Through the sands of time in sports, the ability to play good defense has always given a team a high probability to be successful.

And defense is a big part of what the Pottsville boys basketball program have put together over the last decade in the Schuylkill League. The Tide were impressive once again on Monday night against Jim Thorpe, dominating on both sides of the floor and picking up a 55-29 Division 1 victory.It was evident from the onset that Pottsville wanted to work from the inside out on offense, using 6-5 big man Ian Renninger to establish a 10-point lead. He scored eight points in the opening frame."That's how we want to play offense," said Pottsville head coach Dave Mullaney. "We want to work the ball inside, especially early on and that opens up things on the outside then for our guards. We were able to do that tonight with a lot of success and we can shoot pretty well, but we shot the ball extremely well tonight."Extremely well might be an understatement, as the Tide hit six triples in the first half.The Olympians hung around most of the first half, but Pottsville pulled away with about three minutes left in the second quarter. A Justin Marykwas trey pulled Thorpe within nine, but a three-point response from Pottsville's Mason Barnes and a bucket inside by Alex Pellish extended the lead back to double digits."That's a really good basketball team, they have five guys on the court at all times that just know how to play the game," said Thorpe mentor Jason McElmoyle. "They took us out of our game tonight on offense, which frustrated us, and they found their shooters in the half-court. We need to learn from our mistakes tonight and get in the gym and correct them."Neither team lit up the scoreboard in the second half, with the Tide outscoring the Olympians 19-8. But the Pottsville defense was key, holding Thorpe to just three field goals in the second half."Defense has been a work in progress this season, but tonight they answered the challenge," said Mullaney. "They did a great job on their (Jim Thorpe's) guards, who are two really good players. The help was there when they penetrated. Overall, I was really happy with our defensive effort tonight."FRESHMAN PHENOM ... Pottsville freshman Mason Barnes helped lead a Tide attack that hit 10 three-pointers on the night. Barnes was responsible for seven treys.DOMINATING D ... The Tide defense held Jim Thorpe's big three of Brendan Carroll, Chris Micciche, and Matt Elmore to a combined 19 points. Micchiche lead JT with 10 points.POTTSVILLEJu. Abdo 5-0-0-12, Barnes 7-0-0-21, Timberlake 1-1-2-3, Wood 1-0-0 -2, Melochick 0-0-0-0, Hahner 0-0-0-0, Weston 0-0-0-0, Stanton 0-0-0-0, Pellish 1-0-0-2, Jo. Abdo 3-0-0 7, Renninger 4 -0-4-8, Kondrack 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-1-6 -55.JIM THORPECarroll 2-0-0-5, Samuel 0 -0-0-0, Elmore 2-0-3-4, Micicche 3-4-4 -10, Burkhart 0-0-0-0, Searfoss 0-0-0-0, Schwartz 0-0-0-0, Joyce 0-0-2-0, Valdez 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Foreman 0-0-0-0, Marykwas 1-0-0-3, Na. Roshac 0 -0-0-0, Ni. Rosahac 2-2-2-7, Fikentscher 0-0-0-0. TOTALS:10-6-11-29.Pottsville 19 17 11 8 - 55Jim Thorpe 10 11 6 2 - 29Three-pointers: P- Ju. Abdo 2, Barnes 7, Jo. Abdo 1; JT Carroll 1, Ni. Rosahac 1, Marykwas 1.