BETHLEHEM — Coming into the Colonial League championship on Friday night, Northwestern was facing off against one of the hottest teams in all of District 11 in Catasauqua — a team that had won its last four games, including two upset victories over No. 1 seed Notre Dame Green Pond and No. 4 seed Bangor in the Colonial League playoffs.

But the Tigers have been on a run of their own as well, winning 14 straight contests coming into the title game.

Northwestern was able to keep its run alive to make it 15 consecutive wins, coming out on fire on the offensive side of the floor to blitz the Rough Riders for a 74-57 championship victory.

“These guys were on it from the jump,” said Northwestern head coach Pat Wanamaker. “We were able to get some leak outs and get some transition buckets, and that was big.

“We talked about getting a double-digit lead early and how key they would be for us. It’s a testament to our guys for coming out and executing what we like to do and putting the ball in the basket.”

The Tigers were able to fill it up early and often, as they jumped out to an impressive 24-11 lead.

Up by a 9-7 score, Northwestern went on a tenacious 15-4 run, moving the ball, hitting open three-pointers and attacking the rim.

Mason Bollinger got the surge started with a deuce, and Gavin Nelson led the way with seven points during that span. Big triples from Shane Marth, Cannon Fitch and Nelson also helped spark the run.

Catasauqua would fight back, though, in the second quarter.

Trailing by 20 points, the Rough Riders finally got into rhythm, going on a 13-4 run to end the frame to cut the deficit to 13 at the half. Back-to-back three-pointers from Reece Lopez ignited Catty’s offense.

“Surviving their haymakers that they were throwing at us in the second quarter was huge,” said Wanamaker. “Even though we were up double digits at the half, it felt like we were kind of losing a little bit when we went into the locker room. They had all the momentum. They were killing us at the end of the first half.

“But we went in at the half and we talked about some things, and at the end of the day, we were still up double digits. I thought the stop at the end of the third quarter was big for us. We were both going back and forth, but that stop kept it at double digits. Throughout the whole game, we got stops when we needed to, and that’s a testament to our guys and really how they have played in those moments all year.”

The Rough Riders continued to chip away and eventually got the Tigers lead down to eight points with 1:53 to go in the third quarter off a big triple from Frankie Pujols.

But Northwestern was able to finish the third strong with good defense and strong attacks from Nelson and Eli Zimmerman to carry a 54-43 lead into the third.

The quickness of both Zimmerman and Nelson gave the Catty defenders a tough time all night, as they were able to get to the basket and finish.

After Catty opened the fourth quarter with a bucket, a timely Brady Krimmel hit from beyond the arc got the advantage back to 12. As the fourth quarter went on, the Tigers continued to pull away.

Leading 62-50, Zimmerman put together a nice flurry, scoring seven consecutive points to make it 69-53 late in the fourth. After missing a few free throws after the Zimmerman buckets, Nelson finished the quarter hot from the charity stripe, making his last four in a row to ice the championship win for the Tigers.

“Winning this championship just feels fantastic,” said Nelson. “Ever since we lost to Notre Dame in the semifinals last season, this is something that we wanted. We worked hard. We got off to a great start tonight, and we just kept the momentum going.

“Everyone that came in did a good job tonight. I thought we played fundamentally sound down the stretch, and that’s what helped us win the game.”

FILLING IT UP … Nelson scored a game-high 24 points. Zimmerman was big as well, finishing with 19. Marth added 13, and Bollinger tallied 12. For Catty, Hamaad Jenkins and Pujols each scored 13.

HISTORY … With the win, the Tigers won their second Colonial League championship. Their first title came back in 2001.

NEXT UP … Northwestern is the No. 1 seed in the District 11 Class 4 playoffs and will get a bye into the semifinals. The Tigers will play the winner of No. 4 seed Lehighton and No. 5 seed Wilson.

CATASAUQUA

Pujols 4-3-5-13, Lopez 3-0-0-8, Jenkins 6-0-2-13, Cofie 1-1-2-3, Fotta 3-4-8-10, Nix 3-0-0-6, Bolmer 1-0-0-2, Weaver 0-0-0-0, Lorah 1-0-0-2, Vaz 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-8-17-57.

NORTHWESTERN

Krimmel 1-0-0-3, Bollinger 3-5-6-12, E. Zimmerman 7-5-9-19, Nelson 7-9-15-24, Marth 5-2-2-13, Wambold 0-0-0-0, Fitch 1-0-0-3, B. Zimmerman 0-0-0-0, Fitzgerald 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-21-32-74.

Catasauqua 15 17 11 14 - 57

Northwestern 27 16 11 20 - 74

Three-Pointers: Catasauqua - Pujols 2, Lopez 2, Jenkins 1; Northwestern - Bollinger 1, Fitch 1, Nelson 1, Marth 1, Krimmel 1.

Records: Catasauqua (15-10); Northwestern (23-2).