In the first four minutes of Friday’s game between Northern Lehigh and Lehighton, both coaches were not happy with the focus of their teams.

“We’ve played five games in seven days and had just two practices,” said Bulldogs mentor Pat Wanamaker. “I think we were a bit fatigued.”

“We didn’t finish on our layup opportunities,” added Indians coach Trevor Miller.

With the score 4-0 in Lehighton’s favor halfway through the first period, the host team was able to pull away with an 11-0 run that led to an eventual 54-25 victory.

The Bulldogs (0-5) committed nine turnovers in the first half and scored but two field goals from 19 shots on a three-pointer by Coy Daubert and a bank shot by Ethan Kunkle that beat the buzzer before the intermission.

The Tribe, after leading 15-5 following the first eight minutes, lengthened their lead to 27-9 at the break. Freshman Blake Roberts scored nine points on driving layups and short jumpers and a free throw. Owen Serfass and Joe Roth added six apiece as Lehighton continued to get shooting opportunities with offensive rebounds from a decided height advantage over the Bulldogs’ starting five.

“We’re certainly not making excuses, but we put just six players on the court in the first half,” said Wanamaker, “and we had too many empty possessions, but credit Lehighton for much of that.”

In the third period, Lehighton used the three-ball to end any chance for a Bulldog comeback. At the 6:20 mark, Serfass’ trey made the score 33-9. Following freshman Cole Dietz’s three-ball, Brayden Johnson drilled another from the top of the key and with 20 seconds left in the period, Zane Smith nailed one more for the Tribe to put the score at 48-17 heading into the final frame.

Despite the lopsided loss, Wanamaker saw improvement from his young and inexperienced team.

“There’s daily improvement and we’re better than we were last week,” he said, “and I can’t ask for any more hustle than what they played with tonight.”

Lehighton (2-1) received contributions from eight players in the game. Roberts utilized his 6-2 size to make high percentage baskets inside the paint, and finished with a game-high 12 points. Roth, at the same height, tallied 10 points on layups and putbacks.

“We used our size advantage, but we also scored outside shots from open space,” said Miller, “and our defense created more scoring opportunities. As the game went on, we found a better rhythm to our ball movement.”

The Tribe’s man defense helped to cause 19 Bulldog turnovers for the game.

“We have a lot of young players,” said Miller. “We need to learn how to keep our focus. We can definitely play better, but to be a good team, we have to find ways to win even when we’re not playing the best we can and we did that tonight. A win is a win.”

THE UNLUCKY 19

... In addition to committing 19 turnovers, the Bulldogs shot just 19% from the floor in the game, and made only eight baskets.

MAKING THEIR MARK

... In the third and fourth periods, Miller subbed for his starters. Two outstanding pass-and-score plays were made, first on a hook shot off the glass by Zane Smith on a feed from Yadiel Acosta, and another on a basket by Luke Blauch with an assist from Smith.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Kunkle 2-4-6-9, N. Buskirk 3-1-3-7, Daubert 2-0-0-6, Salib 1-0-0-2, Simms 0-1-2-1, B. LoPinto 0-0-0-0, C. LoPinto 0-0-0-0,B. Buskirk 0-0-0-0, Novicki 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 8-6-11-25.

LEHIGHTON

Roberts 5-2-3-12, Roth 5-0-1-10, Johnson 4-0-0-9, Dietz 2-0-0-6, Serfass 2-0-2-6, Smith 2-0-0-5, Blauch 2-0-3-4, N.Hawk 1-0-0-2, Light 0-0-2-0, Kemmerer 0-0-0-0, B. Hawk 0-0-0-0, Acosta 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-2-11-54.

Northern Lehigh 5 4 8 8 - 25

Lehighton 15 12 21 6 - 54

Three-pointers: NL - Daubert 2, Kunkle 1. Lehighton - Serfass 3, Johnson 1, Smith 1, Dietz 1.