It’s been a roller coaster of a season for Lehighton, but it’s now one step closer to a Colonial League playoff berth.

The Indians played host to Northern Lehigh on Wednesday night and looked like their typical selves. A barrage of 13 triples put the Bulldogs in the rear view en route to a 69-50 victory.

It didn’t take long for the home team to get things rolling, as a 7-0 run opened the contest and immediately put Nolehi on the ropes. Lehighton’s fast-paced offense and zone defense became problematic for the Bulldogs to catch up on the scoreboard.

If that wasn’t enough, Indian senior Cole Dietz came alive in the second quarter. The school’s newest 1,000-point scorer added to his total with 12 points in the frame and helped carry his team into halftime with a 31-20 lead.

“It’s tough to trade baskets after you get down early with a team that has a player like Cole Dietz on it, who in my eyes is the best pure shooter in the Colonial League and one of the best shooters in the district,” said Northern Lehigh head coach Jake Waylen about Dietz. “We were unable to execute our game plan defensively, which was to try to limit him from scoring from the outside.”

Aiden Solt also chipped in with a couple threes in the second to provide some offensive insurance despite being more of a secondary scorer.

“It takes a lot of pressure off my back because I’m not one of the big scorers,” Solt said. “I could just relax and even if I don’t make it, I’m not pressured and feel like I have to. So it’s more relaxing than anything.”

Despite the lead, Lehighton head coach Trevor Miller believed that his team still had more to give.

“I thought early we were a little passive,” he said. “I thought we had some opportunities to get some steals and get out and run. In the second half I thought we were a little more aggressive, and defensively we kind of locked in a little bit better.”

Miller’s team responded with 38 second-half points, including another 18 from Dietz to finish with 30 on the night and 12 from Talin Fairchild on four of his five treys.

“We came out a little bit flat in the first quarter, but we all turned it up as the game went on, and (it was a) total team effort tonight,” Dietz said. “Everybody was knocking down shots and playing together, and it’s always fun to play like that.”

The Bulldogs did all they could offensively as Kellen Bauer put up 16 second-half points (23 overall), but Lehighton’s zone coverage was just too much for Nolehi to handle.

“We’ve been better against teams when they play us man-to-man,” coach Waylen said. “Lehighton played its zone tonight (and extended) their zone out pretty far. We tried to attack the gaps, get more into the paint, and kick for an open look, but the open looks weren’t falling for us tonight.

“Credit to Trevor. He put us in a position that was difficult for us by coming out and playing his zone the whole game.”

As for the Indians, through all their up-and-downs, they now find themselves on the brink of a Colonial League playoff berth. Despite having heartbreaking losses to Pleasant Valley, Jim Thorpe and Saucon Valley, coach Miller complimented his players on how they’ve responded following those moments.

“I think what you’re seeing is a team and a group of guys that have responded in the best possible way that they can,” he said. “I think what happens is you learn from those games, and that leads to what you see tonight and what we’ve been doing over the last couple weeks.”

FINAL STRETCH … The Indians end their regular season against Northwestern and at Jim Thorpe. Coming off losses to both schools, the team is already prepared for both rematches. “We just want to watch some film on them and correct our mistakes from earlier and hopefully change the outcome this time around,” Dietz said.

SENIOR SENDOFF … Lehighton hosted its senior night festivities before the game, honoring the six seniors on its team: Dietz, Fairchild, Caden Meek, Blake Roberts, Mason Seidler and Solt.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

LoPinto 0-0-0-0, Daubert 3-0-1-7, K. Bauer 9-3-4-23, Salih 1-0-0-3, Karetsky 4-1-2-9, Fox 0-0-0-0, Schaffer 0-0-0-0, Mohrey 0-0-0-0, Loch 0-0-0-0, Lozado 0-0-0-0, M. Bauer 3-0-0-8. TOTALS: 20-4-7-50.

LEHIGHTON

Seidler 1-0-0-3, McCarroll 0-2-4-2, Solt 4-1-2-11, White 0-0-0-0, Meek 1-0-0-2, Fairchild 5-0-0-15, Roberts 3-0-0-6, Steigerwalt 0-0-0-0, Hunsicker 0-0-0-0, Dietz 9-7-8-30. TOTALS: 23-10-14-69.

Northern Lehigh 7 13 16 14 - 50

Lehighton 13 18 18 20 - 69

Three-Pointers: Northern Lehigh - K. Bauer 2, Daubert 1, Salih 1; Lehighton - Dietz 5, Fairchild 5, Solt 2, Seidler 1.

Records: Northern Lehigh (6-14; 5-11); Lehighton (12-8; 9-7).