Tamaqua played with a blue collar mentality in its Schuylkill League Division 1 match-up with Lehighton on Friday.

The Blue Raiders locked all windows and doors against the Indians on the night and put together an impressive defensive effort in a 49-37 victory over the Tribe.

“I’m really happy with the defensive effort tonight. We’re gonna be a tough team to beat if we’re able to hold teams to under 40 points. We will take that defensive effort every night of the week,” said Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron. “I thought we did a good job of trapping their ball screens. That’s what they like to do, and that’s something we do well; trap ball screens. We rotated well, and then in the second half, we did a much better job of getting hands on shooters.”

The first half was a battle between the Raiders and Indians, with Tamaqua holding a 25-20 advantage at the half. The Raiders success came from executing and sharing the ball in the half court, with six different Tamaqua players scoring a field goal in the first half.

A seven-point second quarter from Noah Mateyak helped the Raiders hold the lead at half. Helping out Mateyak was Connor Dillon and Luke Kane, as they added five points apiece in the first half.

Despite offensive struggles, Lehighton fought hard to stay in the game in the first half, and was able to do so because of its sharp-shooter in sophomore Cole Dietz. Dietz, who connected on four three-pointers in the half, shooting 4-for-6 from beyond the arc.

“I thought we battled really hard all game, but especially in that first half. We played a tough, grind-it-out game last night, and I think our legs just kind of went on us in the second half. In that third quarter, we turned the ball over a little bit, we were short on some good looks. I just think we got tired,” said Indians head coach Trevor Miller. “And then credit to Tamaqua. They always get after you. They’re always a well-coached defensive team and they’re disciplined and we knew that. We just didn’t knock down enough of our open looks against a good defensive team.”

The third quarter served as the difference in the contest as Tamaqua forced four Lehighton turnovers and the Indians shot just 3-for-10 from the field, going 0-for-5 from three.

Leading by six (33-27) late in the third, a 7-1 run by the Raiders, with deuces from Dillon and Brady McCabe and a three by Mateyak to end the quarter, would give Tamaqua a commanding 40-28 advantage going into the fourth. Dillon finished the third with five points as five Raiders would all have at least one field goal in the frame.

“We got hands on passes, guys were getting on the floor for loose balls and we were able to get out and go in transition, which led to some easy buckets for us,” said Barron. “I thought we did a good job of penetrating and finishing as well in the second half. We also were able to execute for most of the night in the half-court with the stuff we like to run and we got some good looks from the mid-range and we were able to knock down those jumpers.”

Tamaqua would keep Lehighton at a double-digit deficit the rest of the way, extending its lead to as much as 15 at one point midway through the fourth quarter. The Indians would never get closer than 12 points down.

LEADING SCORERS

… For Tamaqua, Mateyak led the way with 14 and Connor Dillon added 13. For Lehighton, Dietz scored 14 and Brayden Johnson added nine.

THE RECORDS

… The Raiders improve to 3-3 and 1-2 in Division 1 play. The Indians fall to 4-2 and 1-2 in Division 1 play.

LEHIGHTON

Serfass 0-2-4-2, Light 0-0-0-0, Sott 0-0-0-0, Hawk 0-0-0-0, Fairchild 0-0-0-0, Johnson 4-1-1-9, Roberts 1-2-4-4, Meek 1-0-0-3, Roth 2-1-3-5, Dietz 4-2-2-14, Acosta-Rodriguez 0-0-0-0. Totals: 12-8-15-37.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 2-1-2-5, McCabe 2-0-0-4, Mateyak 6-0-0-14, Vecolitis 0-0-0-0, Styka 3-1-1-7, Kane 2-1-2-6, Frohnhesier 0-0-0-0, Dillon 5-2-3-13, Kamant 0-0-0-0, Davis 0-0-0-0, Tamagini 0-0-0-0. Totals: 20-5-8-49.

Lehighton 12 8 8 9 - 37

Tamaqua 14 11 15 9 - 49

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Mateyak 2, Dillon 1, Kane 1; Lehighton - Dietz 4, Meek 1.