Whitehall had a sizable advantage in the height department, but Lehighton just stayed with the game plan, said its head coach Joe Berezwick. The underdog Tribe threw up a big roadblock on favored Whitehall using stingy defense and a great offensive game plan to win 43-24 last Thursday in the opening round.

“Our kids did a very good job of executing,” he said. “It was two different leagues, us from the (Schuylkill League) and them from the EPC (Eastern Pennsylvania Conference). They wanted to play their tempo, but we wanted to play ours.”

The Indians’ tempo won out over the Zephyrs’ tempo, mainly because Lehighton kept hustling to the ball, grabbing rebounds, finding the open space and spotting an open player. In other words, the Tribe was extremely unselfish.

Lehighton’s Ryleigh Trotman knocked down 11 points, Charli McHugh had 10 points, and Emma Repsher floated home 9 points.

But the big area came in the rebounding department. Despite giving up to 2-3 inches in size, Lehighton out-rebounded the Zephyrs 43-33. Shining brightly were Trotman and McHugh, each with 10, Timara Klotz came off the bench to grab a half-dozen, equaling Repsher.

“That’s impressive,” Berezwick said when told about his team’s performance off the glass. “I attribute that to our kids carrying out the game plan. They put themselves in position to make those plays.”

It was a feeling-out process for sure in the first and second quarters. Lehighton sneaked out to a 6-4 lead after eight minutes, before letting loose with a flurry of points midway through the second quarter.

The Tribe broke free from an 8-6 score going on an 11-5 run, led by McHugh, who tossed in six points in the period, and Trotman with five, though Whitehall dug in to close the gap to 21-16 at the halfway point.

Lehighton guards kept driving to the iron, and kept finding Trotman, who dropped in 13 of her 19 points in the second half.

The Tribe went on a 9-3 run to take a 32-21 lead into the fourth quarter. Lehighton wasn’t playing just offense. It nearly shutout Whitehall in the fourth period, save for a triple from Lleneyda Otanez, which came with 89 seconds to play in the game.

Whitehall was led by Makaela Bordner’s seven points. Morgan Dunbar had five and Keona Spooner added four. Dunbar was named to the all-tournament team.