Right place, right time.

That’s where Jim Thorpe senior Caiden Hodor was with 2.1 seconds left on the clock.

Hodor grabbed an offensive rebound and laid the ball back in to give Jim Thorpe a thrilling 41-39 Colonial League victory over Northern Lehigh in a defensive slugfest Monday night.

The putback capped a remarkable comeback for the Olympians, who trailed for nearly the entire contest after falling behind 17-6 in the opening quarter.

“I’m just really proud of the effort that these guys gave,” Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell said. “We got down double digits at one point and just kept battling. There was no quitting in our guys tonight, and I couldn’t be more proud of them for that.”

Northern Lehigh came out scorching in the first quarter, with Parker Schaffer pouring in eight of his 11 points in the opening frame. The Bulldogs found success against Jim Thorpe’s zone defense after an early timeout, getting quality looks and building their 11-point advantage.

“They came out, they hit a couple shots early, kind of put us down a little bit, made us come out of the zone for a little,” O’Donnell said. “We knew coming in that No. 3 (Daubert) and 14 (Schaffer) were really good shooters for them.”

The second quarter belonged to the Olympians.

Jim Thorpe opened the period with five straight points off three consecutive Northern Lehigh turnovers, immediately shifting the momentum. The Olympians committed zero turnovers in the quarter while locking down defensively and winning the frame, 15-10.

“A big thing that we tried to preach coming into this year was defense,” O’Donnell said. “We made some adjustments later in the second half, altering some things and moving some guys around, and offensively we started to get going a little bit.”

The third quarter turned into a defensive grind, with both teams struggling to find an offensive rhythm. Just seven total points were scored halfway through the period, as Jim Thorpe edged the quarter, 8-7.

Senior Pierce Gothard took over in the fourth quarter, scoring eight of his game-high 21 points in the final frame. The Olympians took their first lead since 4-3 in the opening quarter when they went ahead with 3:29 remaining.

“We’ve been fighting (to compete) ever since last year,” Gothard said. “Last year, only winning five games … At the end of the day, we got the win, and that’s all that matters.”

The game remained tied at 39 as the final two minutes ticked away, with both teams trading timeouts. Northern Lehigh called a full timeout, followed by two Jim Thorpe timeouts in the final 90 seconds as neither team could break through.

Jim Thorpe held for the final possession, and after a missed field-goal attempt, Hodor fought for the offensive rebound and scored the game-winning putback with 2.1 seconds on the clock.

“Caiden had a huge game for us against Palisades, hit a couple of big threes for us in that game, and he’s a great kid that worked so hard over the summer,” O’Donnell said. “To see him step in and take a moment like that on a rebound in a hostile environment tonight and put the ball back in the hoop for us to come away with a win — it was awesome.”

Hodor credited halftime adjustments for turning the game around.

“We talked about some defensive rotations that could really get us going into the second half, and it really did,” Hodor said. “(Kellen) Bauer is a big presence, but once we figured out some rotations, I thought we slowed him down a little bit.”

For Northern Lehigh, Kellen Bauer finished with 11 points alongside Schaffer, who was held scoreless in the second half after his explosive first quarter. Coy Daubert added six points, including two 3-pointers.

“It was a huge, huge opening West Division game for us,” O’Donnell said.

WHOLESOME MOMENT ... During the pregame National Anthem, the recording unexpectedly cut out, but the crowd in Slatington came together to sing the rest on its own. Plus one for positivity — and a little faith in humanity restored.

DAWGGONE DEFENSE ... Not to be overlooked, the Northern Lehigh defense was tenacious as well Monday. Two teams that can really play that side of the ball, and both were impressive.

JIM THORPE

Antignani 0-0-0-0, P. Gothard 8-3-3-21, Kiehl 3-1-6-7, Flyzik 0-0-0-0, Lazorick 3-0-3-6, Schrantz 2-0-0-5, Moore 0-0-0-0, Hodor 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 17-4-12-41.

NORTHERN LEHIGH

Lopinto 0-0-0-0, Daubert 2-0-0-6, K. Bauer 4-3-5-11, Karetsky 2-1-2-5, Schaffer 4-0-0-11, M. Bauer 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 15-4-7-39.

Jim Thorpe   6 15 8 12 — 41

Northern Lehigh 17 10 7 5 — 39

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe — Gothard 2, Schrantz 1. Northern Lehigh — Schaffer 3, Daubert 2.

Records: Jim Thorpe (3-3); Northern Lehigh (3-4)