Shooters keep shootin'.

Every great marksman who plays the game of basketball lives and dies by that very slogan.Lehighton's Damian Mele kept firing away and delivered a monster first half for the Indians, en route to a 60-45 non-league victory over Northwestern."Damian played real well in the beginning," said Lehighton head coach Rich Oertner. "He has that streak in him where he can miss 10 in a row, but he can make 10 in a row. That's the way he plays and we know it, and we've been waiting for it. He's been struggling a bit lately, next thing you know he made a couple, and he definitely helped us get a good start.The Tigers' Parker Jones and Mele were going mano-a-mano in the second quarter. Jones tallied 10 of his team's 14 points during the frame, as Mele piled up a dozen for the Tribe.Mele finished with 20 points, all of them during the first two fames.Meanwhile, Jones scored a game-high 21 points for the Tigers."Parker has been playing so well that past couple of games," explained Northwestern head coach Billy Hallman. "He's really taken it upon himself to get us going offensively. Parker has become and likes being a leader the past two years. He knew he would be the guy this year, and the rest of the team seems to follow him."He was aggressive, and good things happen when he is because of his ability to get other guys open shots, they just didn't fall."Mele cooled off a bit in the second half, but Hunter Greene's 19 points combined with the Indians' advantage on the boards helped keep the Tigers at arms' length."There were times that we didn't play our best basketball," said Oertner. "At the end of the second and third quarters, we weren't paying attention and let them have shots. As a coach, you can't yell everything - we just came out of a time out. But, they're kids and we also did a lot of good things."Nick Chambers entered the game for Lehighton in the second quarter and racked up 11 rebounds during his time on the court."We are a lot bigger than them, we should have (had an advantage)," Said Oertner. "Our hustle was there tonight. I thought we played pretty well; we just made some mistakes on defense. We gave up some dumb baskets, but it was overall a good team effort. I don't have anything special to say, but it was a good, solid, methodical win."Although there are just a few weeks remaining in the regular season, the Indians will have to make adjustments to figure out the rest of their rotation."One of our players (Steven Jackson) left the team two weeks ago and we're trying to find a new player to fill that role - but we still don't know who that is going to be."The Tigers' still have some work left to do in order to have an opportunity to reach the postseason."We're just going to keep working hard," Hallman said. "We have one goal in mind and that's to somehow get four more wins. We're going to do everything we can to reach it."ONE-MAN SHOW … Jones' third quarter was just as impressive as his second. The senior scored 20 of Northwestern's 26 points during the middle two frames.TWO-MAN SHOW … Chambers and Greene combined for all of Lehighton's points in the final period.THREE-POINT SHOW … In the final two minutes of the second frame, the last dozen points between the two teams were all from beyond the arc as Mele, Jones, and the Indians' Tanner Zwetolitz all connected.NORTHWESTERNYodush 1-0-0-3, Mengel 2-0-0-5, Jones 7-3-4-21, Snyder 3-0-0-6, Fatzinger 0-0-0-0, Fager 0-0-0-0, McCann 0-0-0-0, Seyfried 3-0-0-6, Hess 2-0-0-0-4. TOTALS: 18-3-4-45.LEHIGHTONTroxell 0-0-0-0, Carpenter 0-0-0-0, McDowell 0-1-2-1, Zwetolitz 3-0-0-8, Mele 8-1-2-20, Howland 0-0-0-0, Chambers 6-0-0-12, Greene 6-7-8-19. TOTALS: 23-9-12-60.Northwestern 8 14 12 11 - 45Lehighton 15 20 13 12 - 60Three-pointers: Northwestern - Jones 4, Mengel 1, Yodush 1; Lehighton - Mele 3, Zwetolitz 2.