Communication is an integral component of a basketball team and often times it will gauge its level of success.

According to head coach Rich Oertner, Lehighton lacked that connection in the first half of the championship game of the Slatington Rotary Tournament against Palmerton on Tuesday.However, a big first half by Hunter Greene, a huge second half from Nick Chambers, and a collective effort in the fourth quarter helped the Indians squeeze out a 53-47 victory over the Bombers."There were a lot of things we did wrong mentally," explained Oertner. "We had a few kids just not listen to what we were trying to do, making their own decisions out there instead of following our direction. But, down the stretch they obviously came back and did what they had to do."Oertner's squad jumped out to an 8-0 advantage out of the gate. After an immediate Palmerton timeout, the Blue Bombers ripped off a 15-2 run of their own. with a lot of fire power from Spencer Hay.Hay was absolutely brilliant in the first half. The Bomber big man led the charge with 13 first-half points and finished with a game-high 18."We were just smart with the ball," said Palmerton head coach Leigh Keenan of the hot Palmerton start. "We were taking the shots that we should take, and they were falling - and that's part of the game. We stayed together and I think we came out on a spark. We didn't start out like that last time, and that was a huge focal point of the game."Greene helped Lehighton initially claw back with an 11-point first half (Eight in second quarter).Oertner said, "He played pretty smart. We didn't shoot the ball real well from the outside tonight, but we ended up going inside more and eventually it'll pan out if you go in there enough."And inside Lehighton went in the second half, to Nick Chambers. The Lehighton staff hollered to him at times: "Take it personal, Nick!" as Hay got the best of Chambers with a few blocked shots in the final frame.Shortly after was a big sequence in the final minutes when Chambers returned the favor to Hay, this time swatting his shot away from the basket. After immediately falling to the floor on the opposite end, Chambers motored his way under Lehighton's basket to grab an offensive rebound, draw a foul, and put his team up by two points."I did take it personally, it helped me mentally play angrier and harder," explained Chambers, who scored 10 points in the second half and played most of it with four fouls. "I was really determined. I saw that we were struggling and I just wanted to play with everything I had."Lehighton's balance was on display in the fourth quarter, as every player who checked into the game recorded points during the sequence."We know each other, our strengths and weaknesses," explained Greene. "We work the ball to each other and that's a big reason why everyone scores when we win. We came out and put a good show on the first time we played them. We watched them yesterday and it looked like they wanted it more. We knew that they were good competition and that we were going to have a battle on our hands."MVP ... Palmerton's Spencer Hay scored 17 points during Monday's win against Jim Thorpe and 18 more against Lehighton on Tuesday. His phenomenal play earned him the tournament's MVP award. A trio of Indians also earned a spot on the all-tournament team. Nick Chambers, Andre McDowell and Hunter Greene. Rayan Greene of Jim Thorpe was the fifth member of the team.Keenan said, "We took a step in the right direction coming into this tournament. Leaving this tournament, I thought we played our basketball. Sometimes the shots don't fall. As long as we stick together, we'll be ok."SHORT LEASH ... "We have six guys that can all play," said the Lehighton coach. "When someone does screw up I usually take him out and put the other guy in, I don't care who it is. We had to do that a few times tonight actually, but they played hard tonight and all six guys are almost interchangeable."PALMERTONHay 7-3-7-18, Svetik 2-0-0-5, Papay 1-0-0-3, Suto 3-0-0-6, Perschy 2-0-0-4, Stasko 2-0-0-6, Stahler 2-1-2-5. TOTALS: 19-4-9-47.LEHIGHTONMcDowell 2-5-7-9, Zwetolitz 1-1-2-4, Jackson 2-2-2-6, Mele 2-2-3-6, Chambers 6-3-7-15, Greene 6-0-0-13. TOTALS: 19-13-21-53.Palmerton 15 11 11 10 - 47Lehighton 10 15 11 17 - 53Three-pointers- Palmerton - Stasko 2, Hay 1, Svetik 1, Papay 1; Lehighton - Zwetolitz 1, Greene 1.