It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish.

Undefeated Panther Valley had to rally in the final minutes to defeat Lehighton, 58-54, in the Schuylkill League opener for both teams Monday night.

A short bank shot by the Tribe’s Ben Schatz to open the fourth quarter put his team up 40-35. But from the seven-minute mark of the final quarter until a dramatic ending, the Panthers outscored Lehighton, 23-14, behind their turnover-causing defensive pressure.

“We wanted to pressure the ball the whole game,” said Panther Valley coach Pat Crampsie. “In the beginning, we got frustrated by missing some easy baskets, and that made us lose focus on defense and that allowed Lehighton to play its game.”

Rene Figueroa nearly single-handedly willed the victory for the Panthers. He scored all of his team’s 12 points in the third quarter to keep PV close, and added nine more in the deciding fourth quarter to finish with a game-high 33 points.

“Our defensive gameplan was to find Figueroa wherever he was on the offensive side of the court and try to keep him from scoring so much, but we obviously didn’t do a a good enough job,” said Indians’ coach Trevor Miller. “He’s extremely talented, and an elite player in our league.”

Schatz and Addison Howland got Lehighton off to a fast start that led to a four-point lead at the end of the first quarter. The pair scored five points apiece on long jumpers and inside layups.

Brandon Stilitino dropped down two side court treys to jumpstart the PV offense to a 19-16 lead with two minutes gone by in the second session. But Stephen Heery’s three-pointer and inside-the-paint jump shot with one minute left before intermission left his team trailing by just one going into the third quarter.

“I thought we did a good job in the first half beating their pressure and getting the ball in the middle for good shots,” said Miller.

Meanwhile, the Panthers were struggling from the floor.

“We always tell our kids not to get bothered when they miss easy shots, which we did a lot of in the first 16 minutes,” said Crampsie. ‘When we came out in the second half, we played with more focus and played our fast-pace transition style of basketball.”

Lehighton, however, met every challenge from Panther Valley in the third. Howland and Heery led the attack, and Heery’s three from the top of the key lifted Lehighton’s lead to 36-30 with a 1:46 left in the quarter. Whenever it appeared that the Indians might go on a run, Crampsie called timeouts to settle their momentum.

Down three going into the fourth, PV got the ball into Figueroa’s hands as much as it could, and he delivered.

Erik Marchorro also stepped up for the Panthers as his two shots from downtown energized the home crowd and gave Panther Valley a 52-51 edge late in the game.

Trailing 55-52 with 40 seconds left, Lehighton turned the ball over and then had to foul Figueroa, whose five free throws sealed the deal for the Panthers.

“We missed too many easy layups in the second half,” said Miller. That’s been our problem. At times, we have struggled to score. There’s no satisfaction when you lose, but I think we played our best game of the season so far.”

“Our goal was to wear them down with our defensive pressure,” said Crampsie, “but they proved they’re a tough team. We made some key baskets late and once again, Rene played fantastic when the game was on the line.”

BEST START SINCE ... PV’s 4-0 start is the best record to begin a season since the 1991-92 campaign, when current coach Pat Crampsie was a sophomore guard on the team. The Panthers began that year 5-0 with wins over Blue Mountain, Schuylkill Haven, Lehighton, Mount Carmel and Shenandoah Valley. The team, coached by Tony Antinozzi, finished that season with a record of 17-8.

FOUL BALLS ... Three key players for Lehighton fouled out of the game in the final three minutes, which didn’t help its chances to gain a victory.

COACH SPEAK ... The Times News voice-recorded Coach Crampsie and his assistants talking to their players during the game. Look for a feature story in the near future that will give fans an insight into the coaches’ communication of their strategy to their players during the heat of the action.

LEHIGHTON

Strauss 1-0-0-2, Heery 3-1-2-9, Acosta 0-0-0-0, Hunsicker 6-0-1-13, Crum 0-2-2-2, Beers 0-0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0-0, Haydt 1-0-0-2, Schwab 0-0-0-0, Howland 5-4-6-15, Schatz 5-0-0-13. TOTALS: 21-7-11-54.

PANTHER VALLEY

Marchorro 2-0-0-6, Stilitino 3-0-0-9, Buzzard 1-2-5-4, Turner 1-0-0-2, Figueroa 11-7-11-33, White 1-2-3-4, Brettle 0-0-2-0, Krapft 0-0-0-0, Eidle 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-11-21-58.

Lehighton 12 10 16 16 - 54

Panther Valley 8 15 12 23 - 58

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Heery 2, Hunsicker 1, Howland 1, Schatz 1; Panther Valley - Figueroa 4, Stilitino 3, Marchorro 2.