He scored from everywhere on the court.

Cole Dietz scorched the net with driving layups and three-pointers from beyond the top of the key and from the baseline wing, scoring 34 points in leading Lehighton to a 67-35 Colonial League win over Bangor on Thursday.

The sharpshooting senior threw down 20 points in the first half, and added 14 more after the intermission against the Slaters’ zone defense that never made an adjustment to shut him down.

“Give credit to my teammates for giving me open looks for my shots” said Dietz, who fell one point short of his season high of 35 points scored against Palisades. “Our coaches put me in the right spots, and I just trust the confidence I have in them and in myself to help my team win.”

Tribe head coach Trevor Miller gave Dietz and Talin Fairchild free roam to get themselves open.

“We tell them to get lost anywhere they can, and tonight it worked out well for us,” Miller said.

With 4:40 left in the first period, Bangor’s Gavin Pysher hit a three-ball to tie the score 5-5, but Lehighton’s fast-break offense and scoring on high percentage shots proved to be too much for the Slaters to keep the game competitive.

A basket by Blake Roberts, two more from Fairchild and three-pointers from both Aiden Solt and Dietz began an 18-4 Indian run that ended with a baseline trey by Bangor’s Liam Gaines with 5:25 left in the second period.

The Tribe extended their margin to 20 points on Dietz’s three in the waning seconds of the second session for a 38-18 advantage at the intermission.

“We knew that Bangor would defend us with a match-up zone, so we practiced for two hours learning how to attack it,” said Miller. “Credit goes to our players. Our offensive sets relied on movement pulling their defenders out so that we had passing and shooting lanes. We kind of learned this new offense on the fly, and I liked the way we shared the ball.”

Any chance that Bangor would climb back into the game in the third period was quickly denied when Dietz scored on two uncontested layups, and his three-ball at 5:40 gave the Indians a 42-18 lead.

Good shooting from Pysher was his team’s highlight, as he led Bangor in scoring with 17 points.

The fourth period was played under the mercy rule. Cash White, Tommy Blair, Mason Seidler and Aiden McCarroll all added points to the lopsided score.

Miller praised his team’s efforts.

“Caden Meek was unselfish in getting the ball to his teammates for open looks as was Blake Roberts, and Cash White was a menace on the boards.”

Miller feels his team has made great strides from their struggles in the early part of their schedule.

“Jim Thorpe outscoring us 16-0 in the first quarter was the low point of our season, and every team goes through their struggles. Now, we are playing with a lot of energy and much better confidence in what we do on both ends of the court.”

HANDS THAT ROCK THE CRADLE … Not only did Dietz score 20 of his team’s 38 first-half points and 34 of their total 67 with great shooting, several of his baskets came from steals he finished with uncontested driving layups.

ONE AND DONE … Lehighton took one free throw during the entire game, made by Cash White to complete a three-point play late in the third period.

TWIN KILLING … Before their varsity victory, the JVs defeated Bangor 53-45.

UP NEXT … Lehighton travels to Southern Lehigh for a 12:45 game on Saturday afternoon.

BANGOR

Pysher 6-0-0-17, Marcantonis 2-2-8-6, Gaines 2-0-2-5, Rehrig 1-0-0-3, Childs 1-0-0-2, Pinto 1-0-0-2, Crockett 0-0-0-0, Merlo 0-0-0-0, Bowman 0-0-0-0, Brownell 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-2-10-35.

LEHIGHTON

Dietz 14-0-0-34, White 6-1-1-13, Fairchild 3-0-0-7, Solt 1-0-0-3, Seidler 1-0-0-2, McCarroll 1-0-0-2, Meek 1-0-0-2, Roberts 1-0-0-2, Blair 1-0-0-2, Steigerwalt 0-0-0-0, Hunsicker 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 29-1-1-67.

Bangor 9 9 11 6 - 35

Lehighton 17 21 19 10 - 67

Three-pointers: Bangor - Pysher 5, Rehrig 1, Gaines 1; Lehighton - Dietz 6, Solt 1, Fairchild 1.

Records: Bangor (5-6; 5-4); Lehighton (8-5; 6-4).