Sometimes it all comes together in a game.

For Jim Thorpe, that sometime couldn't have come at a better time.After a few key losses early in the season, the Olympians picked up a huge win in the meat of their Schuylkill League Division 1 schedule, defeating Tamaqua 56-35 on Thursday.Thorpe (6-5) was able to play its most complete game of the season, using a combination of pressure defense and a hot shooting first half to stifle the Raiders.The Olympians and Raiders (8-5) battled for much of the first quarter until the two-minute mark when JT went on an 8-0 run to end the quarter and build a 15-8 lead.The catalyst to the many Thorpe runs throughout the night was its three-quarter court trapping defense. The Olympians were able to use their athletic lineup to create havoc in the game and force Tamaqua into some bad decisions. The Raiders turned the ball over seven times in the first quarter, which ignited Thorpe's offense."We were able to put it all together tonight and we played with the passion I know we're capable of playing with," said Olympians head coach Jason McElmoyle. "We also played smart, and we trapped with a purpose."Everybody knew their assignments and executed and then we were able to finish on the offensive end in transition. We took a great start and turned it into a big win."Thorpe kept its foot on the gas pedal in the second quarter as senior guard Brendan Carroll also got going on the offensive side of the ball. Carroll turned in his best shooting effort of the season, scoring all of his game-high 16 points in the first half, including four triples.Carroll and the Olympians didn't just look good in transition, they looked good in the halfcourt too, getting quality possessions on the offensive side of the floor. Once again, Thorpe went on a big run to end the quarter, turning a 23-15 lead with three minutes remaining into a 16-point advantage heading into intermission."We didn't come to play mentally tonight, we just didn't look mentally prepared to play out there, and against a team like Jim Thorpe that can't happen," said Tamaqua head coach Jim Barron. "We were chasing around screens, allowed ourselves to be taken out by screens, and we weren't in the proper position to make stops."If you give a good shooter like Carroll opportunities, he'll make you pay, and after he made a few shots, it really opened up the floor for them."In the third quarter, the Olympians put the game away, going on a 17-3 run to extend its lead to 30 points around the two-minute mark. Thorpe's pressure once again gave the Raiders fits as they matched their first quarter total with seven turnovers. Carroll's backcourt mate, Chris Micciche, led the Olympians run in the third, scoring eight of his 12 points in the frame."Obviously, the key for us was our tenacity on the defensive end, but we also played well on the offensive side tonight and we hit some shots," said McElmoyle. "In the games that we struggled, we struggled on offense and we just didn't make shots. If we can channel what we did tonight, which was play four quarters of good basketball, we're going to have some success."TURNOVER TOWN ... The Raiders had issues handling Thorpe's pressure, turning the ball over 24 times.ZUBER INJURED ... Tamaqua's leader and do-it-all junior guard Thad Zuber did not play in the second half due to a thumb injury. Zuber would be a huge loss for the Raiders if he misses any action this season.TAMAQUABonetsky 0-0-0-0, Wassell 4-0-0-8, Kurek 0-0-0-0, Zuber 2-0-0-5, Knoblauch 2-0-0-4, Scott 1-0-0-2, Griffin 0-0-0-0, Rother 1-0-2-2, Inama 4-1-1-9, G. Gregoire 2-1-4-5, L. Gregoire 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-2-7-35.JIM THORPECarroll 6-0-0-16, Samuel 1-0-0-2, Elmore 3-2-7-8, Micciche 6-0-0-12, Burkhart 0-0-0-0, Searfoss 1-0-0-2, Schwartz 0-0-0-0, Joyce 1-0-0-2, Valdez 0-0-0-0, Foreman 0-0-0-0, Marykwas 3-0-0-7, Na. Rosahac 0-0-0-0, Ni. Rosahac 3-1-2-7, Fickinger 0-0-0-0, Burak 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 24-3-9-56.Tamaqua 8 9 8 10 - 35Jim Thorpe 15 18 17 6 - 56Three-pointers: T - Zuber 1; JT - Carroll 4, Marykwas 1.