If a basketball coach wanted to draw up the perfect game plan, it would look a lot like Panther Valley’s did in a 67-35 victory over Jim Thorpe on Thursday night.

• An inside presence on offense. The Panthers drove though the paint and scored on 13 layups.

• Efficient perimeter shooting. The Black and Gold hit nine three-pointers - five in the second quarter - which blew the game open.

• Strong defense. PV pressured the ball all game long, leading to 15 Olympian turnovers.

• Unselfish play. Many of the Panther points were the direct result of accurate passes as they continuously found the open man.

• Energy. Panther Valley displayed both a fast transition from defense to offense, and an uptempo pace in its halfcourt sets.

“We wanted to be in attack mode all night, and that’s exactly what we did,” said Panther Valley coach Pat Crampsie. “Play with our feet and get to the basket.

“Our defense really made their guards work to get the ball up court. When we play like this, the game becomes fun like it should always be.”

The Olympians (0-3) took an early 3-0 lead on a free throw and layup from Josh Spruill. Thanks in large part to a layup and a three-pointer from Ben Goldberg, the Olympians still led 12-10 with 2:24 remaining in the first period.

But that’s when Panther Valley kicked its game into high gear.

The Panthers answered Thorpe’s early lead with a 23-0 run that continued into the second period. The spurt was ignited by four three-pointers from Thomas Buyce - three of which were consecutive to start the quarter.

Meanwhile, Thorpe went on a seven-minute scoring drought that lasted until Christian Bartle hit a trey to make the score 36-14 with 3:25 remaining before the intermission.

“I was so happy for Thomas,” said Crampsie. “He found his shot and stuck with it to help us pull away.”

Panther Valley didn’t slow down its game in the second half. The last of four driving layups by Chase Weaver and a pair of Drew Kokinda baskets from downtown increased the lead to 61-26 after three quarters and put the game into the mercy rule.

Olympian coach Brian Bednar said his team has a lot of growing pains to get through.

“We’re very young, and it’s going to take time to find our way,” he said. “We had too many mishaps in the first half, but I thought we played better in the second half. We were more competitive, and the effort was certainly there.”

Panther Valley (2-1) had 10 players hit the scoring column, led by Weaver with 15 points, Kokinda with 13 and Buyce with 12.

Thorpe was paced by 10 points from Goldberg and seven from Aaron Curran.

SWISH WISH … When three-pointers fall, it forces the opposition to be more accurate with its shooting. PV drilled five threes in the second period, while Thorpe shot just 23% from the field. That left the Olympians with little hope to keep the score close.

UP NEXT … The Panthers travel to Catasauqua on Saturday for a 12:45 p.m. start. The Olympians host Saucon Valley on the same day at the same time.

PANTHER VALLEY

Weaver 7-0-1-15, Kokinda 3-4-4-13, Buyce 4-0-0-12, Breiner 3-1-1-7, Penberth 2-1-4-6, Fisher 2-1-1-5, Black 1-1-2-3, Wehr 1-0-0-2, Maynard 1-0-0-2, Guida 1-0-0-2, Jones 0-0-0-0, Hazzard 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 25-8-13-67.

JIM THORPE

Goldberg 4-1-1-10, Curran 3-1-1-7, Domski 2-1-2-6, Bartle 1-1-2-4, J. Spruill 1-1-2-3, Moore 1-0-0-3, Z. Spruill 1-0-0-2. Gothard 0-0-2-0, Schrantz 0-0-0-0, Bullock-Parsley 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 13-5-10-35.

Panther Valley 21 22 18 8 - 67

Jim Thorpe 12 5 9 9 - 35

Three-pointers: Panther Valley - Buyce 4, Kokinda 3, Weaver 1, Penberth 1, Jim Thorpe -Bartle 1, Domski 1, Goldberg 1, Moore 1.