Signed!

Sealed!

Delivered!

The Jim Thorpe girls took care of the first of several goals they had entering the season.

Thursday night’s 66-49 victory over Schuylkill League foe North Schuylkill gave them a sweep a sweep of the season series against the Spartans and in the process clinched the league Division 1 championship.

“It’s a great feeling, but we still have a lot of work in front of us,” said Jim Thorpe coach Nadia Gauronsky. “There’s a chance we could still have to play North Schuylkill a couple more times so we can’t be satisfied with this win.”

Gauronsky was alluding to the very real possibility that the Spartans and Olympians could meet in both the Schuylkill League and District 11 playoffs.

Although the final numbers from last night were very similar to the first meeting between the teams played in Fountain Springs a month ago - a 67-47 Olympian victory - this one provided Thorpe will an early deficit to overcome.

But it didn’t take the Olympians long to turn things around behind a sizzling three-point shooting display.

North Schuylkill looked like a team on an upset mission early, blitzing to a 15-10 advantage after one quarter.

But things turned around in the second quarter when the Olympians came out firing and went on a 12-0 run to take a 22-15 lead.

The rally was ignited by junior Mackenzie Yuhas’ twisting, turning deuce. Leila Hurley and Skyler Searfoss followed with three-pointers before Oliva Smelas capped the run with a pair of inside buckets.

“Their length is so difficult for us to handle,” said North Schuylkill coach Rich Wetzel the 6-0 Smelas and the 5-11 Leah Snisky. “We’re small compared to them and we struggled again with their inside girls.”

While Hurley and Searfoss were leading the offense with 19 and 18 points respectively, the inside duo of Smelas and Snisky was equally as troublesome for the Spartans with 13 and nine points each.

North Schuylkill, which trailed 30-19 at the half and 50-36 after three quarters, tried to make a run in the final quarter. Riding the wave of three double digit scorers - Madeline Hall (12 points), Kamryn Mengel (12 points) and Katelynn Hime (11 points) - the Spartans pulled to within 53-44 on Hall’s runner in the lane with 6:22 to play.

That flurry ended when Searfoss took control of the reins with four quick points. North Schuylkill never challenged again as Smelas added a three-point play before Hurley sealed the deal at the foul line down the stretch.

“We’re going to take Friday off, before we get back in the gym and start to get ready for the postseason,” Gauronsky said.

PERFECT ... Jim Thorpe finished Schuylkill League play a perfect 14-0 and are now 21-1 overall. North Schuylkill falls to 12-2 in the league and 21-3 overall.

PROTECTING THE BALL … Both teams were excellent in handling pressure with only 16 total turnovers on the night, - eight by each team.

ZONED UP… North Schuylkill caused some problems for the Oympians with its zone defense early on before the taller Olympians went to work and found some openings.

SHOOTING … Thorpe finished 22-for-46 from the floor, while North Schuylkill was 20-for-51. The difference maker was the second period when the Olympians forced Spartans into a 2-for-16 shooting performance.

OFF THE GLASS … Thorpe had a 31-23 edge with Smelas leading her team with 11.

JV GAME … Thorpe posted a 34-31 victory in the opener. Gabby Cinicola poured in 18 points in the win.

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Hall 5-0-0-12, Mengel 6-0-0-12, Himes 4-0-0-11, Wetzel 3-2-4-9, Koutch 1-0-0-3, Gawrylick 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 20-2-4-49.

JIM THORPE

Searfoss 6-6-7-19, Hurley 4-7-7-18, O. Smelas 5-2-3-13, Snisky 4-0-0-9, Yuhas 2-1-2-5, H. Smelas 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-16-19-66

North Schuylkill 15 4 20 20 – 49

Jim Thorpe 10 20 20 16 – 66

Three-pointers: NS - Himes 3, Hall 2, Wetzel 1, Mengel 1. JT – Hurley 3, Searfoss 1, Snisky 1 Smelas 1.