saturday was obvious.

It was Katelyn Barthold, a 5-8 sophomore, who single-handedly snapped the Bulldogs out of a scoring funk and helped propel them to a 62-52 victory over Minersville.

Barthold scored all the first-quarter field goals - and 10 of the 11 first-quarter points - for fourth-seeded Northern Lehigh against the defending District 11 2A champs at Pottsville’s Martz Hall.

The win gives the Bulldogs a third-place finish in the District 11 tournament and a berth in the PIAA state playoffs.

Both Northern Lehigh and Minersville played for nearly four minutes before either team hit the scoreboard. In that span, a combination of 12 shots were missed.

The lull was broken when Nolehi junior Aubrey Pollard made the second of two free throws. Minersville, seeded third, countered with a basket by Kaycee Raczka, giving the Battlin’ Miners a 2-1 lead - their only advantage of the contest.

Barthol’s whirlwind exhibition followed. The pig-tailed underclassman made five consecutive baskets and committed three straight steals to sling the Bulldogs to an 11-2 lead. Minersville never got closer than six points after that.

Second-year head coach Chris Heery was extremely proud of his team.

“It’s the first time ... in a long time that Northern Lehigh went onto states, so it’s exciting to the girls,” Heery said. “They worked really hard this year. Their improvement from the beginning (of the season) to now is incredible. They deserve it.”

Barthold tallied a season-high 27 points - 22 of them in the first half. She had 10 baskets and was 7-for-8 from the foul line.

“She’s been playing well all year,” said Heery of Barthold. “I’m happy for her. She deserves it.”

As potent as Barthold was in the first half, that’s how dynamic Pollard was after the break.

Pollard amassed 25 points - 21 of them in the last 16 minutes of the game. She hit eight field goals, including a three-pointer, and was 8-for-10 from the free throw stripe.

Barthold explained the Dawgs’ second-half strategy.

“They were man-guarding me the whole game, so (in the second half) I just went out and got them to stick with me so Aubrey can get to the basket,” said Barthold. “And, that’s what she did.

“We worked very hard this year so we could make it this far, so I’m super happy we did.”

Another player who did a lot of damage in the first half was the Bulldogs’ Cadence Peters, one of just two seniors on the team.

Peters chipped in eight first-half points on two treys and a deuce, and finished with 10 points.

At one point, the Bulldogs (15-11) led by as many as 17 points in the third quarter. Although Minersville came back and closed the gap - trailing by only seven early in the fourth quarter - Northern Lehigh went on an 11-3 burst and upped its lead to 15 (60-45) with a little more than a minute to play.

A SLOW START ... Shooting was sub-par for both teams in the first quarter before Barthold took the reins. For the first quarter, Minersville made just one of 11 field goal tries, while Northern Lehigh was five for 13, all of them by Barthold. For the game, the Bulldogs were 22-for-51, while Minersville was 15-for-52 from the floor. Minersville (18-7) had a height advantage and controlled the boards, pulling in 25 rebounds to Northern Lehigh’s 15. The top rebounder for the Bulldogs was Pollard, who had nine. Kaycee Raczka had seven boards for the Miners. Barthold added six steals and Pollard had five.

EXCELLENT FOUL SHOOTING ... Northern Lehigh connected on 15-of-18 foul shots, all by Barthold and Pollard. The Miners were 18-for-27. Raczka was high for Minersville with 22 points.

SECOND NL TEAM IN STATES ... The Bulldogs are the second team from the school to enter the state playoffs in the 2022-2023 school year. The football squad also played in the state tournament, advancing to the second round. Northern Lehigh will face District 4 runner-up Line Mountain (13-12) on Friday.

MINERSVILLE

Brennan 1-1-6-3, Carl 0-0-0-0, Kopinetz 3-10-10-18, Burgess 1-0-1-2. Castle 2-1-2-7, Raczka 8-6-8-22. TOTALS: 15-18-27-52.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Motfit 0-0-0-0, Whalen 0-0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0-0, K. Barthold 10-7-8-27, Pollard 8-8-10-25, Bosch 0-0-0-0, D. Barthold 0-0-0-0, Peters 4-0-0-10, Richards 0-0-0-0, Snyder 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-15-18-62.

Minersville 4 16 18 14 - 52

No. Lehigh 11 23 13 15 - 62

Three pointers: Minersville - Kopinetz 2, Castle 2; Northern Lehigh - Peters 2, Pollard 1.