Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell’s message to his team before Friday night’s Colonial League matchup with Lehighton was to set the tone early.

His message was heard loud and clear.

The Olympians shut out the Indians in the first quarter —16-0 — which helped Thorpe to come away with an impressive 65-52 road victory.

“The guys set the tone early. We preached to the guys coming in that we wanted to get off to a good start. We’ve had slow starts the last few games and then we had to battle back, so we wanted to come out and get hot,” said O’Donnell.

“We also wanted to be physical early. We wanted to bump their cutters and we wanted to try and deny Dietz from start to finish. Obviously getting out to a 16-0 lead after the first was huge.”

Lehighton went 0-for-8 with four turnovers in the first, while Thorpe went 7-of-9. Pierce Gothard and Ethan Moore each scored seven points apiece in the opening frame for the Olympians to ignite the offense.

Thorpe would not let the Indians back in it in the second. A Gothard deuce to start the quarter made it 18-0 until a shot inside plus the foul by Aiden Solt finally got the Tribe on the scoreboard.

A few plays later, Brody Schrantz came through with a big three to keep the momentum on Thorpe’s side, as it continued to hold a steady advantage throughout the second, carrying a 31-14 lead into the half.

Gothard was once again a force scoring six points on some strong drives to the basket, and Schrantz added five points for JT in the second.

“Even after the slow start, we knew they were going to keep coming. And they made some runs, but any time they got something going we seemed to have an answer. We shot the ball very well, especially when we needed one,” said O’Donnell.

“Knocking down the open looks was big for us. And again, we knew they weren’t going to go away. That’s not who that team is. But we were able to make some big ones and make enough free throws at the end to keep them at arms length.”

Jim Thorpe looked like it may put the game into the mercy rule to start the third with a quick 8-0 run with all eight coming from Gothard — a lay in and two hits from beyond the arc — to extend the lead to 39-14.

However, the Indians recovered and stayed around the 20-point mark. Lehighton’s leading scorer Cole Dietz, who didn’t have a field goal in the first half, got it going in the third by scoring nine points. The Olympians still were able to outscore the host team 18-13 in the third, holding a 49-27 lead going into the fourth.

Lehighton then made its run, switching to a pressure defense which forced six Thorpe miscues in the third and four more in the fourth. The Tribe’s pressure helped them close the deficit all the way down to 58-48 with 1:48 left to play. The Indians did get a few key stops, but could not convert on the offensive end to mount the run that they needed.

Clutch free throws from Schrantz and Gothard down the stretch kept the Indians from making the miracle comeback.

“Give credit to Jim Thorpe. They did some good things offensively tonight, especially in that first quarter. But early in the game I thought we got the looks we wanted, including multiple layup opportunities, but we just couldn’t put the ball in the basket,” said Lehighton head coach Trevor Miller.

“We had to make some of those easy looks early and we didn’t. If you don’t make layups in varsity basketball, you’re going to be in trouble. And when you’re down like that, you have to do some things defensively that you’re not comfortable doing, and again give them credit because they knocked down the shots that we were giving them, and they seemed to always have an answer every time we made a run, and we couldn’t get close enough.”

PIERCING THE NET … Thorpe’s Pierce Gothard had a huge night for Thorpe, scoring a game-high 34 points. Gothard hit four threes and was 4-for-4 from the foul line down the stretch.

STAT LINE … Brody Schrantz added 14 for Thorpe. For Lehighton, Dietz had 20 and Roberts added 12.

HOT START … The Olympians shot an excellent 14-21 in the first half while the Indians were just 5-for-19.

JIM THORPE

Antignani 0-0-0-0, P. Gothard 13-4-5-34, Kiehl 3-1-4-7, Lazorick 1-1-10-3, Schrantz 4-4-4-14, Moore 3-0-0-7. TOTALS: 24-10-23-65.

LEHIGHTON

McCarroll 0-0-0-0, Solt 2-1-1-5, White 1-2-4-4, Meek 0-0-0-0, Fairchild 3-1-1-8, Roberts 5-2-2-12, Blair 1-0-0-3, Dietz 7-6-9-20. TOTALS: 19-12-17-52.

Jim Thorpe 16 15 18 16 - 65

Lehighton 0 14 13 25 - 52

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - P. Gothard 4, Schrantz 2, Moore 1; Lehighton - Fairchild 1, Blair 1.

Records: Jim Thorpe (5-3; 5-2); Lehighton (5-4; 3-4).