Adjust and adapt.

For Northern Lehigh, those words were crucial entering Friday’s Lady Indian Holiday Classic contest against East Stroudsburg South.

With the tournament games moved up to the morning because of forecasted bad weather, it meant a change in the patterns the Bulldogs — and the other teams — are used to in preparing for battle.

While it took a few minutes for Nolehi to get in gear, it eventually did and pulled away for a 53-32 victory and a berth in Monday’s championship round.

“It was definitely rough, but we fought through it,” said Tegan Simms, who paced the Bulldogs with a game-high 22 points. “We adapted to the change and we fought hard.

“It definitely took us a little bit (to get going) ... probably because it was a 9 o’clock game in the morning. We did a walk through at 7 a.m. and then we got on the bus at 7:45.”

Northern Lehigh turned the ball over four times in its first seven possessions and hit on just two of its first eight shots from the floor, but thanks to solid defense, a three-pointer from Ella Tosh and an inside bucket from Kylee Snyder as the first-quarter buzzer sounded, the Bulldogs grabbed a 15-8 lead.

“I told the kids, ‘Some times in life things happen, you get thrown a wrinkle, it’s no different in a job or the professional life,” said Nolehi head coach Brandon Hibbler about the early start time the day after Christmas. “You adapt as you go and you hope to rise and do the best that you can. I thought we did pretty well once we got off the bus. We had good spirits and good attitudes.

“We came in this morning and had a little shoot around and a walk through, and the kids adapted to the holiday. I told the kids we wanted to get off to a fast start, and we ended up having a 15-point first quarter.”

The winners expanded their advantage in the second quarter as the defense created turnovers, which often times resulted in transition baskets the other way.

After forcing the Cavaliers into nine miscues in the first quarter, the Bulldogs hounded the Eastburg guards into 12 giveaways — including one stretch of five straight possessions.

A 12-3 run to start the period pushed the margin to 16 points and by quarter’s end, Northern Lehigh had posted 22 points and was enjoying a 37-18 lead. Simms and Ariana Williams led the way as each tallied eight points during the frame.

“We realized that they weren’t that strong with the ball, so we pressured up on their guards,” said Simms. “We pressured them to make turnovers. When we notice teams don’t have the best ballhandlers, we’re definitely more aggressive against them.”

“When we can run a little bit and put some pressure on, it results in good things,” added Hibbler. “We play a 3-2 match and a little bit of man, but we’re pretty active. We preach at practice getting hands in the passing lanes.”

The Bulldogs continued their impressive defensive performance after the break, holding the Cavs to just four points in the third quarter while forcing seven turnovers and increasing their lead to 23 points.

A Simms inside bucket and two free throws in the fourth pushed the score to 51-22, prompting Hibbler to go to his bench the rest of the way.

“My shot’s been off for a while,” said Simms, “... but I’ve been taking it to the basket more so I’m trying to expand my game. I was glad our younger girls got a chance to get some playing time so that they can develop into better players.”

STAT LINE ... Williams backed up Simms with 14 points, while Eastburg South received a team-high nine points from Aaliyah Pluviose.

CATALYST ... Northern Lehigh’s Jaylene Ramos proved to be a spark plug for her team. Besides handling the ball, she fought for rebounds and was strong defensively. “She’s a real hustler,” said Hibbler. “I think we have five really balanced kids, the bigs inside do a good job, and J follows her shot well. She does a lot of hustle plays for us.”

UP AHEAD ... After some time off, the Bulldogs will face host Lehighton in Monday’s championship game. The game is scheduled for 7 p.m. “It’s definitely going to be different because in years past the tournament’s been on back-to-back days,” said Simms. “So, we’ll have a little bit of time to settle ourselves and prepare.”

ES SOUTH

Phillips 0-0-2-0, Pluviose 4-0-4-9, Rasmussen 2-0-0-5, Page 2-0-0-6, King 2-2-3-6, Johnson 0-0-0-0, Guerra 2-0-0-4, McAllister 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 13-2-9-32.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Remaley 0-0-0-0, Powell 0-0-0-0, Williams 6-2-2-14, Gad 2-2-8-6, Ash 0-0-0-0, Scholl 0-0-0-0, Ramos 0-2-2-2, Tosh 1-0-0-3, Wentz 1-0-0-2, Simms 8-5-6-22, Snyder 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 20-11-20-53.

ES South 8 10 4 10 - 32

Northern Lehigh 15 22 8 8 - 53

Three-pointers: ES South - Page 2, Pluviose 1, Rasmussen 1; Northern Lehigh - Tosh 1, Simms 1.

Records: ES South (2-8); Northern Lehigh (5-5).