POTTSVILLE – In championship moments, Pottsville usually delivers, capturing 20 Schuylkill League titles since joining the league in 1971.

The Crimson Tide once again thrived with gold medals on the line on Friday night in the Schuylkill League championship against fellow Division 1 school, Jim Thorpe.

Pottsville played its usual brand of basketball, pairing stifling man-to-man defense with efficient offense, to defeat the Olympians 52-38. It was the Tide’s 13th straight Schuylkill League title appearance, and an impressive win over a Thorpe team that defeated them by 16 just 10 days ago.

“We had one day to prepare, and our guys really bought into the game plan and we had a great practice yesterday,” said Pottsville head coach Jake Wartella. “I’m just so proud of these guys. It was a total team effort tonight and they just all bought in and listened to what we preached all year and it paid off.”

The Tide’s defensive game plan from the get go was to pressure the Olympians’ guards and take away their first pass option, and they executed that approach immediately, forcing Thorpe into 10 first quarter turnovers.

Pair that with Thorpe leading scorer Kaiden Herron picking up his second foul late in the first frame, and things were not looking good for the Olympians as they trailed by five after one.

Thorpe then faced yet another early setback after an injury to Herron’s nose in the second on a drive to the basket that forced the junior to miss most of the quarter, and things then started to quickly go downhill for the Olympians, which swung momentum Pottsville’s way.

Without Herron’s presence on the floor, the Tide took advantage, going on a 6-0 run to start the stanza, led by senior Darren Yost, who started the surge with back-to-back deuces, extending the Pottsville lead to double digits at 11 (15-4).

The Tide would continue to control the second, and outscored Jim Thorpe 16-8 to lead 25-12 at the half. Yost scored nine of his game-high 18 points in the quarter.

The Olympians had just three field goals in the first half, shooting 4-for-20 from the field.

“Just being in this atmosphere and in this environment, it took us a little while to settle down, and then playing two quarters without our leading scorer definitely hurt us as well,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle. “The turnovers, missing Herron, that just put us behind the eight ball there, and then we struggled to put the ball in the basket, so all those things added up.

“But I’m just proud of our guys, and our younger guys now know what it takes to get here. And also, we’re not done yet, we still have a lot to play for.”

Thorpe tried to put together a run in the third to get back into the game after Pottsville got out to a 15-point advantage at the 5:55 mark in the third after a Rylen Matlock triple. The Olympians cut the lead to 11 with a 6-0 run after the Matlock three, but the Tide quickly answered with a three-point play from Mike Sukeena, which would help stretch the lead back to 15.

Sukeena would then end the quarter with a three-point play at the buzzer to keep momentum with Pottsville as it led 39-24 going into the fourth.

The Tide would then open the fourth with a 6-0 run – all coming from the foul line with Thorpe already in the double bonus – to stretch the lead to 45-24.

With the Olympians in the double bonus, the deficit was too much to overcome with time not on their side, as Pottsville would close out the game to capture another league title.

TURNOVER TOWN

... The Pottsville defense came to play, forcing Jim Thorpe into 19 turnovers, with 11 of those coming in the first half.

NEXT UP

... Jim Thorpe finishes as the No. 4 seed in District 11 4A at 16-8, and will face off with No. 5 seed North Schuylkill next week. The two split during the regular season, with the Olympians recently routing the Spartans 75-49 to claim the wildcard spot in the Schuylkill League playoffs.

LEADERS

... Sukeena added 12 points while Matlock scored 11 for Pottsville, helping out Yost. Herron was the lone Olympian in double figures with 10 points.

JIM THORPE

Herron 3-4-5-10, Richards 3-0-0-8, Warner 1-0-0-2, C. McHugh 0-3-4-3, Fisher 2-3-6-8, DiSanto 0-0-0-0, B. McHugh 0-0-0-0, Craigie 0-0-0-0, Selby 0-0-0-0, Rosahac 2-0-0-4, Berger 1-0-0-3, Heydt 0-0-2-0. TOTALS: 12-9-17-38.

POTTSVILLE

Matlock 4-0-0-11, Yost 6-5-10-18, DiCello 3-1-2-7, Allen 0-0-0-0, Fenstermacher 0-4-7-4, Sukeena 3-6-6-12, Chivinsk 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-16-25-52.

Jim Thorpe 4 8 12 14 - 38

Pottsville 9 16 14 13 - 52

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Richards 2, Fisher 1, Berger 1. Pottsville - Matlock 3, Yost 1.