Teams don't typically rely on freshmen to take over down the stretch. But Kayley Kovac isn't your typical freshman.

Kovac scored 33 points, including nine points in the game's final 2:25, to help Jim Thorpe hold off a furious Lehighton rally and post a 65-55 Schuylkill League victory on Friday night."It was a heck of a performance from Kayley," said Jim Thorpe coach Rob Kovac. "I thought she did a nice job of being patient early and not forcing things. She was taking the ball to the basket and drawing fouls and also doing a nice job of getting her teammates involved."That seemed to be working to perfection as Jim Thorpe led 46-30 late in the third quarter. But just when the Olympians appeared ready to cruise home with an easy victory, Lehighton charged back.Thanks to a tenacious defense effort and relentless work on the offensive boards, the Indians stormed back to tie the game at 54-54 with just over three minutes remaining.That's when Kovac took charge.First, she drove to the basket for a bucket to put her team ahead 56-54. After a Riley Durishin free throw got Lehighton to within a point, Kovac found Gabby Binder open underneath for a layup that started a 9-0 Olympian run to close out the game. Kovac accounted for the remainder of those points by hitting seven of eight free throw attempts over the final 1:21."After Lehighton tied the game, we called a time out and made the message very clear to Kayley that we needed her to take over the game," said coach Kovac. "These are the types of games where the really good players step up and take charge."Kayley is just a freshman, but we have the confidence to put the ball in her hands and let her make decisions with the game on the line. I thought she did a really nice job of making plays down the stretch."For Lehighton, the final minutes spoiled what might have been one of the top comebacks in the program's history."I'm really proud of the effort our girls showed tonight," said Lehighton coach Eric Gidney. "These girls go bell-to-bell. There is no quit in them."We were facing a little adversity tonight, but we never backed down. We lost a key player in Allie Rossino to an injury early in the game and we dug ourselves a huge hole. But every girl that we put out there battled hard and never gave up. That says a lot about our character."Durishin ignited the Indian comeback with a three-point play and had nine points during a 24-8 Lehighton run over the span of just seven minutes that eventually tied the game. Celina Fital added six points during the run while Aubrey Blasiak and Skylynn Faust both contributed a pair of huge hoops."I think you saw a sign of our youth early in the fourth quarter," said Kovac. "We play five freshmen and one sophomore. At times we don't act like it, but at times we do."I think you saw that a little tonight. We didn't take care of the ball, we seemed to lose interest in playing defense ... you have to give Lehighton credit for a nice comeback, but we have to do a better job when we have the lead."In addition to getting the big game from Kovac, Jim Thorpe also got an outstanding game from Gabby Binder in order to build its lead.Binder scored 21 points and pulled down eight rebounds."We got a great game from Gabby," said coach Kovac. "That was her best performance of the season."She was beating their bigs up the court and getting great position down low."The victory improves Jim Thorpe's record to 4-1 overall and 2-0 in the league."We are thrilled to have four wins at this point of the season," said coach Kovac. "Our goal is to make the District 11 playoffs and this was a huge game tonight if we wanted to accomplish that goal."Lehighton, which was led Aubrey Blasiak's 14 points, falls to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the league.JIM THORPEDoughty 0-0-0-0, P. Kovac 0-0-0-0, Condly 0-0-0-0, Naranjo 1-1-3-7, Binder 8-5-8-21, K. Kovac 9-15-22-33, Cressman 1-1-2-3, Waselus 0-0-0-0, Bush 0-0-0-0, Lignore 0-1-2-1. TOTALS: 21-22-38-65.LEHIGHTONRossino 0-0-0-0, Durishon 4-3-7-12, Whiteman 0-4-6-4, Fital 4-0-0-8, B. Blasiak 2-2-2-6, A. Blasiak 6-0-0-14, Beck 0-0-0-0, Faust 3-3-4-9, Buchinsky 1-0-0-2, Frey 0-0-0-0, Bollinger 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 20-12-19-55.Jim Thorpe 11 24 14 16 - 65Lehighton 9 17 12 17 - 55Three-Pointers: Jim Thorpe - None; Lehighton - A. Blasiak 2, Durishon 1.