BETHLEHEM — It’s probably the oldest cliche in sports.

But it’s also probably the most accurate.

And on Friday night, the Lehighton girls proved it to be true one more time — defenses really do win championships.

The Indians’ smothering man-to-man D frustrated Notre Dame throughout their entire Colonial League title game at Freedom High School. That, coupled with a big offensive performance from freshman Brielle Parliman, lifted Lehighton to a convincing 44-26 victory and the first championship ever in program history.

“We take a lot of pride in our defense,” said senior guard Leah Uyvari. “To take on a Notre Dame team, and hold them under 30 points, that is so amazing.”

“Defense wins championships, and we came out tonight knowing we had to limit their three-point shots,” echoed Olivia Serfass, another senior. “They’re a good shooting team, and I feel like we did that. We played hard on defense and didn’t let their offense get going.”

Uyvari opened the game with a three-pointer just 27 seconds into the contest, and the Indians never trailed.

While the Crusaders kept the score close during most of the first three quarters — the margin fluctuating between one and eight points throughout that time frame — they could never put a huge run together as Lehighton’s defense never allowed that to happen.

“Our kids were frustrated. You could tell,” said Notre Dame head coach Josh Kopp. “We couldn’t get any kind of rhythm or flow out of our offense. And that’s a complete credit to Lehighton. I knew coming in that they were going to be really, really tough defensively.

“They’re the best team in the Colonial League in my opinion. It showed tonight. They proved it tonight ... I think when the margin got up to 10, we got tighter. We started to do things that have been uncharacteristic of our offense. We weren’t moving it from side-to-side like we normally have, but that’s more about Lehighton being well-prepared and just really taking us out of what we do well.”

Parliman scored six points in the opening frame as Lehighton held a 10-7 advantage. The Indians got the lead up to eight points before ND’s biggest run of seven straight narrowed the gap to just one. But a Parliman bucket and Uyvari’s trey at the halftime buzzer extended the margin to six.

“We play one possession at a time,” said Serfass. “We know the game is one of runs, and we knew they could come back at any time, so we never looked at it as us being up. We were just determined to keep fighting the whole time.”

Notre Dame showed it had some fight when it forced four straight turnovers and used a driving basket from Ava Shonk with 2:50 left in the third to whittle the score to 24-22.

The Tribe, however, closed the period on a 9-2 run — with four different players scoring points — to take a nine-point advantage heading into the final eight minutes.

And in that fourth quarter, Lehighton sealed the deal.

Parliman hit for six of her game-high 18 points during the fourth, while the defense put the clamps on Notre Dame, allowing them just two more points.

“We play with full intensity on defense every single game, and that’s what helps us win games,” said Parliman. “I think knowing that the last game I wasn’t scoring much drove me to try even harder and play with more intensity this game.”

Parliman’s performance earned praise from the opposition.

“I’ll tell you who stepped up big for them, it was Parliman,” said Kopp. “Big time. The last couple games, you could get a sense on tape — because we watched their games — she had been struggling with her offensive confidence. She was absolutely the x-factor because we did not expect her to have the outburst that she did. She’s a talented player ... and for a freshman to do that under these circumstances was such a big thing.”

Parliman and the rest of the Lehighton starters accounted for every one of their team’s points — and also played the entire game except for the final minute — but Lehighton head coach Nadia Gauronsky made sure the unsung members of the team also received recognition.

“Absolutely, 100 percent,” said Gauronsky of the defensive effort being the key to victory. “But I have to give credit to the girls who were sitting on the bench. They were the ones, I showed them the scout film, and said this is what we’re going to do. This is how we have to run it, can you do this? And they did it to perfection.

“Because of that we were able to dominate them defensively. And that’s a credit to those girls all season. They don’t get a lot of playing time and don’t get a lot of credit, but they deserve a ton of credit for that.”

And now the Indians have earned the credit from across the league during a season that the community will remember forever.

“Coming from what we had before to right now is just crazy emotions,” said senior Ryleigh Trotman. “It’s not just one emotion of excitement, it’s just pure happiness of getting to this point.”

“I’m thrilled for the kids. I’m thrilled for the Lehighton community,” added Gauronsky. “I’m happy for the effort, and the way that they played. I’m just overall thrilled for everyone.”

ND WOES ... The 26 points by Notre Dame matched a season low, also being held to 26 by Lansdale Catholic. In addition to struggling from the floor, the Crusaders shot 26.8 percent, they also were a dreadful 1-of-16 from the free throw line.

COMPLETE TURNAROUND ... For the Indian seniors, the season marks a complete switch from when they were freshmen. Three years ago, Lehighton had just a 5-17 record.

OTHER STATS ... Uyvari also reached double figures with 12 points. Serfass and Trotman both collected eight rebounds.

LEHIGHTON

O. Serfass 1-3-4-5, Uyvari 3-3-4-12, Trotman 2-0-1-4, A. Serfass 1-3-4-5, Parliman 8-2-2-18, Wise 0-0-0-0, Yeakel 0-0-0-0, Solt 0-0-0-0, S. Serfass 0-0-0-0, Wehr 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-11-15-44.

NOTRE DAME

Shonk 2-0-0-5, Schweitzer 1-0-4-2, Hammerstone 1-1-2-4, Boyle 1-0-0-3, Karwacki 1-0-2-2, Hobbie 2-0-2-4, Beani 2-0-0-4, Coulter 1-0-2-2, Micklos 0-0-0-0, Shevtziv 0-0-0-0, Tocci 0-0-2-0, Reichard 0-0-0-0, Marks 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-1-16-26.

Lehighton 10 12 11 11 - 44

Notre Dame 7 9 8 2 - 26

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Uyvari 3; Notre Dame - Shonk 1, Hammerstone 1, Boyle 1.

Records: Lehighton (22-2); Notre Dame (20-5).