Lehighton didn’t have a good start against Panther Valley Friday night.

It had two.

The Indians got out of the gates fast against their Schuylkill League opponents, racing to a double-digit lead less than four minutes into the contest.

After the two clubs settled in for the rest of the half, the winners reeled off eight straight points after the intermission and ended up cruising to a 62-32 victory.

“We jumped on them early,” said Lehighton head coach Joe Berezwick. “It was very encouraging to come out that way and knock down shots. Defensively, we played a triangle and two and I thought we did a very good job with that as well.

“As coaches, whether you’re down or you’re up going into halftime, you want to come out and make a run. If you’re down, obviously you want to try and get the lead, and if you’re up you want to extend it. It worked out for us today that we were able to get some separation. From there, we never had to look back.”

Each of the Indians’ five starters scored as the team quickly built a 12-2 advantage. Ashley Marchessault had three of those points and ended the first half with nine as the team pushed the margin to 30-15 at the break.

“We don’t have that balance, and that’s what you need to win games,” said Panther Valley mentor William “Dapper” Lynn.

Lehighton’s Aaliyah Fisher drilled a three-pointer early in the third quarter. Three of her teammates also tallied in that 8-0 spurt that pushed the advantage to 23 points.

“Early in the season we had trouble with scoring, but lately we’ve been able to put the ball in the basket,” said Berezwick. “It makes the game a lot easier when you can knock down some shots.

“The game before this we had three players in double figures and another one with nine. And then our other starter had six. So we’re getting that balance, and we’re really excited about that. We’re doing a lot of good stuff out there, and we’re getting better and better.”

The Panthers scored on three straight possessions after that, with all the points coming from Megan Pascoe, but Lehighton countered with another six-point run that kept the spread above 20 points (47-21).

Despite the loss, PV accounted for the game’s biggest highlight as junior Erika Dubosky hit a free throw with 1:08 left in the third quarter to reach the 1,000-point mark.

“She works all the time,” said Lynn. “Everything she gets, she deserves. She’s a great kid and an outstanding athlete.”

Fisher and Hailey Miller each finished with 13 points to pace the Indians (7-9; 3-5), while Marchessault had 11 and Alexis Solomon chipped in with nine.

The Panthers (4-10; 0-7) received a team-high 13 points from Dubosky, who now has 1,006 in her career.

SHOOTING THE ROCK ... Lehighton was 7-of-17 from the floor in the first quarter and 8-of-17 in the third. PV had plenty of open looks, but couldn’t seem to buy a shot, as it finished just 9-of-57.

DEFENSE ... The Indians forced eight turnovers, including three steals by Miller, in the game’s first five minutes. That helped Berezwick’s club gain the early advantage.

PANTHER VALLEY

Shreffler 0-0-0-0, Pascoe 1-4-4-6, Steber 0-1-2-1, Robin 2-1-2-7, Wehr 1-0-0-2, Vermillion 1-0-0-3, Dubosky 4-5-9-13, Jones 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 9-11-17-32.

LEHIGHTON

Klotz 2-3-4-7, Wolter 0-0-0-0, Haley 0-0-0-0, McGee 0-0-0-0, Marchessault 4-3-4-11, Miller 5-2-2-13, Bowman 1-0-0-2, Wojton 1-0-0-2, Meckes 0-1-2-1, Fisher 5-0-0-13, Gaston 1-0-0-2, Solomon 3-2-2-9, Schappell 1-0-0-2, Hauser 0-0-0-0, Moultrie 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-11-14-62.

Panther Valley 5 10 8 9 - 32

Lehighton 16 14 23 9 - 62

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Robin 2, Vermillion 1; Lehighton - Fisher 3, Miller 1, Solomon 1.