Lehighton's defense was so good on Thursday that it never gave Panther Valley a chance on offense, literally.

PV crossed the half court timeline only once during the first two minutes and committed five turnovers during the sequence. The Indians scored relentlessly in transition, jumped out to a 13-0 lead, and never looked back.Havoc and chaos are two great adjectives to describe the Indians' full-court pressure defense during a 59-12 Schuylkill League rout of the Panthers."We just don't have the ball-handlers right now," explained Panther Valley head coach William Lynn. "Plus, they (Lehighton) shot the lights out. That's a seasoned team; and it's going to take time for us."Panther Valley was held to two field goals throughout the game and just four first-half points."There are some games where we have a tough time going on offense," explained Lehighton head coach Eric Gidney. "But, we found that establishing our defensive game gets us in synch and some easy transition points."Gidney's defense clicked in the first quarter, forcing 14 Panther Valley turnovers throughout the period. The energy of the Indians' offense came directly from their superb defensive play. Jada Whiteman and Allie Rossino both led Lehighton with a game-high o 11 points, but it was sophomore Skylynn Faust who really made everything run as smoothly as it did.Faust was one of the few Indians who displayed critical dribble-drive penetration, played sound defense, rebounded frequently, and distributed the ball exceptionally well."The only thing she probably didn't do was sweep up the floor after the game," Gidney jokingly said of Faust. "She does a bit of everything. She's comfortable recognizing what we're missing and filling that hole. "Faust and Whiteman had a ton of help, as a total of nine different Indians scored during the rout. Gidney's second unit came off the bench and provided an immediate spark."We value the basketball," he said. "It's nice to be able to go deep (into the bench), it's also nice to see how they work together. All eleven of them work hard, it was nice to see our starters have some time off and enjoy watching the reserves. As a coach, I can only choose five of them to start the game."From top to bottom, Lehighton (3-0, 1-0 SL) is well rounded behind a handful of experienced seniors, and some sophomores with a wealth of confidence thanks to a bulk of playing time last season."It takes time. It was part of a three-year plan," Gidney said. "We're 3-0, whether we go 22-0 or 3-19 the rest of the way, you can't take away the culture and camaraderie. They won't remember scores like this, but they'll remember the great moments they had together."BACK TO BASICS … Panther Valley couldn't consistently take care of the basketball. PV turned the ball over 30 times during the loss.Gidney said, "Everyone is scraping and hustling; even when our shots aren't falling, and those girls aren't scoring, there are other ways they can help us."DACEY DOES IT ALL … Sophomore point guard Christian Dacey did it all for PV, as she got to the line 10 times and scored nine of the team's 12 points.Lynn said, "She's a young kid in a bad predicament now. We just can't get her the help right now. We need to improve our defense and shooting. Our shooting is absolutely terrible. With the young kids, we play a good defense and go into panic mode. We can't run plays (when that happens)."FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING … Lehighton freshman forward Brenna Long came off the bench and sunk her first career three-pointer in the fourth quarter.PANTHER VALLEYWeaver 0-0-0-0, Knoblauch 0-0-0-0, Picht 0-0-0-0, Filer 1-0-0-2, Sheridan 0-0-0-0, Dacey 2-5-10-9, Miller 0-1-2-1, Markovich 0-0-0-0, Ketchledge 0-0-0-0, Krajcir 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 3-6-14-12.LEHIGHTONRossino 5-0-0-11, Muffley 0-0-0-0, Long 1-0-0-3, Whiteman 4-0-0-11, Blasiak 4-1-1-9, Frey 1-0-0-2, Beck 0-0-2-0, Drofich 3-2-2-8, Faust 3-1-1-7, Buchinsky 3-0-1-6, Bollinger 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 25-5-9-59.Panther Valley 3 1 3 5 - 12Lehighton 18 17 11 13 - 59Three-pointers: PV - none; Lehighton - Whiteman 3, Long 1.