Jeff Miller knew his team had to stay composed.

Jim Barron echoed the same sentiment to his squad.

Miller watched Lehighton build a sizable lead over Tamaqua late in a one-sided first half Tuesday night. But he knew Barron’s Blue Raiders would respond.

And they did.

But the Indians were able to come away with a key 55-43 Schuylkill League victory to stay in the hunt for a league playoff berth.

“I said to them at halftime, Tamaqua’s a good team, Jimmy’s a great coach, they’re going to make a run,” said Miller, who led the team in place of his son, Trevor. “And it’s a matter of can we withstand the run, and fortunately we had a big enough lead that we were able to.”

The Indians (12-5, 5-5 SL) led 30-11 after a free throw from Owen Serfass with 1:08 left in the first half. The Blue Raiders were 5-of-27 shooting in the first half, including 2-of-13 in the first quarter, where they committed seven turnovers as Lehighton built an 18-6 lead.

“Them not shooting the ball well certainly helped,” said Miller. “But I attribute that a lot to our defense.”

Tamaqua (8-10, 3-7) chipped away in the third quarter, cutting the deficit to 12 points and forcing six turnovers.

That pressure carried over into the fourth quarter, where the visitors produced another seven turnovers. The Blue Raiders scored the first eight points of the period during a 10-0 run, with Connor Dillon (16 points) and Cooper Ansbach each scoring baskets after coming up with steals during the stretch that trimmed Lehighton’s lead to 40-36 after a basket from Michael Styka (11 points) with 4:08 remaining.

“We went into that press,” Barron said. “They helped us out with a couple bad shots, we had a couple steals, got hands on the ball. I thought we were coming back to win the game. One or two bad plays just took us back out of it.”

Momentum swung back to the Indians, who made three of four free throws after a technical foul with 3:44 to play. Joe Roth (18 points) took the ensuing inbounds pass and drove to the hoop, making a huge layup and converting the free throw after he was fouled to push Lehighton’s lead back to double digits at 46-36.

After another basket from Roth with a little over three minutes to play, Tamaqua went on a 5-0 run, with Noah Mateyak scoring and Dillon draining three free throws after he was fouled to make it 48-41 with 2:32 remaining.

“We were getting the ball into the paint, and we were getting bumped and just shooting off balance shots instead of composing ourselves and taking it up strong,” said Barron. “In the second half, we started jump-stopping in the paint, we found the open guy and we finished layups. “

John Light made the first of two free throws, Cole Dietz (15 points) delivered a clutch three to give the Indians a double digit lead again at 52-41 with around a minute and a half left in the game.

“They clamped down on us, doubling,” said Miller. “Early on, we had better spacing. The press hurt us a little bit because I think we panicked a little bit. But once we broke it a few times, then I think we settled down. It was just a matter of doing that once or twice to settle down.”

Lehighton outscored Tamaqua 7-2 over the final two and a half minutes of the game to seal the win. The Indians also got key contributions on defense from several players as they dealt with foul trouble down the stretch.

“Guys got some minutes that they don’t normally do, but I thought Cayden Meek came in and did a great job, especially defensively,” said Miller. “And that’s what we wanted him to do, come in, give us the defense. John Light did a great job. He gets his hand on the ball. For his size, he does a lot of dirty work. He plays a lot bigger than what he is.”

STAT LINE

... Lehighton had three players score in double figures. In addition to Roth and Dietz, who finished with three 3-pointers, Blake Roberts added 12 points - including a pair of free throws in the final minute.

LOOKING AHEAD

... The Indians are 5-5 in Schuylkill League Division 1 and sit behind Pottsville (9-0), Blue Mountain (8-1) and North Schuylkill (7-2), and have the same mark as Panther Valley. In addition to Salem Christian, Lehighton - which has already clinched a district playoff berth - has league opponents Pottsville, North Schuylkill, Pine Grove and Panther Valley left on its schedule. The Indians beat the Panthers and Cardinals earlier this year, but suffered losses to the Tide and Spartans. Tamaqua closes with all league opponents in Jim Thorpe, Pine Grove, Panther Valley and Blue Mountain.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 3-1-2-7, McCabe 1-0-0-2, Mateyak 2-1-2-5, Styka 4-3-5-11, Kane 1-0-0-2, Dillon 4-7-14-16. TOTALS: 15-12-23-43.

LEHIGHTON

Serfass 1-2-4-5, Light 0-2-4-2, Johnson 1-0-0-3, Roberts 4-4-4-12, Meek 0-0-0-0, Roth 8-2-2-18, Dietz 5-2-2-15. TOTALS: 19-12-16-55.

Tamaqua 6 8 14 15 - 43

Lehighton 18 12 10 15 - 55

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Dillon 1; Lehighton - Dietz 3, Serfass 1, Johnson 1.