It’s a long season and it doesn’t matter if a team starts slow as long as it finishes strong.

A two-game winning streak after an 0-5 start could be leading Jim Thorpe’s boys’ basketball team in that direction.

The Olympians defeated Tamaqua in Schuylkill League action on Monday night, 46-39

After Cameron Lewis drilled a three-pointer to give the Raiders a 23-20 lead at the start of the third, Thorpe went on a 13-4 run that ultimately proved to be the difference in the game.

Kaiden Herron, who led all scorers with 16 points, began the home team rally with a bank shot before Josh Spruill hit a trey. Noah Rosahac scored on a running one-hander and a layup to lift the Olympians to a 29-23 edge at the completion of the period - a lead Thorpe would never relinquish.

Jim Thorpe coach Jason McElmoyle touted Rosahac, - who is coming off an injury suffered this past fall on the football field - and missed the beginning of the basketball season, as a difference maker.

“Having Noah back is great,” said McElmoyle. “He brought a different energy for us tonight on both ends of the court.”

A low scoring first period was the result of poor shooting by Jim Thorpe, and five turnovers committed by Tamaqua (3-5).

Raiders’ coach Jim Barron said he expected Thorpe to play its customary man defense, but instead his team found itself up against a 3-2 zone.

“They had a big size advantage, and we had trouble finding open looks over their zone,” Barron said.

The Olympians placed either the 6-6 Rosahac, or 6-6 Bryson Heydt, in the center of three defenders at the top of the key, forcing Tamaqua’s guards to pass the ball into the corners in their attempts to get good looks at the basket.

“Our biggest guy was Cooper Ansbach, and he’s only 5-10,” said Barron. “We didn’t match up too well.”

Despite the height differential, the Raiders went to the locker room at the intermission with the game tied at 20-20. Sophomore Noah Mateyak had a strong second period, scoring seven points on a pair of three-pointers - the second one tying the game 18-18 with 1:45 left in the half. Dillon’s two free throws then gave the visitors the lead at 20-18, before Herron’s short jumper in the paint created the halftime tie.

McElmoyle praised his team for its patience in working the ball inside for high percentage shots in the second half.

“We did a lot of little things right,” he said. “We were making the right reads, and making good decisions with the ball instead of throwing up a bunch of threes.”

After the Olympians (2-5) slowly pulled away in the third period, they played solid defensively and built an 11-point lead at 38-27 with 5:30 left. The Raiders’ number of fouls sent Thorpe to the line for 12 free throws in the fourth period.

Barron told his team after the game that it needs to keep its focus throughout the full four periods.

“We can’t get down when things don’t go our way,” he said. “We shot ourselves in the foot too many times, but we did stay close into the last period.”

McElmoyle is hoping that his troops have turned the corner after a rough start to the season.

“This was a good confidence builder,” he said. “We’re getting guys back from sickness and injury, so we‘re getting healthy. We hope tonight is a foundation for trending in the right direction.”

MIX AND MATCH ... Thorpe switched from its “big” team with Heydt and Rosahac in the lineup to a smaller guard-oriented group through out different points of the game.

PRELIM ... Thorpe’s JV team won the opener, 37-29.

TAMAQUA

Mateyak 3-1-2-10, Kane 4-0-0-8, Lewis 2-0-0-6, Dillon 1-3-4-6, Milot 2-0-3-5, Ansbach 2-0-0-4, Klein 0-0-0-0, Styka 0-0-0-0, Andrews 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-5-9-39.

JIM THORPE

Herron 5-6-8-16, Rosahac 4-2-6-10, Spruill 3-2-3- 9, Warner- 3-0-0-6, Barile 1-0-0-3, Heydt 1-0-0-2, Goldberg 0-0-0-0, DiSanto 0-0-0-0, McHugh 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 17-10-20-46.

Tamaqua 7 13 7 12 39

Jim Thorpe 6 14 13 13 46

Three-pointers – Tam – Mateyak 3, Lewis 2, Milot-1. JT- Spruill-1, Barile -1.