Derryl Fisher’s first-quarter scoring kept Jim Thorpe close.

His passing and defense all game long prevented Tamaqua from doing the same.

Fisher scored 17 points, dished out eight assists, and made five steals as Jim Thorpe rallied from an early deficit to post an impressive 66-36 Schuylkill League victory on Wednesday.

“Derryl was fantastic tonight,” said Jim Thorpe coach Jason McElmoyle. “He not only scored for us, but he got everyone else involved offensively as well. He made some great passes tonight.

“He also spearheads our defense. He forced a lot of turnovers tonight with his quickness and pressure on the ball.”

Fisher said he takes just as much pride in his passing and defense as he does in his scoring.

“I’m just trying to do anything I can to help the team win,” said Fisher. “I take a lot of pride in my ability to pass the ball. I’m confident when I give the ball up that my teammates are going to finish - and that’s what they did tonight.

“Defensively, the entire team is playing well, especially the last few games. We’re forcing lots of turnovers and that’s helping our offense by getting us easy baskets at the other end.”

Fisher’s strong all-around game included 10 first-quarter points, which accounted for nearly all of the Olympians offense as Tamaqua led 14-13 after one period.

But the Olympians’ tightened the screws defensively after that, forcing 30 turnovers on the night while holding Tamaqua to a 14-for-40 (35 percent) shooting performance from the field.

“The last three games, our kids have really started to put things together,” said McElmoyle. “We are doing a lot of the little things defensively that we hadn’t been doing early in the season. We are playing great team defense.”

The game was tied at 16-16 early in the second quarter, when the Olympians started to take charge. Five different players - Bryson Heydt, David Richards, Kaiden Herron, Fisher and Andrew Warner - contributed points in a 10-2 Thorpe run to close the half.

Any hopes Tamaqua had of making a run were put to rest when the Olympians reeled off the first 11 points of the third quarter to open a commanding 37-18 lead.

Similar to the run that ended the second quarter, Thorpe’s explosion to open the third quarter also featured points from five different players.

“Derryl was outstanding tonight, but the key for us is that we are now getting strong play up and down the lineup,” said McElmoyle. “Everyone is contributing offensively, everyone is doing their job defensively, we are getting big games from our starters, and strong play from kids coming off the bench.

“It was a total team effort tonight and it has been our last three games.”

Herron finished with eight third quarter points and Noah Rosahac added five as the Olympians took a 46-25 lead into the final period. They gradually increased that margin, eventually putting it into the mercy rule in the final minutes.

“We need to do a better job of handling defensive pressure and we need to be much stronger with the basketball,” said Tamaqua coach Jim Barron. “You can’t turn the ball over 30 times.

“Give Jim Thorpe credit. They are a completely different team than we faced earlier this year. They are playing really well.”

BIG DIFFERENCE ... When the same two teams met back on Dec. 20, Tamaqua rolled to a 54-29 victory. That means last night’s Thorpe win featured a 55-point turnaround from the previous meeting.

SCORING LEADERS ... In addition to Fisher’s 17 points, Herron also had 17 for the Olympians. For Tamaqua, Nate Gregoire played a strong game, scoring 21 points and pulling down 12 rebounds.

GETTING HOT ... With just over two weeks remaining in the regular season, the Olympians (10-6, 5-4) appear to be peaking as they have won three straight and four of their last five.

ONE-TWO PUNCH ... Jim Thorpe’s post rotation of the 6-6 Heydt and the 6-5 Rosahac combined to produce 14 points and 10 rebounds.

TAMAQUA

Ansbach 1-0-0-3, Lewis 1-0-0-2, McLaughlin 0-0-0-0, Milot 1-0-0-2, Kane 2-0-0-4, Dillon 1-2-2-4, Ligenza 0-0-0-0, Andrews 0-0-2-0, Gregoire 8-2-4-21, Mateyak 0-0-0-0, Coleman 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-4-8-36.

JIM THORPE

Herron 7-2-3-17, Richards 2-0-0-5, Warner 2-0-0-4, C. McHugh 2-0-1-4, Fisher 7-1-2-17, DiSanto 0-0-0-0, B. McHugh 0-0-0-0, Spruill 2-0-0-5, Craigie 0-0-0-0, Selby 0-0-0-0, Rosahac 3-2-4-8, Berger 0-0-0-0, Heydt 3-0-0-6. TOTALS: 28-5-10-66.

Tamaqua 14 4 7 11 – 36

Jim Thorpe 13 13 20 20 – 66

Three-pointers: Tamaqua – Gregoire 3, Ansbach 1; Jim Thorpe – Fisher 2, Herron 1, Richards 1, Spruill 1.