BRODHEADSVILLE - What the Jim Thorpe and Lehighton District 11 4A first round playoff matchup lacked in offense, it certainly made up for in excitement.

It took four quarters, plus two overtime periods to name a victor, but when the dust settled it was the Olympians that came away with a 44-39 victory.The Tribe swept the regular season home-and-away series between the two, but Thorpe got revenge when it mattered most."You could look up and down our lineup tonight and you could name anyone and say a few things that they did to help us come away with the win," said Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle. "It was a true team win and I'm just so proud of these guys and their effort."The two teams battled back and forth for the first three quarters, but the real action took place in the final quarter and the overtimes.Lehighton, which trailed by three heading into the fourth went on a 7-0 run to start the quarter to take a 29-25 lead at the 5:10 mark. An Addison Howland three would cap the run to sway the momentum in the Tribe's favor.The Olympians battled back to take a 30-29 lead after a Brendan Carroll triple and a two-point bucket inside by Matt Elmore.The two teams would exchange buckets the rest of the way until Lehighton took a 34-32 advantage after a Howland jumper with just a little under two minutes remaining. Lehighton held the Olympians at bay for a minute and 51 seconds, but Thorpe would make one last play to stay alive. An inside lay-in by Elmore with three seconds remaining off a well-designed inbound play knotted the score and sent the game into overtime."I feel like we had the game won a couple different times tonight, but we just weren't able to make the plays to come away with the win," said Tribe head coach Rich Oertner. "Our kids fought hard though and it's a shame somebody had to lose this game tonight."Credit also has to go to Jim Thorpe because they played well. We have a great bunch of kids, who I think surprised some people with how many wins we had. We had a lot of fun this season."In the first overtime, not a field goal was scored as two free throws by Howland and two free throws by Nick Rosahac would keep the two teams even. The rest of the way it was a defensive battle as both teams utilized a matchup zone to keep the period a low-scoring affair.In overtime number two, the Olympians kicked it into high gear on the defensive end, forcing three turnovers. The Thorpe 3-2 matchup fueled its run. Elmore's breakaway layup that turned into a three-point play with 12 seconds remaining finally put the game away."We just had a lot of guys step up tonight and make plays. Our two senior guards handled the pressure well at the end of the game and Matt Elmore had a big second overtime period for us," said McElmoyle. "We talked about being poised and having composure before the game and to have confidence in what you're doing and our guys did that tonight and we came with a hard fought win."LEADERS ... For Jim Thorpe, Elmore led all scorers on the night with 13 points, while Micciche added 10, and Carroll chipped in with nine. For the Tribe, Howland came through with 12, while Buchinsky scored 11, including three triples.NEXT UP ... The No. 6-seeded Olympians will take on No. 2-seeded Salisbury on Tuesday at a site to be determined.JIM THORPECarroll 2-3-4-9, Elmore 4-5-7-13, Micciche 3-4-4-10, Searfoss 2-0-0-6, Joyce 2-0-0-4, Marykwas 0-0-0-0, N. Rosahac 0-2-2-2, Fikenstcher 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-14-17-44.LEHIGHTONTroxell 1-0-0-3, Carpenter 1-0-2-2, McDowell 3-0-0-7, Buchinsky 4-0-0-11, Mele 2-0-0-4, Howland 3-4-4-12, Venuto 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-4-6-39.Jim Thorpe 8 12 5 9 2 8 - 44Lehighton 10 10 2 12 2 3 - 39Three-pointers: JT- Searfoss 2, Carroll 2: L- Buchinsky 3, Howland 2, McDowell 1, Troxell 1.