Lehighton may have left the Schuylkill League.

But the Schuylkill League hasn’t left Lehighton.

The Indians are looking to create an identity in a new league with a new head coach — and that identity may very well mirror the one that their former league is best known for.

Nadia Gauronsky, who was in charge at Pleasant Valley for 11 years and at the helm of Jim Thorpe’s program for three other seasons, is now heading Lehighton, which has entered the Colonial League after years of being members in the Schuylkill League.

But the style the Tribe are looking to display may look familiar — and hopefully, for their sake, bring them success.

“We want to develop our mantra of what Lehighton basketball means to us,” said Gauronsky. “How do we create organized chaos on the court, which is what I like to call it. How do we make things chaotic and yet keep ourselves organized in order to make other teams make mistakes? And hopefully with our defensive mindset, we can surprise some teams moving forward.

“I call it organized chaos. Schuylkill League teams are known to be aggressive, and they’re known to be a little more gutsy, a little bit more high-paced, a little bit more pressuring; and if we can take that mentality and bring it into a new league, because no one really knows us, that would be a great thing to do. We want to establish who we are and how the program moves from this point on.”

The Indians battled a year ago under longtime mentor Joe Berezwick, reaching the district playoffs and ending with a 12-11 record.

Charli McHugh, who averaged 10.78 points per game last season, was a driving force on that club, but has since graduated.

“When you lose someone like Charli, who was kind of like a spark plug and a firecracker, that’s hard to replace ... but I think with the leadership of Emma (Repsher) and Leah (Uyvari), they’ll be ok with that,” said Gauronsky.

Repsher, who has battled injury after injury, returns to the court for her senior year. She led Lehighton in scoring at 11.30 ppg, and will be the top offensive threat again this season. Uyvari, a junior, is a hard worker who netted 4.7 points per contest.

The two will be joined by Ryleigh Trotman, another junior, who contributed 7.23 ppg contest and will also provide rebounding. The rest of the lineup will come from senior Timara Klotz (2.35 ppg), sophomores Morgan Costenbader (1.89), Ella Sittler and Cayley Reph.

Others battling for playing time include Olivia Sheckler, Taylor Moyer, Allison Solt, Sophia Wise, Amber Yeakel, Sophia Saville, Hallie Miller and Aryanna Arzuaga.

“We really don’t have a 15-20 point scorer, so what do you do?” asked Gauronsky. “Everyone’s got to contribute. Everyone has to contribute by working together. We want to try to score off of our defense. And try to be quicker and faster than (our opponent), and try and control the tempo of the game.”

What the players have already done is embrace their new coach and set a modest goal.

“The girls have been really welcoming,” said Gauronsky. “After 15 years of doing this, every year you get a little bit more nervous because you wonder if you can relate to the kids and if they’re going to respond to you. But they have been extremely welcoming and kind.

“I asked the girls on Day 1 what their goals were, and none of them mentioned wins or losses, or games that were important to them. They just said to get better than the day before. And I thought, that’s a great way to put it. So, I think our success will be, ‘Are we better than where we started?’ ... I said that’s something we can achieve, so let’s work toward that.”