Good teams never falter, even when they’re struggling.

On Saturday afternoon, Jim Thorpe was coming into its district playoff game against Wilson after an emotional Schuylkill League championship win over Mahanoy Area the week before.

Sometimes after a big win, it’s tough to get things going — which was exactly what happened with Thorpe early against the Warriors.

Leading by just three after the first quarter, it looked as if seventh-seeded Wilson was going to give the Olympians a game. However, Thorpe (25-0) never faltered and put together a 19-point second quarter, propelling it to a 60-31 victory.

The Olympians’ defense has served as their offense throughout the season, and helped them get going after struggling in the opening period. Thorpe’s trapping 1-3-1 defense forced five second-quarter turnovers, which helped it go on an 11-1 run to start the frame, boosting its lead to 19-4 early on in the second frame.

The Olympians held the Warriors to a 2-for-17 shooting performance in the first half and, paired with an exploding transition offense, helped Thorpe take a commanding 18-point lead (27-9) into the half. The Olympians ‘Big Three’ in freshmen Skyler Searfoss, Olivia Smelas and Leila Hurley combined for all 19 second-quarter points.

“Yeah, we came out a bit sluggish, but then we were able to get some turnovers and get some of our offense going,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. “We were able to get a few transition buckets in a row to put some distance between us. Our goal coming in was to create defense with our offense and we were able to that, even after struggling in the first quarter. This has been a poised team all year, and they came out in the second quarter and played really well.”

In the third quarter, Thorpe settled in, especially offensively. The Olympians were more crisp in the half-court as they scored an impressive 29 points in the period.

Leila Hurley got the Olympians going from the outside, hitting two triples and scoring eight points in the frame. Searfoss led the way in the quarter with 12 and Smelas added six.

Four more Wilson turnovers aided Thorpe in building a 34-point lead heading into the final quarter.

The fourth frame was mostly played by each team’s reserves as the Olympians closed out the victory.

LEADERS ... Searfoss led the way for Thorpe with 24 points. Smelas added 15, while Hurley scored 14. Smelas also had 12 rebounds, while Searfoss dished out six assists.

NEXT UP ... The Olympians will now take on Tamaqua for the third time this season in the District 11 Class 4A semifinals at Martz Hall on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.

MIDDLE QUARTERS ... After a slow start that saw Thorpe score just eight points in the first quarter, it picked it up in the second and third, as the Olympians outscored Wilson 48-19 in the middle frames.

WILSON

Patterson 0-0-0-0, Gillen 3-1-2-7, Errico 2-6-8-12, Miller 0-0-1-0, Heinemann 1-0-0-2, Goodman 1-1-3-4, M. Grant 1-0-0-3, Crozier 0-0-0-0, Reidinger 1-1-2-3. TOTALS: 9-9-16-31.

JIM THORPE

Richards 2-0-0-5, Scott 0-0-0-0, Snisky 0-0-0-0, Berger 0-0-2-0, McArdle 0-0-0-0, Hurley 5-2-2-14, Searfoss 10-4-4-24, Smelas 7-1-3-15, Solt 0-0-0-0, Rosahac 0-0-0-0, Craigie 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 25-7-11-60.

Wilson 3 6 13 9 - 31

Jim Thorpe 8 19 29 4 - 60

Three-pointers: W - Errico 2, Goodman 1, Grant 1; JT - Hurley 2, Richards 1.