It’s only late December, but the Lehighton girls basketball team has already earned some hardware.

Hosting the Lady Indian Holiday Basketball Classic, the Tribe fought off a pesky Northern Lehigh squad in Monday’s title game to remain undefeated and claim the championship

The Bulldogs came to play, keeping it close in the first half, but Lehighton broke through in the third quarter and eventually pulled away for a 50-33 victory.

It was evident early on that Nolehi was prepared for the matchup, using a box-and-1 to keep Olivia Serfass off the scoreboard in the first quarter.

It wouldn’t be until the second when Ryleigh Trotman eventually broke through the Bulldog defense under the basket with six points, putting the Indians on top 18-14 at the half. Trotman finished the half with a double-double, putting up 10 points and 10 rebounds — all off the offensive glass.

Lehighton still managed to generate chances, but only shot 6-for-36 in the first two frames.

Tribe coach Nadia Gauronsky knew something needed to change if her team was going to be able to finish better at the basket.

“We kicked up the intensity on defense, and I thought that really helped,” she said. “Leah (Uyvari) and Ava Serfass had some great steals, and then that defensive intensity led to offense.”

This more aggressive defense transitioned into a 23-point third quarter for the Indians. Both Uyvari and Brielle Parliman each sank two threes, which also helped open up Serfass in the paint for eight second-half points. A four-point Indian lead grew to 15 heading into the final period.

“I heard down the Grapevine that they [NL] weren’t really worried about me, and to come out and hit some big threes really got them to come out of their zone,” said Uyvari, who finished with 12 points.

Not only have her contributions on the statsheet been vital for her team, but Uyvari’s leadership has filtered its way down through the rest of the club. It’s also seen through how she communicates with coach Gauronksy.

“I think (Coach Gauronsky) just understands me,” Uyvari said. “I feel like we have the same basketball IQ, and we just understand things the same because she was a point guard in high school. I feel like she just understands where I’m coming from with a lot of things.”

On the other side, Bulldog head coach Brandon Hibbler was impressed with his team’s first half, but also understood how difficult maintaining Lehighton’s offense would be.

“I thought we played an exceptional first half,” he said. “18-14 at half, you tell me we’re in the game on the road against an 8-0 team, I’d be proud. The third quarter kind of got away from us. They hit some shots, which good teams do, and we struggled to score. But we did a lot of things well.”

A few early baskets in the fourth from Trotman and Serfass sealed the deal, and the Tribe earned their first trophy of the season — the first of what they hope is many to come.

After shaking off a slow start, Serfass still managed to record a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

“I knew that I was able to get the ball to my teammates, which led to a few assists in that first half and that’s all I had to do,” she said. “I knew not to force anything and eventually everything would come to me, which it did.”

In addition, her overall performance helped her earn the tournament MVP award, putting up a combined 34 points and 22 rebounds in the two games against Whitehall and Northern Lehigh.

OTHER STATS … After putting up a double-double in the first half, Trotman finished with 14 points, 16 rebounds, and two blocks. Tegan Simms led all Bulldog scorers with 12 points, and also added five rebounds and four blocks.

REMATCH … These two teams meet up again on Friday at Northern Lehigh. “We’re going to have two days of practice now hammering out some fundamentals and some details,” said coach Hibbler. “I’m looking forward to Friday night at our place, and we’ll give our best effort to compete.”

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Remaley 0-0-0-0, Powell 0-0-0-0, Williams 2-2-2-6, Gad 0-0-0-0, Ash 0-0-0-0, Scholl 0-0-0-0, Ramos 3-1-2-8, Tosh 1-0-0-3, Wentz 0-0-0-0, Simms 5-0-0-12, Snyder 2-0-2-4. TOTALS: 13-3-6-33.

LEHIGHTON

Arzuaga 0-0-0-0, O. Serfass 4-3-4-11, Wise 0-0-0-0, Yeakel 0-0-0-0, Reph 0-0-0-0, Uyvari 4-1-3-12, Trotman 6-2-2-14, S. Serfass 0-1-2-1, A. Serfass 2-0-0-4, Wehr 0-2-2-2, Parliman 2-0-0-6. TOTALS: 18-9-13-50.

Northern Lehigh 8 6 12 7 - 33

Lehighton 7 11 23 9 - 50

Three-Pointers: Northern Lehigh - Simms 2, Ramos 1, Tosh 1; Lehighton - Uyvari 3, Parliman 2.

Records: Northern Lehigh (5-6); Lehighton (9-0).