Lehighton might not have been clicking on all cylinders the entire game.

But the Indians were superb during a 19-0 stretch in the first half, which opened up a 30-14 halftime lead over Palmerton in the Slatington Rotary Christmas Tournament.Despite a late Bombers' rally, the Tribe held onto a 53-42 victory on Tuesday."We played hard defense and our momentum carried us," said Indians point guard Andre McDowell, who finished with 10 points. "We try to run everything just to mix it up so the offense doesn't know what we're running. I think we started to get a little lazy (in the second half) and they started to take advantage of that."Lehighton's run started after it regained the lead at 7-6 halfway through the first quarter. The spurt trickled to the 4:24 mark of the second frame."That was the difference in the game," said Palmerton head coach Ken Termini. "That 19-0 run, next thing you know, it's 25-6. It wasn't that we weren't getting good looks, we got the ones that we wanted. "We took 19 shots in the first half and I don't think one of them was a bad shot. To Lehighton's credit, they used their defense to generate offense. We're not quite there yet, but we're getting closer."Defensively, Lehighton threw the kitchen sink at Palmerton in the first half. The Tribe often shifted from zone, man-to-man, and full-court pressure. But head coach Rich Oertner wasn't as pleased with the second-half effort."Our strength is that I have pretty smart kids who are willing to change defenses all the time," said Oertner. "I think we came in complacent and the kids thought it would be an easy game. To their credit (Palmerton) they made some shots. We didn't play very good defense in the second half at all. We didn't do what we were supposed to do on the boards. We played the best game of the year against Jim Thorpe (Dec. 22) and our worst game tonight."The youthful Bombers came out of intermission with new life. Palmerton outscored Lehighton in both of the final two periods, which included an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter that cut the Indians' lead to eight points."We've been talking a lot about playing with intensity and toughness for the full 32 minutes," Termini said. "Quite frankly, it's our fifth game, and it's the first time that we've done it. We're improving and we're pleased that we're growing, but we're not satisfied yet until we get a 'W'."The final two frames were an encouraging sequence for a Palmerton program that features a ton of underclassmen. Justin Hosier led the Bombers with a game-high 19 points, while Nate Dougherty chipped in 10."The bottom line is I have I have two freshmen, two sophomores, three juniors, and a senior in my eight-man rotation," explained the Palmerton coach. "A freshman and a sophomore were our two leading scorers tonight. We all have to continue making strides as individuals and as a team."But in the end Lehighton had just a bit too much firepower to fend off the Bombers. Donnie Buchinsky led the Tribe with 16 points."Palmerton came out and hustled and I have to give them credit," Oertner said. "They (Palmerton) thought they could win, and they got back in the game and they almost did. We got the job tonight and that's the most important thing."UP NEXT ... Lehighton will face Northern Lehigh in the championship game, while the Bombers take on Jim Thorpe in the consolation contest.GET BIG ... The Tribe made an effort to pound the paint on Tuesday. "We didn't play well inside tonight," Oertner said. "We tried but we turned it over almost every time we did.:LEHIGHTONCarpenter 4-0-0-9, McDowell 3-4-4-10, Buchinsky 6-2-3-16, Mele 3-0-0-6, Howland 4-1-3-12, Venuto 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-7-10-53.PALMERTONYacone 3-0-0-6, Dougherty 3-2-2-10, Baumgardt 1-1-2-4, Suto 1-1-1-3, Hosier 7-2-2-19, Yaindl 0-0-0-0, Silfies 0-0-0-0, King 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-6-7-42.Lehighton 10 20 10 13 - 53Palmerton 6 8 13 15 - 42Three-Pointers: Lehighton - Howard 3. Buchinsky 2, Carpewter 1. Palmerton - Hosier 3, Dougherty 2, Baumgardt 1.