Both Tamaqua and Jim Thorpe already clinched District 11 playoff berths, but it didn't stop them from leaving everything out on the court during a Schuylkill League clash on Tuesday.

Although Jim Thorpe narrowed its deficit to just one possession in the fourth quarter, the Raiders never conceded their second-half lead, and escaped an intense battle with the Olympians, 64-54.Tamaqua's biggest lead was seven points in the third quarter, thanks in large part to junior Gabe Gregoire. The 6-2 reserve poured in eight points in the third period, and finished with a career-high 14."He's a big, physical kid and that's what we need out of him," said Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron. "He banged on the boards and got some offensive rebounds. We found him open sometimes and he did a great job finishing tonight."But the Olympians narrowed the gap to four heading into the final frame. Jim Thorpe utilized its trapping-pressure defense in the third quarter to keep close with the Raiders."I thought we played hard defensively," said Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle. "We have to do it for four quarters, not just in the second half. I don't think we did all of the little things that we needed to do tonight to get the win. We've been up-and-down rebounding the basketball. There have been games that we dominated the glass, but tonight wasn't one of them. Sooner or later they're going to hit it if you give them enough opportunities."Jim Thorpe kicked off the game with a similar style of defense that it successfully ran in the third quarter, but the results were different in each period. Tamaqua's Josh Inama easily scored the Raiders' first three baskets of the contest with easy layups, as his teammates calmly and efficiently passed the ball through the full-court pressure. Inama finished the contest with 17 points, and the Olympians didn't press again until the third frame."We prepped for it hard and we beat it well in the first quarter," Barron said. "We actually should have put more points up on the board, but we missed a couple of layups. When they extended full court and were trapping away, it kind of got us out of our tempo and we rushed a little bit and had a couple of turnovers (in the third quarter). But we settled ourselves down and took care of the ball in the fourth quarter.Thorpe's Chris Micciche did everything he could and poured in 14 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, which helped give JT a real shot to win the game."He's been our go-to guy," said the Olympians' coach. "He's been getting to the rim and creating shots for himself, which opens up shots for other guys."But it was Raiders' freshman Brayden Knoblauch who dropped 10 of his team-high 18 points in the final frame to fend off the Jim Thorpe surge. Knoblauch, Gregoire, Inama, and Thad Zuber combined to score 57 of Tamaqua's 64 points."The last six minutes of the game we handled their pressure well," said the Tamaqua coach. "We got some layups, and that's something that we needed to close out the game."SENIOR NIGHT ... Inama, Dylan Scott, and Zeke Wassell were the three Tamaqua seniors honored on Monday. However, Wassell was out with an injury. "I'm happy for them," said Knoblauch, who drained four three-pointers. "We played this game for our seniors, and it felt good. It felt amazing being on the court and seeing the ball go in tonight."ADJUSTING ... Barron explained that he went with a four-guard look for most of the evening due to the pressure he anticipated from the Olympians.JIM THORPECarroll 3-0-1-9, Samuel 0-0-0-0, Elmore 5-2-2-12, Micciche 10-3-3-24, Joyce 1-0-0-2, Marykwas 1-0-0-3, Ni. Rosahac 2-0-0-4. TOTALS: 22-5-6-54TAMAQUABonetsky 0-0-0-0, Sitanche 1-2-2-4, Zuber 3-2-2-8, Knoblauch 5-4-5-18, Scott 1-0-0-3, Rother 0-0-0-0, Inama 7-3-4-17, G. Gregoire 6-2-4-14, L.Gregoire 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 23-13-17-64.Jim Thorpe 14 10 14 16 - 54Tamaqua 17 10 15 22 - 64Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Carroll 3, Micciche 1, Marykwas 1; Tamaqua - Knoblauch 4, Scott 1.