When Lehighton joined the Colonial League last season under first-year coach Nadia Gauronsky, the Indians traveled to Notre Dame-Green Pond for just their second ever game in the league.
They were outscored 24-0 in the first quarter by the eventual league champions and lost 53-9 in humiliating fashion. Although her players were by no means in the mood for it, Gauronsky stuck to her tradition of looking for the bright side in every situation.
“I told the kids last year, every game, including the 24-0 game, ‘Well the positive was …’ and they were like, ‘You can’t be serious,’” Gauronsky said. “I would find a positive of every single game and I kept saying, ‘Listen, this is going to get better. You’ve got to believe me. It’s going to get better.’”
Whether it was Gauronsky’s endless positivity or the addition of three new starters this season, Lehighton’s improvement culminated in a 44-26 over No. 1 Notre Dame-Green Pond on Friday night at Freedom High School as the third-seeded Indians completed a drastic turnaround with a 62-point swing from last season’s loss to the Crusaders.
“It just feels great,” senior guard Leah Uyvari said. “To end my senior year, to win the Colonial League, I never thought this would happen.”
The moments of doubt throughout Friday night’s contest were few and far between as Uyvari started the night with a 3-pointer, establishing an early lead that Lehighton maintained from start to finish. Freshman guard Brielle Parliman, who posted her only scoreless outing of the season in Wednesday night’s semifinal, scored or assisted on 10 of the next 11 points to help the Indians jump out to a 14-7 lead in the second quarter.
“She didn’t play her best game against Northwestern [Lehigh], and for her to have such a big game in the championship game when it mattered, I think that boosted her confidence so much,” Uyvari said.
Although the greatest strength of her offensive arsenal, 3-point shooting, was a non-factor, the uber-talented freshman found other ways to make her presence felt with a game-high 18 points sparked by her early barrage of baskets.
“My shots weren’t falling tonight, so I knew I had to do other things and drive to the basket and play great defense,” Parliman said. “I had teammates to back me up, so we won this game with a team effort.”
Parliman was one of three key additions to help flip Lehighton’s fortune this season as she was joined by fellow freshman Ava Serfass and Marian Catholic transfer Olivia Serfass, who began her high school career with the Indians before joining the Fillies. Those three newcomers, with Ryleigh Trotman and Uyvari returning as seniors, composed a relentless starting lineup that didn’t sub out once until the game was in hand with 54 seconds to go.
Despite constant full-court pressure by the Crusaders and consistent physicality, the Indians only got better as time winded down.
Notre Dame was only able to muster one field goal and two points in the final quarter as a suffocating Lehighton defense only grew stronger as desperation settled in for the tournament’s top seed. Clinging to an eight-point lead with less than four minutes remaining, a flurry of 10 straight points, with Parliman at the center of the first eight, sealed an emotional win for a raucous Lehighton crowd.
“I think it’s just our drive during the game that kept us going,” Parliman said on how they were able to maintain their energy without subbing. “We knew that we could either play harder or play the same intensity – you can’t play any less. So, we knew in order to win the game we had to play as hard as we could.”
Gauronsky waited until the work was complete to remove her five starters who, after 31 consecutive minutes of non-stop effort, received the curtain call of a champion.
“To be with my starters the whole game, the chemistry is just so good,” Uyvari said. “I think that we just work so well and that’s why we didn’t come out.”
“I didn’t want there to be a hiccup or anything,” Gauronsky said. “They wanted to go for it. They wanted to complete the journey, and I allowed them to do so.”
She also recognized the work that her scout team put in to help prepare her fearsome five starters for the Crusaders and rewarded them with the final minute of action after allowing Uyvari, Trotman, Parliman and the Serfass sisters to receive their deafening ovation.
“We scouted them, and I want to give credit to our kids who just got in the final minute,” Gauronsky said. “They ran the scout team. They did that to perfection and that is a credit to them. Our defense was so great tonight because of them.
“And that’s what I’m talking about with the team effort.”
From the first platoon of Uyvari, Trotman, Olivia Serfass, Ava Serfass and Parliman to the scout platoon of Sophia Wise, Amber Yeakel, Allison Solt, Sophia Serfass and Haley Wehr, Lehighton clearly established themselves as the Colonial League’s best team. A fact that the opposing coach, Notre Dame’s Josh Kopp, couldn’t deny after coming up short of back-to-back championships.
“We were not able to get any kind of rhythm or flow out of our offense, and that’s a complete credit to Lehighton,” Kopp said. “We knew coming in that they were going to be really tough defensively, but once you get on the court, it’s a completely different thing, and you can’t really replicate it at practice. My cap is off to them.
“They’re the best team in the Colonial League,” Kopp said. “They proved it tonight. They’re a deserved champ.”
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 44, NOTRE DAME-GREEN POND 26
Lehighton 10 – 12 – 11 – 11— 44
NDGP 7– 9 – 8 – 2 — 26
LEHIGHTON (44)
Parliman 8 2-2 18, Uyvari 3 3-4 12, O. Serfass 1 3-4 5, A. Serfass 1 3-4 5, Trotman 2 0-1 4, Wise 0 0-0 0, Yeakel 0 0-0 0, Solt 0 0-0 0, S. Serfass 0 0-0 0, Wehr 0 0-0 0. Totals 15 11-15 44.
NOTRE DAME-GP (26)
Shonk 2 0-0 5, Hammerstone 1 1-2 4, Hobbie 2 0-2 4, Beani 2 0-0 4, Boyle 1 0-0 3, Coulter 1 0-2 2, Karwacki 1 0-2 2, Schweitzer 1 0-4 2, Micklos 0 0-0 0, Shevtziv 0 0-0 0, Tocci 0 0-2 0, Marks 0 0-2 0. Totals 11 1-16 26.
3-pointers: Lehighton (3) Uyvari 3. NDGP (3) Hammerstone, Boyle, Shonk.
Rebounds: Lehighton 24 (Trotman 8, O. Serfass 8). NDGP 18 (Hobbie 5).
Assists: Lehighton 8. NDGP 4.
Turnovers: Lehighton 14, NDGP 12.
Officials: Mike Brosious, Jared Howard, Robert Ruggieri.
