"We made the game ugly in the second half and to us an ugly game is a pretty game."

Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac's statement couldn't have been more true after the Olympians rallied for a 66-58 Schuylkill League victory over Tamaqua on Monday night.Thorpe, which trailed for most of the game caused havoc on the defensive side of the ball in the second half, knocking the Raiders out of rhythm. The result was the Olympians outscoring the Raiders by 16 points in the final quarter to propel them to the win.For the first three quarters, it was all Tamaqua. The Raiders came out moving the ball well and they looked to have the advantage in the half court.Tamaqua (11-10, 6-7) led by four points after one quarter, nine at the half, and eight after three quarters. The lead reached as many as 14 points at the 4:12 mark in the third."Tamaqua did a really nice job of moving the ball, and got open jumpers, and they made those open jumpers," said Kovac. "We just didn't do a good job of closing out on the shooter, which is something we stressed."In the second half, we went to a trapping defense to try and make them play a little faster and that's when we got back into the game. It was a really gutty effort from our girls."In the fourth quarter, the game would start to take a turn when the Olympians amped up the pressure. The Raiders committed 14 turnovers in the second half, and 22 for the entire game.The Olympians (11-9, 6-7) took advantage of Tamaqua's struggles in the fourth, going on a 14-4 run to tie the game at 51-51 with 3:26 remaining. It was the first time Tamaqua relinquished the lead since Thorpe led 2-0 to start the game."In games where we've struggled this season, we haven't rebounded well and we turned the ball over," said Tamaqua head coach Erika Davis. "Tonight, they beat us on the boards, especially in the second half, and we didn't take care of the ball in the second half,""We've been up and down this season with those two aspects of the game. We just have to be more consistent there."The Olympians and Raiders traded hoops until the 1:35 mark of the game when Jim Thorpe would take the lead off of a Kovac transition lay-in. Kovac dominated in the open court in the second half, scoring 27 points en route to a career-high 40 points.Two Peyton Kovac free throws on the next possession would give Jim Thorpe a four-point lead, and they would never surrender it from there, with Kayley Kovac putting the contest away with six straight from the charity line to end the game."Everyone really picked it up on the defensive end tonight and worked hard to create turnovers in the second half. That set up some transition buckets for us," said Kovac. "When we get the ball out to Kayley in transition consistently, we're going to have a good chance to score and we were able to do that tonight."It was a great team effort and team win."PITCHING IN .. For Thorpe, Peyton Kovac and Devon Lignore scored 11 points apiece in a winning effort. Lignore was the difference in the rebounding department, collecting six offensive boards on the night.RAIDERS ... For Tamaqua, Emma Kuczynski scored a team-high 18 points. Emily Titus scored 14 and Courtney Hoffman added 11.TAMAQUAHoffman 4-3-4-11, Zuber 3-1-2-7, Jones 4-0-0-8, Titus 7-0-0-14, Frederickson 0-0-0-0, Kuczynski 8-2-3-18. Totals 26-6-9-58.JIM THORPERichards 0-0-0-0, P. Kovac 2-6-8-11, Condly 1-0-0-2, Ohl 0-0-0-0, K. Kovac 14-12-14-40, Lignore 5-1-6-11, Gabel 1-0-0-2. Totals 23-19-28-66.Tamaqua 13 24 10 11 - 58Jim Thorpe 9 19 11 27 - 66Three-pointers: JT - P. Kovac 1.