Northern Lehigh head coach Jeff Miller had an inkling that Lehighton would throw some 'junk' defense his team's way in the championship game of the Slatington Rotary Christmas Tournament Wednesday night.

What he didn't know was just how efficient that defense would be.Lehighton head coach Rich Oertner opted to use a triangle-and-two defense. The Indians focused the defensive pressure on the Bulldogs' Joe Egan and Brandon Hess, and stymied their offensive output. Even though the remaining Bulldog players held their own, it was the Tribe that prevailed for the crown with a 37-35 victory."Our defense was great. Northern Lehigh only got a couple layups all night," Oertner said. "But we were bad on the other end. We normally shoot the ball well, but we might have been 2-for-15 in the first half."The first 16 minutes saw the two sides battle to a 14-14 tie. Due to the off shooting of both sides, the offensive highlight reel from the first half was rather thin.However, Northern Lehigh's Gio Colon tallied eight of his 14 points in the stretch, while the Tribe's Donovan Buchinsky totaled 10 of his 17."If we make some of those shots early on, it could have been a lot different," Miller said. "I think we did a great job defensively on them early on. We had them a little confused, made them work for their shots, which is what we wanted to do. We wanted to slow them down."In the second half, the lids came off the basket as both sides traded baskets back and forth. With 4:10 left in the third quarter, the Bulldogs' Preston Kemery nailed the third and final of his consecutive jumpers to give his team a 23-22 lead.Twenty seconds later, Lehighton's Andre McDowell nailed a trey from the corner, giving his team back the lead for good. The basket sparked a pivotal 9-2 run to end the third quarter that gave the Indians a 31-25 lead.In the fourth, the Tribe's lead grew to double figures as a nifty driving layup across the lane from McDowell made it 37-27 with 4:40 to go.That's when Northern Lehigh's resiliency became a factor again as it rattled off the game's last eight points to make it interesting.With seconds remaining, Northern Lehigh's final shot attempt missed and Damian Mele came up with the rebound to end the frantic finish."Honestly, we might not be as talented as last year," Oertner said. "But we play way better as a team this year, and cognitively, we're much better than last season."Buchinsky added, "It feels great to be here at 7-0 on the season. We are playing better as a team. Tonight, our offense wasn't exactly the greatest, but we got the win. Hopefully we can keep it going."Meanwhile, Miller hopes to utilize his team's strong showing in the tourney as a springboard into league play during the upcoming weeks."These kids play with a lot of heart," Miller said. "We proved tonight and last night that we can play with some pretty good teams."BY THE NUMBERS ... Buchinsky, with 17 points, and McDowell, with seven points and four assists, led Lehighton offensively. For Nolehi, Colon tallied 14 points and Kemery added 10.ALL TOURNEY TEAM ... Palmerton frosh Justin Hosier, Jim Thorpe's Matt Elmore, Lehighton's Caine Carpenter, and Northern Lehigh's Brandon Hess and Joe Egan were selected by the coaches to the all-tournament squad. Lehighton's Buchinsky was the tourney's Most Valuable Player.IN OTHER NEWS ... Jim Thorpe picked up the junior varsity tournament title earlier in the afternoon.LEHIGHTONCarpenter 2-0-0-4, McDowell 3-0-1-7, Buchinsky 7-0-0-17, Mele 3-0-1-6, Howland 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 16-0-2-37.NORTHERN LEHIGHKemery 4-1-2-10, Egan 3-0-2-6, Seiler 1-0-0-3, Schoff 0-0-0-0, Long 0-0-0-0, Hess 1-0-0-2, Colon 7-0-0-14. TOTALS: 16-1-4-35.Lehighton 8 6 17 6 - 37Northern Lehigh 9 5 11 10 - 35Three pointers: L - Buchinsky 3, Howland 1, McDowell 1; NL - Kemery 1, Seiler 1.