Different offense. Different defense. Same result.

After being blown out by Pottsville earlier this season, Lehighton tried to change things up on Friday night.It didn't work.The Crimson Tide followed up a 36-point beating of Lehighton the first time they met with an equally dominant 56-35 Schuylkill League victory this time around on Friday night."Pottsville is a really good team," said Lehighton coach Rich Oertner. "I'm surprised they even have one league loss because the two times we have seen them, they have been overpowering."They are faster and stronger than us at just about every position. We tried some different things and our kids gave it their best effort, but we just don't match up very well with them."The Indians' game plan was to test Pottsville's patience. They tried to do so by spreading the court offensively, and then throwing a box-and-one defense at Tide leading scorer Jordan Abdo.But Pottsville aced the test thanks in large part to a couple of their "A" students.That's "A" as in Abdo.Twins Justin and Jordan Abdo played key roles in making sure Lehighton's strategy didn't succeed.Jordan scored a game-high 13 points despite the special attention of the Indian defense, while Justin added eight points and ran the Tide's precision-like offense from his point guard position.But Pottsville coach Dave Mullaney was more impressed with less obvious contributions from his star players."I thought Justin Abdo did a great job defensively containing their point guard when they tried to spread us out," said Mullaney. "That allowed us to limit their offensive effectiveness."I also think Jordan showed really nice patience against the box-and-one. He stayed within the offense and didn't force things and that helped some of our other kids get good looks."Pottsville led 13-8 after one quarter before taking control. Five different Tide players scored in the second period, led by Justin Abdo's five points. But the key was the Pottsville defense that limited the Indians to just one field goal as the lead grew to 30-12 at halftime."We just couldn't do anything in the first half against their defense," said Oertner. "Year in and year out, they are the best defensive team we see."Jordan Abdo scored seven third quarter points as Pottsville stretched its lead to 46-24, which led to both coaches emptying their benches in the final quarter."I was happy with how we played tonight," said Mullaney. "We prepared for about six different defenses, because you have to be ready for just about anything when you play Lehighton."I thought we did a really nice job passing the ball, and driving the ball against their box-and-one."LONG RANGE ATTACK ... Pottsville's defense prevented Lehighton from getting many looks around the basket. In the first half, the Indians were limited to just 11 shots from the field and eight of them were from three-point range.MELE PLAN ... Damian Mele hit a couple of first half three-pointers and finished with a team-high 10 points for the Indians.SCHUYLKILL IMPACT ... Pottsville (13-4, 9-1) entered the game with a one-game lead over the Indians for the second playoff berth out of Division I. The Indians (13-4, 6-3) will now need some help to make the league playoffs.POTTSVILLEJu. Abdo 3-1-1-8, Barnes 3-2-2-11, Timberlake 0-0-0-0, Wood 1-0-0-3, Melochick 0-2-2-2, Hahner 0-2-3-2, Stanton1-0-0-3, Pellish 1-0-0-2, Jo. Abdo 3-7-9-13, Renninger 4-2-4-10, Kondrack 0-2-2-2. TOTALS: 16-18-23-56LEHIGHTONLawler 0-0-0-0, Troxell 1-0-0-2, Carpenter 2-0-0-5, Schaeffer 0-0-0-0, McDowell 1-0-0-3, Buchinsky 1-2-4-4, Mele 4-0-0-10, Howland 0-2-2-2, Venuto 1-2-2-4, Schatz 1-1-2-3, Crum 0-0-0-0, Motz 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 12-7-10-35.Pottsville 13 17 16 10 - 56Lehighton 8 4 12 11 - 35Three-pointers: P - Barnes 3, Ju. Abdo 1, Wood 1, Aiden 1. L- Mele 2, Carpenter 1, McDowell 1.