Flipping the switch.

It’s a phrase used in sports to describe when a team takes its tenacity and energy to the next level.

On Thursday night, in the Schuylkill League semifinals against Lourdes Regional, that’s exactly what Division 1 champion Jim Thorpe was able to do.

The Olympians took the Red Raiders best shot, trailing by one after the first period. But entered the second quarter with a different attitude, outscoring Lourdes 41-13 the rest of the way to earn a 51-24 victory.

With the win, Thorpe will face Mahanoy Area for the Schuylkill League Championship on Saturday at 5 p.m.

After the first quarter, it looked as if the Red Raiders were going to be able to shoot the Olympians out of their 1-3-1 zone. Lourdes hit three triples in the opening frame, which helped it to an 11-10 lead.

“I just don’t think we were moving well to start the game. Maybe it was nerves. I don’t know, but we called a timeout and every coach said the same thing ‘we have to move better up top,’ that was the difference,” said Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. “As the game wore on, we did a much better job.”

At the start of the second quarter is when the Olympians (23-0) elevated their play.

Thorpe used team defense — and a spectacular offensive effort from freshman point guard Skyler Searfoss — to go on a 15-2 run in the quarter.

Thorpe got more comfortable defensively and went into attack mode, extending its 1-3-1 to almost half court, which forced the Red Raiders (16-5) into 10 first-half turnovers.

The Olympians turned that defense into offense as Searfoss led the charge in the open court, finishing time and time again. The fantastic frosh went 7-for-8 from the field and 6-for-7 from the free throw line, giving her 20 points at the break.

“As a result of picking up our intensity on the defensive end, we really made their guards play defensive instead of aggressive on the offensive side of the floor and that enabled us to get out in transition,” said Kovac. “And Skyler was just special tonight. For your first time playing at Martz Hall in the Schuylkill League playoffs as a freshman, to throw 39 points on the board, there’s no other word to describe that other than impressive.”

Carrying a 12-point lead into intermission Searfoss and the Olympians “D” continued to elevate their play in the second half. The Thorpe defense forced four straight turnovers to start the third quarter, which aided a 6-2 run, extending its lead to 16.

The Olympians would outscore Lourdes 14-7 in the frame as Searfoss kept her foot on the pedal, scoring nine more points.

Searfoss was like a runaway train in the open court, as the Red Raiders simply didn’t have an answer.

“Our defense has been the key for us all year. We know when we turn up the intensity we can do good things,” said Searfoss. “You saw that tonight when we did a better job of identifying and closing out on their shooters

“It’s a great feeling when you’re in a groove like that, you try to remember that feeling, because you want to strive to feel that more often, but it was our defense that gave us all the transition opportunities. Our defense became our offense.”

FIRST TRIP... The Olympians will be going to their first-ever Schuylkill League title game. This is just Thorpe’s second appearance in the Schuylkill League playoffs, with its first coming in 2012.

WHAT A NIGHT ... Searfoss’ 39 points was one the best single-game performances in Olympian history. She was just two points off the JT single-game record that was set by Kathy Kilgore Malarkey (41).

HELPING OUT ... Olivia Smelas scored six points and had 12 rebounds for Thorpe. Leila Hurley added six points and six steals.

JIM THORPE

Richards 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Hurley 2-1-4-6, Searfoss 16-7-8-39, Smelas 3-0-0-6, Solt 0-0-0-0, Craigie 0-0-0-0, Snisky 0-0-0-0, Berger 0-0-0-0, Rosahac 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 21-8-12-51.

LOURDES

Coleman 2-0-0-6, Shimko 2-2-4-6, Bickel 2-1-1-6, Sandri 0-0-0-0, F. Czeponis 2-0-0-4, M. Czeponis 1-0-0-2, Olvany 0-0-0-0, Reichard 0-0-0-0, Kehler 0-0-0-0, Albert 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 9-3-5-24.

Jim Thorpe 10 15 14 12 — 51

Lourdes 11 2 7 4 — 24

Three-pointers: JT - Hurley 1; L - Coleman 2, Bickel 1.