If the Jim Thorpe girls basketball team intended to make a statement in their opening game of the season, they certainly stamped their 65-26 victory over Lehighton with an exclamation point.

With a sizzling 14-0 run in the first four and a half minutes of the game, Thorpe’s lead was never threatened for the rest of the night.

Olivia Smelas, who scored half of her 16 points in the first eight minutes, opened with a putback. She and Skyler Searfoss, who tied Smelas with a game-high 16 points, dominated the first period. Searfoss scored off steals with driving layups, leading the home team to a 21-4 advantage after one period.

Lehighton’s first basket of the game came on Taylor Bowman’s layup halfway through the period, and the Tribe’s only other basket in the first eight minutes was Hailey Miller’s baseline jumper two minutes later.

As suffocating JT’s pressure was all over the court in the first period, it was even better in the second, holding Lehighton to a single basket by Charli McHugh at the seven-minute mark.

Olympians’ head coach Nadia Gauronsky was pleased with her team’s defensive play.

“We ‘re known as an offensive scoring team, but we’ve put a lot of effort and focus on our defensive mindset,” said Gauronsky. “And by allowing just six points in the first half, we did what we had set out to do.”

Lehighton mentor Joe Berezwick was fully aware of the juggernaut his team was facing, and he was hoping they would battle and compete, but it wasn’t to be.

Lehighton had trouble penetrating the key and every shot was contested by the long arms of Thorpe’s defense.

“There are such a quality club,” said Berezwick. “We were the first team to face them, and after the 14-0 run, we tried calling several timeouts to shake things up, but we just couldn’t stop the bleeding.”

Berezwick praised Jim Thorpe for being so good, with four starters heading into their fourth year together.

“They’re so well-balanced, and they have great length to grab rebounds, cause turnovers, and score down low when they get the ball inside.”

With under five minutes to go in the half, Mackenzie Yuhas scored on a short bank shot to lift the score to 29-6. Leah Snisky, who put home 14 points in the game with an assortment of shots, scored on a nifty turnaround jumper in the paint two minutes later. Searfoss’s driving layup with 18 seconds left extended JT’s lead to 33 points at the intermission.

Lehighton was able to find some rhythm in the third quarter, but didn’t reach double figures until Bowman’s bank shot with 4:20 left to play. The Tribe scored seven more points in the next minute and a half, but the night belonged to the Lady O’s, who kept scoring on high percentage layups and short jumpers.

The balance that Berezwick had talked about was evident by the fact that eight JT players registered points in the scorebook.

“I thought Olivia had a great game tonight,” said Gauronsky. “She’s been working so hard on finishing when she gets the ball inside.”

In regard to the total dominance from her team, Thorpe’s coach said, “We know we have something to prove this year. We showed our prowess on both ends of the court tonight.”

UNSELFISH PLAY ... Several times during the game, Jim Thorpe scored layups with bounce passes to players who were driving to the basket without the ball. In the third period, Smelas fed Yuhas for a basket, and later she found Searfoss darting to the hoop for an easy score.

UP NEXT ... The Olympians travel to Taylor this afternoon to take on Riverside. Lehighton’s next game is today at noon against Kutztown.

JV THRILLER ... In the junior varsity game, Lehighton prevailed with a 35-33 overtime victory.

LEHIGHTON

Miller 4-3-4-11, McHugh 3-0-1-6, Bowman 2-1-7-5, Repsher 1-0-0-2, Wojton 1-0-0-2, Barthal 0-0-0-0, Haley 0-0-0-0, Williams 0-0-0-0, Wehr 0-0-0-0, Fisher 0-0-0-0, Houser-0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 11-4-12-26.

JIM THORPE

O. Smelas 8-0-1-16, Searfoss 6-4-5-16, L. Snisky 5-2-2-14, Yuhas 5-0-0-10, Cinicola 1-0-0-3, Hartman 1-0-0-2, Hurley 0-2-2-2, Robinson 1-0-0-2, Fiorito 0-0-0-0, B. Snisky 0-0-0-0, Ginopolis 0-0-0-0, H. Smelas 0-0-0-0, Wainwright 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 27-8-10-65.

Lehighton 4 2 12 8 - 26

Jim Thorpe 21 18 19 7 - 65

Three-pointers: Lehighton - None; Jim Thorpe - L. Snisky 2, Cinicola 1.