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Big second half propels Thorpe

BERWICK - Veteran and experienced teams know how to close.

Jim Thorpe proved that to be true on Sunday in its PIAA Class 4A second round matchup against Lake Lehman.

The Olympians put together a big third-quarter run to finish off the Knights 64-37 and advance to the quarterfinals.

“I was really proud of the girls’ defensive effort tonight, especially when we got in some foul trouble. They were still able to play aggressive and tough defense, which was really key for us,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Nadia Gauronsky. “Just our effort tonight was great, and we closed out the win. We’re moving on.”

Lake Lehman did hang with Thorpe for the entire first half, as each time the Olympians (27-1) tried to pull away, the Knights would answer with a bucket or a trip to the free-throw line.

As Gauronsky noted, foul trouble was an issue for Thorpe, as Olivia Smelas picked up her second foul with 4:15 left in the first quarter, and her third with 4:42 remaining in the second.

The end result was a 22-19 Olympians’ lead at the half.

Leah Snisky came up big for Thorpe during that stretch, scoring eight of her 10 points, and also did a nice job of locking down the paint on the defensive end.

“With Olivia having to sit a little bit because of foul trouble, I knew I needed to step up us for inside and make some plays,” said Snisky. “We all just battled today, and we got the win.”

The Olympians finally earned some breathing room in the third quarter thanks to tenacious defense, along with and some big shots from beyond the arc.

Thorpe forced eight turnovers during the quarter, and got its first big shot of the frame from Leila Hurley from the left corner at the 5:15 mark to extend its lead to 35-27. Hurley hit another triple about a minute later to keep the Olympians’ barrage going as they outscored the Knights 24-12 in the quarter to take a commanding 46-31 lead into the fourth.

“My assistant coach Chris Jarrow made a nice adjustment that helped free up Leila Hurley in the third quarter, and we got good penetration and we were able to find her, and she made some big shots,” said Gauronsky. “We kept our post player on the block on the same side as Leila, so when we got penetration, that post defender was in conflict and it left her open.”

Thorpe continued its impressive offensive and defensive play in the fourth, outscoring Lake Lehman 18-6.

The Olympians, who led by just three at the half, outscored the Knights 42-18 in the second half.

PERFECT DAY

... Jim Thorpe junior Mackenzie Yuhas hit some timely shots in the game as well. Yuhas finished the day a perfect 5-for-5 from the field, scoring 10 points.

LEADERS

... Hurley led the Olympians with 15 points, including three triples. Skyler Searfoss added 14 points and Snisky netted 10. Lia Keefe and Hailey Kline led the Knights with nine points apiece.

NEXT UP

... Thorpe will now move on to the Elite Eight, where it will take on District 2 champion Dunmore. The Olympians only loss on the season came to the Bucks back on Jan. 22, 49-45.

LAKE LEHMAN

Hunt 4 0-0 9, Keefe 2 5-8 9, Wilson 1 4-5 7, Kline 3 0-1 6, Dougherty 2 2-2 6, Jenkins 0 0-0 0, Selner 0 0-0 0, Scoblick 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 12 11-16 37.

JIM THORPE

Hurley 6 0-0 15, Searfoss 5 3-4 14, L. Snisky 5 0-0 10, Yuhas 5 0-0 10, O. Smelas 2 2-4 6, H. Smelas 1 0-0 3, Wainwright 1 0-0 3, Cinicola 1 0-0 3, Hartman 0 0-2 0, B. Snisky 0 0-0 0, Ginopolas 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 26 5-10 64.

Lake Lehman 9 10 12 6 - 37

Jim Thorpe 13 9 24 18 - 64

Three-pointers: Lake Lehman - Wilson 1; Jim Thorpe - Hurley 3, Searfoss 1, H. Smelas 1, Wainwright 1, Cinicola 1.

Jim Thorpe's Leila Hurley (20) drives to the basket against Lake Lehman. RON GOWER/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS
Skyler Searfoss (21) of Jim Thorpe lays up a shot over Lake Lehman's Hailey Kline. RON GOWER/SPECIAL TO THE TIMES NEWS