POTTSVILLE — Undefeated.

It’s a word that isn’t heard much throughout the sports world, simply because it’s so difficult to accomplish.

But on Saturday night after a 53-51 thrilling victory over Mahanoy Area in the Schuylkill League championship game, the Jim Thorpe girls basketball squad can still claim such an honor.

The Olympians have hit the hardwood 24 times this season and every time has walked away with a “W,” adding gold to its already impressive resume with their win over the Bears.

Many thought the matchup between Division 1 champion Jim Thorpe and Division 3 titlist Mahanoy Area was going to be a back-and-forth affair. And from the onset, that’s exactly what it was.

There were a total of eight lead changes in the first half, and the two were separated by just one point at the end of each of the first two frames.

Both teams used the first half to settle in as some jitters and a strong defensive effort played a key role (there were a combined 19 turnovers in the half). But in the third quarter, the game went from a defensive contest to an offensive one quickly.

The action really picked up in the second half, as the Olympians (24-0) tried to make a power move and put some distance between them and the Golden Bears. Back-to-back triples by Thorpe senior Natalia Richards electrified the team, sparking an 8-0 run that gave them a nine-point lead.

“I talked to our shooters at halftime, with Natalia being one of them, and I told her you have some big shots in you this half,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. “And all she does is come out and hit two big ones there for us. That was great to see and we’re not standing here with a championship without those type of plays.

“Man, this game, it was just like a heavyweight fight. Every time you think you knocked somebody down they got up, and we took turns doing that in this one.”

The Bears (21-2) quickly closed within five, but the Olympians tried to pull away again, charging ahead by 10 midway through the third. But once again Mahanoy fought back and actually took a three-point lead at the end of the quarter. The Bears closed the frame with a 19-6 run, with Emily Lawrence leading the way.

Lawrence hit four three-pointers in the period, scoring 18 of her game-high 22 points in the frame.

“This was just a great game,” said Mahanoy head coach Tom Scheeler. “The two best teams in the league going at each other. They made shots, we made shots, just a great game. Our girls fought back all night, same with them. Of course we’re disappointed with the loss, but it was just a really hard-fought game.”

In the fourth, it seemed like every shot was a big one as the two played to a stalemate for a majority of the stanza. The big shot for the Olympians came late in the period. Trailing by one with just over a minute remaining, Thorpe’s Leila Hurley found space in the left corner, loaded up and connected from three to give the Olympians a one-point lead. A Skyler Searfoss steal and layup seconds later upped the lead to four (53-49).

Hurley scored all of her 13 points in the second half, with eight of them coming in the crucial fourth quarter.

“You just can’t ever give up in a game like this,” said Hurley. “You have to have a shooter’s mentality and shoot when you’re open, even if you’re struggling.

“We practice hard, we play hard. Every possession matters, and we were able to pull it out.”

Mahanoy pulled within two around the 30-second mark after a pair of Madison Cavenas free throws. The game would come down, fittingly, to the last second. With just under 10 seconds remaining, Mahanoy got the ball to playmaker Abbey McGee at half-court. McGee made a spectacular pass to Lawrence near the bucket, but a hustling Searfoss got just enough of the ball to knock it off target and then a put back attempt by Lawrence missed as well.

The result was the first ever Schuylkill League title for the Olympians.

“So many things happened in those last few minutes, I’m going to need to watch this game a couple times just to soak it all in,” said Kovac.

“What a great evening. I’m just so happy for our girls and also I want to give credit to Mahanoy too. That’s a great team who had a great season. Overall, it was just an awesome night.”

BALANCED ... The Olympians received balanced scoring. Searfoss and Olivia Smelas led the way with 14 points apiece. Hurley added 13 and Richards chipped in with 10.

POST PRESENCE ... Besides scoring 14 points, Smelas added 10 rebounds and many times helped break Mahanoy’s vaunted full-court pressure. “Liv was big for us tonight, we ran our offense through her,” said Kovac. “She passes the ball so well and just really did a great job.”

JIM THORPE

Richards 4-0-0-10, Scott 1-0-1-2, Hurley 5-0-0-13, Searfoss 3-8-8-14, Smelas 6-2-4-14, Craigie 0-0-0-0, Snisky 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 19-10-13-53.

MAHANOY AREA

Lawrence 8-1-2-22, Karmonick 3-1-1-9, McGee 5-1-3-11, Bernardyn 0-0-0-0, Cavenas 1-4-4-6, Abrachinsky 1-0-0-3, Scheeler 0-0-0-0, Quick 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-7-10-51.

Jim Thorpe 10 10 21 12 - 53

Mahanoy A. 9 10 25 7 - 51

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Hurley 3, Richards 2; Mahanoy Area - Lawrence 5, Karmonick 2, Abrachinsky 1.