In a pair of thrilling regular season matchups, a last-second shot by Natalie Conner in overtime and a one-point loss a week later were all that separated Lehighton and Northwestern Lehigh.
The Tigers appeared to be headed toward a third consecutive victory after a 13-2 run gave them an 18-6 lead after the first quarter, but a phrase from Lehighton coach Nadia Gauronsky kept circling through senior guard Leah Uyvari’s head.
“Nadia [Gauronsky] always says that it’s hard to beat a good team three times,” Uyvari said. “I think we proved that tonight.”
Uyvari and her two senior teammates, Olivia Serfass and Ryleigh Trotman, proved their coach right as the trio combined for 45 of their team’s 52 points to help the third-seeded Indians overcome an early deficit and knock off No. 2 Northwestern Lehigh 52-49 on Wednesday night at Whitehall High School.
They’ll meet top-seeded Notre Dame-Green Pond on Friday night at Freedom High School after the Crusaders defeated No. 4 Catasauqua 44-38 in the other semifinal. It will be a rematch of Lehighton’s 42-32 win over the Crusaders that sparked a 15-game winning streak to open the season.
“I’m big time proud,” Gauronsky said. “Northwestern Lehigh is a great team. They’ve been here before, so they had that kind of mentality, and we were the underdogs. For us to come out and get this one really meant a lot.”
Another piece of foresight from the second-year coach came to fruition as she refused to be phased by a first-half disadvantage that climbed to as many as 12 points in the first 16 minutes.
“At half time, I said ‘they shot 7/9 in the first quarter,’” Gauronsky said. “‘Despite all of that, you’re only down seven points. Isn’t that exciting?’
“They kind of looked at me like I was crazy, but I was just trying to say, ‘keep chipping away. If you do, the shots will fall.’”
A pair from Olivia and Ava Serfass seemingly lifted the lid for Trotman who scored eight consecutive points, including back-to-back 3-pointers to provide Lehighton with its first lead since the first basket of the game at 30-28. It wasn’t just Trotman’s hot shooting in the second half, but also her rebounding prowess that caused fits for Northwestern’s defense.
“It’s just the inside positioning. I find a way to get around the girl, even if she’s bigger than me,” Trotman said. “So, it’s just where my feet are and where her feet are or I just jump higher than her.”
The senior was relentless on the glass with 15 rebounds to go along with a team-high 21 points, including eight second-chance points, that all came after a scoreless first quarter.
Olivia Serfass wreaked havoc as well, building off of Trotman’s eight consecutive points in the third with an easy basket followed by a steal and coast-to-coast finish to cap a 16-1 scoring run in the third quarter to completely flip the momentum.
An eruption after every basket from the travelling Lehighton crowd played a huge part in that massive momentum swing in the Indians favor.
“It definitely got in our head in a good way,” Trotman said.
“I think we used it as energy, as fuel. None of us wanted this to be our last game in the Colonial League Tournament, and we all just ended up taking one possession at a time and used our fans to help push us through,” Olivia Serfass said.
The confidence from 12 straight points by Serfass and Trotman carried its way to Uyvari who ended the quarter with a 3-pointer to make it 37-30 entering the final quarter.
“I have a lot of confidence in myself. Even if I’m not making it, I always tell myself that I’ve got this and I want the next one to go in,” Uyvari said. “And I just feel like my teammates have a lot of confidence in me, and I feel like we’re a second half time as it showed tonight.”
That confidence from her team and the coaching staff was clear as her assignment wasn’t just to be the primary ball-handler, but also try to slow down All-Colonial League first team guard Natalie Conner.
A ridiculous shooting effort to start the game made Uyvari’s life miserable as Conner exploded for 13 points in the first quarter to build Northwestern’s early lead. Still, Uyvari and the six-man Indian rotation dug in to limit Conner’s impact for a long stretch in the middle of the game.
It allowed Lehighton to build its lead to as much as 48-39 in the fourth quarter, but Conner and the Tigers refused to go away quietly. Conner and Emma Freeman made back-to-back baskets to cut the deficit to five before Uyvari stepped to the line to make a pair of clutch free throws with one minute remaining. Northwestern’s sophomore star buried her third triple of the night and her sister, Mallory, hit another following a Lehighton turnover to narrow the lead to just one.
A struggle to inbound the ball against Northwestern’s full court pressure forced Gauronsky to put the ball in her point guard’s hands on the baseline.
“I think they know that they want me to have the ball since I’m their primary point guard,” Uyvari said. “Taking it out, I feel like it gives my teammates a better option because I’m not being doubled, and they’re not being doubled. It’s just a one-on-one situation.”
Uyvari found a way to get the ball in on multiple occasions with Ava Serfass receiving the final pass and burying a pair of free throws with five seconds left to give Lehighton a crucial three-point lead.
Conner, who was no stranger to big shots against Lehighton after her game-winner in mid-January, raced down the court with a chance to tie, but her running 3-point jumper rattled the back iron to make the pain of two previous nailbiting losses fade away for the Indians who advanced to the Colonial League championship in just their second season within the league.
“They’re super exciting each game against them,” Olivia Serfass said. “They’re super talented. We always know it’s going to be a dog fight, so to be able to come out on top when it matters like this, it really means a lot to our team, and it’s promising going into the championship game on Friday.”
Derek Bast is a freelance reporter who can be found on Twitter/X at @derek_bast or reached by email at derekbast11@gmail.com.
Lehighton 52, Northwestern Lehigh 49
Lehighton 6 – 12 – 19 – 15 — 52
NW Lehigh 18 – 7 – 5 – 19 — 49
LEHIGHTON (52)
Trotman 9 0-0 21, O Serfass 6 0-0 12, Uyvari 4 2-2 12, A Serfass 2 2-2 6, Parliman 0 0-2 0, Reph 0 0-0 0. Totals 21 4-6 52.
NW LEHIGH (49)
N Conner 10 4-6 27, M Conner 3 0-0 8, Freeman 3 0-1 7, H Gober 1 2-2 5, C Gober 1 1-2 3, Reinhart 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-11 49.
3-pointers: Lehighton (5) Trotman 3, Uyvari 2. NW Lehigh (7) N Conner 3, M Conner 2, Freeman, H Gober.
Rebounds: Lehighton 31 (Trotman 15). NW Lehigh 23 (N Conner 11).
Assists: Lehighton 13 (O Serfass 4, Uyvari 4). NW Lehigh 12 (Reinhart 5).
Turnovers: Lehighton 10, NW Lehigh 12.
Officials: Tim Hurd, Ron Frazier, Jon Adams.
