It’s no secret what the Northern Lehigh strategy is.

Blessed with speed but limited in size, the Bulldogs often rely on their defense to create offense.

On Tuesday night in a District 11/1 Class 3A opening round contest against Lehigh Valley Academy, that strategy worked to perfection.

Nolehi forced 15 first-half turnovers and came up with numerous uncontested layups at the other end to pull away for a 69-27 victory on its home floor.

The win moves the sixth-seeded Bulldogs into Friday’s quarterfinal round where they will face New Hope-Solebury on the road.

“I thought we came out with good energy from the very beginning,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Chris Heery. “Turnovers were the key to the game. They were bigger than us in size, so we knew they were going to pound it inside if we couldn’t get pressure on their guards, so that was the No. 1 goal.

“We didn’t have that team energy when we played our last game against Pen Argyl. We just didn’t for whatever reason. But tonight we came out with that energy. And even though it was close early, just up by six at the end of the first quarter, we kept the pressure on them. The girls did a great job defensively ... We had about 12 different defenses we ran tonight, and they executed really well.”

While the Bulldogs were getting easy baskets early, thanks to that defense, the Jaguars kept the game close as six-footer Natalia Smith and Leitizia Marian Buzzi were either scoring inside or consistently getting offensive rebounds for second and third chances.

But the combination of continued Northern Lehigh pressure and Buzzi going out with an ankle injury early in the second quarter turned the game around.

A 13-0 run during the final half of the second frame, which included layups from Katelynn Barthold, Ariana Williams and Tegan Simms, as well as a three from Simms, turned a close game into a 22-point halftime advantage.

“We knew that they didn’t have the greatest ball handling as some teams we’ve gone against, so we knew we could play good defense, get fast breaks and get a lead,” said Barthold, who finished with 25 points. “And that’s what we did.

“They have two really good bigs who were able to get rebounds and go back up for putbacks. That’s one thing we’ve struggled with all year. But we just tried to work around that and make our shots when we can.”

The shots kept coming — and falling — for the Bulldogs to start the third quarter. Simms, Barthold and Dekota Barthold all hit inside, while Simms drained another trey, to take a commanding 46-19 lead midway through the period.

Simms, who had a game-high 26 points, added two more shots from distance to open the fourth and push the margin to 34 with 5:44 to play.

Now it’s on to the quarterfinals, where Heery hopes his team will continue to play with energy.

“(New Hope) played Marian and lost in a close game,” said Heery. “So, I’m going to get to see some film on them. But honestly, at this point in the season it just depends on how we play.”

EASY BASKETS ... Northern Lehigh had at least a dozen layups off turnovers or loose balls as they released quickly and easily beat the Jaguars’ defense down the court.

PRESENCE INSIDE ... Rebounding has been an Achilles’ heel for the Bulldogs all season, and LV Academy’s Smith frustrated Heery’s club all night. The Jaguars’ big girl inside pulled down 25 rebounds, including 17 offensive. While she did score 10 points and converted on putbacks, she didn’t finish nearly enough inside to keep her team in the game.

LV ACADEMY

Villanueva 0-0-0-0, Roddy 0-0-0-0, Little 5-1-6-11, Kennedy 0-0-0-0, Morales-Gillmeyer 0-0-2-0, Buzzi 3-0-2-6, Prestol 0-0-0-0, Hothouse 0-0-2-0, Lockley 0-0-0-0, Celik 0-0-2-0, Smith 3-4-8-10. TOTALS: 11-5-22-27.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Tosh 0-2-2-2, Williams 2-0-0-4, Gad 1-0-0-2, K. Barthold 11-2-2-25, Desaousa 0-0-0-0, Ramos 1-0-0-3, Wentz 0-0-0-0, D. Barthold 1-1-4-3, Simms 10-0-0-26, Snyder 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 28-5-8-69.

LV Academy 12 3 10 2 - 27

Northern Lehigh 18 19 15 17 - 69

Three-pointers: LV Academy - None; Northern Lehigh - Simms 6, K. Barthold 1, Ramos 1.

Records: LV Academy (11-10); Northern Lehigh (16-8).