MINERSVILLE - Offense can't always be predicted when the rim is unfriendly.

Defense, however, can always be accounted for if the effort is always there.Pottsville wasn't exceptional on offense, but its defensive tenacity was stellar in the District 11 Class AAA quarterfinals against Lehighton.The Tide's play on the other side of the basketball helped propel them to a 52-31 postseason victory over the Indians."Their defense is fantastic," said Lehighton head coach Rich Oertner. "We had to make every easy shot we got, and we had to make our foul shots. In the first half, we missed three or four layups. You can't get behind Pottsville. I don't know how you can catch them down 10 points. The last time we played, we didn't get behind and it was a close game."Nick Chambers was a huge factor in the pair of regular season games. Pottsville made an emphasis to try and contain him on Friday."We stuck Melochick on him right from the get-go," explained Pottsville head coach Dave Mullaney. "Every time we put him on somebody, he does an amazing job. The best part about him is that he can guard one through five. I think that's how our program has been built. It's defense first and we really try to do contest every pass. And Lehighton doesn't go real deep into their bench; I thought our effort was there all night consistently."Lehighton's early success was the product of the ability to get into their half court offense. The Indians led for a majority of the initial quarter, and trailed by just a single point after the period."We got some good looks in the first quarter, we just didn't make our shots," Oertner said. "We put some new wrinkles in yesterday and the day before, just something that Pottsville didn't see before. Last time we played, we couldn't even get into our offense in the third and fourth quarters. They (Pottsville) just come out and played good defense."The Tide got in rhythm in the third period and ripped off a 15-0 run. Chris Witman doesn't score much, but tallied ten points and had eight of them during the third quarter splurge."We have a bunch of guys that are really capable of making plays," said the Pottsville coach. "We tell the guys that if they're confident, to shoot it. It's easier to do it within the flow of an offense than just coming down like we did in the first half. He's played well for us all year defensively, so it was great to see him hit a couple of shots for us in a big game tonight."The Tide had four different players total at least nine points during the win. Witman explained that on a talented Pottsville team, anyone could step up on a given night."We always bring everything we have to the table. We really watched their back doors, so we had a lot of help in the paint. We go out there every single play on defense and it usually works out."HIGH MOTOR…The confidence seemed to snowball for Mullaney's club after it held Lehighton to just a dozen total points between both middle quarters. He said, "Muldeen Thomas played with a ton of energy tonight. Even when we were struggling offensively, his energy defensively created turnovers and got us some transition points, which was really big in the first half."FAREWELL TO THE SENIORS… A bulk of the Tribe's senior class walked off the court with two minutes to play and received a warm standing ovation from the crowd. Oertner said, "They played some real good games. You win 14 games, you have to be happy. I had bigger expectations this year, but we're not going to be upset at that. The kids came in and play hard, but I'm never satisfied that's just how I am. It certainly wasn't a bad year in any shape or form. The kids worked hard and that's all I can ask for and we're happy."STICK TO THE BLUE PRINT… Mullaney said Pottsville had a game plan, and they did a nice job executing it. Jordan Abdo scored a game-high 11 points and drew numerous fouls in the first half. Mullaney said, "One of our objectives was to get them into foul trouble and we kept it in tact. I think we fell into the trap a little bit if just going in and worrying about getting fouled instead of finishing. I thought we were getting good looks in the first half."LEHIGHTONCarpenter 1-0-1-2, McDowell 2-0-0-5, Zwetolitz 2-0-1-5, Mele 1-2-3-4, Howland 0-1-2-1, Venuto 0-1-2-1, Chambers 1-2-2-4, Greene 3-3-5-9. TOTALS: 10-9-16-31.POTTSVILLEAbdo 1-0-0-2, Gerchak 1-0-0-2, Wood 0-0-0-0, Thomas 4-1-4-9, Melohick 5-0-0-10, Witman 4-0-0-10, Pellish 0-0-0-0, Jo. Abdo 5-1-5-11, Renninger 2-0-0-4, Schenk 2-0-0-4, O'Pake 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-2-9-52Lehighton 10 6 6 9 - 31Pottsville 11 14 15 12 - 52Three-pointers: Lehighton - McDowell 1, Zwetolitz 1; Pottsville - Witman 2.