It didn’t matter what defense was thrown at Lehighton Friday night.

Whether they faced zone or man, the Indians were knocking down shots.

Trevor Miller’s club shot over 50% percent from the field over the first three quarters and pulled away from host Northern Lehigh for a 69-35 non-league victory.

“That’s a really good team,” said Bulldog head coach Bob Fahler. “If they shoot like that every night, I don’t know who’s going to beat them.

“They’re well-coached ... It’s like their players are clones of each other. They’re interchangeable. They all can shoot. They all can cut, and Trevor does a good job with those kids ... Some of the inside moves they make and the three-point shooting, it’s impressive.”

Fahler opened the game using a zone against Lehighton, but the Indians (2-1) drilled five three-pointers - three by Blake Roberts - to gain a 25-15 lead. After the Bulldogs went man in the second frame, Miller’s squad dominated inside - especially Joe Roth, who hit for nine of his game-high 23 points in the period to help the visitors extend the margin to 25 points by intermission.

“Our guys, when they see a zone, they kind of lick their chops,” said Miller, whose team shot 8-of-14 from three-point range in the first half. “We can shoot the ball, and you saw that in the first quarter. We want teams to get out of zone and then we can kind of hit them with some stuff going at them.

“We’ve got some guys that can score the ball. And that’s what we’re trying to get to, that defenses can’t necessarily scheme one way or the other. We want to be able to go at them whether they’re in a zone or man.”

Roth continued to do damage in the third quarter. The 6-1 junior tallied eight more points in the period as the advantage swelled to 63-27.

“You just have to be in the game and sometimes have the mindset to score. And that’s what I did,” said Roth, who also collected eight rebounds, five off the offensive glass. “I’m one of the main rebounders on the team. It’s a neat role.”

“We felt like we could offensive rebound, especially with him,” said Miller of Roth. “He does such a good job at that. When he high points the ball, there’s nobody that really can get it from him. And he did that tonight. Part of that was his 23 points, but he also made some nice moves inside. He got to the bucket very easily and finished when he got there.”

While Northern Lehigh (1-4) battled early, trailing just 20-15 with a minute left in the first quarter, the Bulldogs simply couldn’t compete with Lehighton’s shooting prowess and their strength in the paint.

“I was proud of the guys the whole night,” said Fahler. “I told the kids at halftime, ‘Guys, if a team shoots like that I can’t come in here and really be that critical.’ We work on sharing the ball, playing fast, boxing out, and not playing afraid because we have a lot of young guys. We’re looking for growth that way.”

INDIAN OFFENSE ... Besides Roth’s 23 points, Roberts ended with 15 and Cole Dietz chipped in with nine. Lehighton shot 52.9% (27-of-51) during the first three quarters. Dietz also handed out plenty of assists. “Cole does such a nice job of distributing,” said Miller. “A lot of Joe’s points came off Cole’s passes. The same thing with Blake. He can pass the ball. They’re probably our two best passers. And they look for other guys all the time.”

BULLDOG POINTS ... Northern Lehigh’s scoring came from three players. Nick Buskirk finished with a team-high 13 points, while Connor Simms and Kellen Bauer both ended with 11. Bauer hit back-to-back threes late in the first quarter to pull the Bulldogs within five points before Lehighton went on a 14-2 run.

LEHIGHTON

Serfass 1-0-2-2, Solt 0-0-0-0, Light 2-0-0-5, Hawk 2-0-0-5, Fairchild 1-0-0-2, Johnson 2-0-0-4, Roberts 6-0-0-15, Meek 0-0-0-0, Roth 11-1-1-23, Dietz 3-0-0-9, Acosta-Rodriguez 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 30-1-3-69.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Simms 3-4-8-11, Bauer 4-1-1-11, King 0-0-0-0, Smith 0-0-0-0, Buskirk 6-0-0-13, Daubert 0-0-0-0, Schaffer 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-5-9-35.

Lehighton 25 24 14 6 - 69

No. Lehigh 15 9 3 8 - 35

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Roberts 3, Dietz 3, Light 1, Hawk 1; Northern Lehigh - Bauer 2, Simms 1, Buskirk 1.