One game at a time is how the Indians are navigating this season.

It may be tempting for the Lehighton girls basketball team to be preparing for the playoffs already with an undefeated record.

However, head coach Nadia Gauronsky wants her team to remain focused on its next game, and Saturday’s matinee against Southern Lehigh was no exception.

The two squads traded runs throughout the first half until the Tribe managed to pull away in the third and take home a 37-25 Colonial League victory.

The Spartans’ strategy was simple — speed the game up offensively and make life difficult for Lehighton in the paint by getting physical.

This allowed Solehi to keep pace on the scoreboard as the teams traded small runs with the Indians scoring four or six straight points followed by the Spartans countering with a run of their own.

The half ended with Lehighton holding a 19-14 advantage with Olivia Serfass tallying eight points and freshman Brielle Parliman adding seven, including the only three-pointer of the half.

“Coming into this game, we had to play with the same intensity throughout the whole game like we do every single game,” Parliman said. “So we just came out and played the same as we would in any other game.”

Coach Gauronsky’s message going into the second half was clear: keep things simple and stay patient for opportunities to open up.

The adjustment paid off significantly as the Tribe outscored Southern Lehigh 12-2 in the third quarter, ballooning a five-point lead into a 15-point margin.

“I think we controlled the tempo in the third quarter. We were able to control the clock and wait for things to open up for us, which I thought was really important,” Gauronsky said.

“I (kept) using the word patience because as we’re seeing these teams who are trying to speed the game up on us to make us make mistakes, showing that amount of poise on the floor I think was important.”

With players like Serfass and Leah Uyvari getting most of the attention for their offensive contributions, Cayley Reph often goes unnoticed for how well she quietly plays her role defensively coming in off the bench. Just like she’s done all season, she played a crucial role in holding the Spartans to just two points in the third.

“When I have to guard the best player, it’s an honor to be able to play defense against them,” Reph said. “I think (Coach Gauronsky) knows that I could handle the pressure. I think it just kind of came naturally. I just naturally know how to be aggressive.”

Solehi had one final run late in the fourth, but it was not enough to overcome the deficit it faced after the third.

Head coach Sydney Slone saw this as the difference maker of the game, and also gave her opposition the credit she felt they deserved.

“Lehighton’s a great team, very well coached, very fundamentally sound. They were just the better team today,” she said. “Basketball is a game of runs. It’s just taking runs and hopefully coming up with your own, and ours was just a little bit later in the game than we wanted it to be.”

STANDOUT STAR … Olivia Serfass led all scorers with 16 points and also picked up eight rebounds and two blocks.

SLOW AND STEADY … Lehighton travels to Catasauqua today and hosts Saucon Valley on Tuesday. According to Gauronsky, the playoffs aren’t even on her mind yet. “Those (Catty and Saucon) are our focuses right now,” she said. “I haven’t looked beyond that scope of what we’re focused on.”

SOUTHERN LEHIGH

Druck 1-0-0-2, Bartlett 2-0-0-4, Williams 0-0-0-0, Adams 4-1-1-9, Smith 2-2-4-6, Fontanez 2-0-0-4, Brunner 0-0-0-0, Martin 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-3-5-25.

LEHIGHTON

Aryanna 0-0-0-0, O. Serfass 6-4-5-16, Wise 0-0-0-0, Yeakel 0-0-0-0, Reph 0-0-0-0, Uyvari 3-1-2-8, Trotman 0-0-0-0, S. Serfass 0-0-0-0, A. Serfass 3-0-0-6, Saville 0-0-0-0, Wehr 0-0-0-0, Parliman 3-0-0-7. TOTALS: 15-5-7-37.

Southern Lehigh 9 5 2 9 - 25

Lehighton 11 8 12 6 - 37

Three-Pointers: Southern Lehigh - None; Lehighton - Parliman 1, Uyvari 1.

Records: Southern Lehigh (7-6; 4-4); Lehighton (13-0; 11-0).