“Don’t give up. Don’t ever give up.”

That famous quote by former North Carolina State head coach Jim Valvano can be applied to many things in life.

On Tuesday, Jim Thorpe had many opportunities to give up and give in against Schuylkill League Division 1 rival North Schuylkill. The Olympians (5-2) found themselves down for most of their contest against the Spartans (4-1), including a double-digit deficit in the third quarter.

However, a furious Thorpe offensive surge in the second half - which featured a spectacular shooting display by Olympians’ sharp shooter Leila Hurley - helped them rally to come away with a key 58-56 Schuylkill League victory.

Early on, North Schuylkill looked like a team that was determined to leave Jim Thorpe with a “W.” The Spartans led by nine after one and by eight at the half, outworking the Olympians on the boards (16-11) and using those second-chance opportunities to get to the foul line 10 times, converting on all 10. Kamryn Mengel led the way for the Spartans, scoring 11 of her team-high 20 points.

Heading into intermission, North Schuylkill held all the momentum.

“At halftime, coach talked to us about coming out in the third quarter with more energy and that we needed to flip the momentum,” said Hurley. “I feel like we always start slow, so we knew we had a run in us and we were able to get going and come back.”

Still, in the beginning of the third quarter it was all Spartans as they pushed their lead to 11 around the six-minute mark. But the Olympians didn’t give up.

Trailing 40-29, Thorpe went on a game-changing 16-5 run to knot the game at 45 heading into the fourth quarter.

Hurley and recent Olympians’ 1,000-point scorer Skyler Searfoss got the offense going in the third as they combined for 16 points, with Thorpe outscoring North Schuylkill 20-11 in the frame.

Hurley’s second triple of the quarter tied the game at 45 as time expired.

“We made some adjustments that worked out for us,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Nadia Gauronsky. “Moving Skyler to the wing against their defensive pressure, putting her in better position to attack, and then Leila got really hot and we were able to find her. Olivia Smelas also did a nice job finding people in the half court from the middle; I think those changes were the difference.

“Our defensive effort in the fourth quarter was big for us, too. This win was really a total team effort.”

An opening triple by Sarah Wagner gave the Spartans an early three-point lead, but that’s when Hurley caught fire. Hurley drained three consecutive three-pointers to give Thorpe a 54-48 lead.

“North Schuylkill did a great job in the first half; they were overplaying me and not giving me much space,” said Hurley. “Then we got a little more space in that second half and my teammates found me. I was feeling it for sure.”

The Olympians would hold an advantage all the way until about the one-minute mark when Mengel would tie things up once again (56-56) after a layup inside plus the harm.

On Thorpe’s ensuing possession, it ran the clock down all the way down to the 10-second mark when a slashing Searfoss received a pass near the rim, and her layup with a little over seven seconds remaining would end up being the game winner, cementing the Olympians comeback victory.

LEADERS

... Hurley scored a game-high 24 points - 19 of those in the second half - including five triples. Searfoss scored 17 and Leah Snisky added nine. For North Schuylkill, Mengel scored 20 points and Wagner added eight.

SECOND-HALF SURGE

... Jim Thorpe outscored the Spartans 31-22 in the second half to mount the impressive comeback.

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Himes 2-0-0-6, My. Wetzel 2-0-0-5, Mengel 6-7-7-20, Gawrylik 1-3-4-5, Ma. Wetzel 2-2-2-6, Wagner 3-0-0-8, Fetterolf 0-0-0-0, Mogish 0-0-0-0, Stitzer 3-0-0-6. Totals: 19-12-13-56.

JIM THORPE

Cinicola 1-0-0-2, Snisky 2-5-5-9, Hurley 8-3-4-24, Searfoss 7-2-2-17, O. Smelas 2-2-6-6, Ha. Smelas 0-0-0-0. Totals: 20-12-17-58

Jim Thorpe 9 18 20 11 - 58

N. Schuylkill 18 16 11 11 - 56

Three-pointers: JT - Hurley 5, Searfoss 1; NS - Himes 2, Wagner 2. My. Wetzel 1, Mengel 1.