Jim Thorpe’s boys basketball team came out firing against fierce rival Lehighton Monday night.

The two newcomers in the Colonial League went toe-toe. But it was the Indians who were able to withstand the early barrage before securing a 62-53 victory.

The way the hosts started, things didn’t bode well for the visiting Tribe, as Jim Thorpe got the home crowd rocking, uncorking triples as if it were layups, going 4-for-4 from beyond the arc.

First, it was Aaron Curran flipping in a pair, then Brody Schrantz took his shots. The duo combined for eight triples on the night.

Finally, Lehighton revved up its game and took a quick few steps forward, riding the play of Brayden Johnson (16 points), Joe Roth (14) and Blake Roberts (11) to settle things down.

“Give credit to them, we knew we were going to get their best shot,” said Lehighton head coach Trevor Miller. “Obviously, this is a huge rivalry game, Lehighton-Jim Thorpe. It’s one of those games that goes down to the wire, no matter what the records are, who’s playing who.”

That intensity showed right up until the closing final two minutes. Lehighton had a big spurt in the middle of the second quarter, erasing a one-point deficit (24-23).

From there, the Indians got a huge lift on a Roth three-point play the old fashion way, and teammate Talin Fairchild came off the bench and flung in five unanswered points to flip the script, sending his team to a 30-27 lead at the half.

“That’s a really good team,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Brian O’Donnell. “The first three quarters we came out and battled them, I thought we were pretty steady.”

Better yet, the Olympians looked steady and assured when they took a giant step forward in a five-minute stretch to open the second half.

Lehighton seemed ready to put the pedal to the floor when guard John Light flicked away a dribble and raced down the floor for a layup. Seconds later, Roberts used his muscular frame for another deuce, sending his team to a 35-27 lead with 5:36 showing in the frame.

Then the Olympians answered the bell, going on a 12-2 run. The duo of Curran and Schrantz, each with 17 points, stoked the fires, and when the latter buried a triple with five ticks on the clock, Jim Thorpe got a monumental lift to take a 42-39 lead into the final chapter.

However, things were about to take an about face. And O’Donnell sensed it.

“We led there a few times, but then the fourth quarter comes and they went back to the 1-3-1 defense,” the Thorpe coach pointed out. “We didn’t expect that, and it hurt us.”

The move was a checkmate for Miller and his band of Indians.

“Our defense at the time came up strong,” he mentioned. “We were able to (double) on their players, and get some big turnovers. That was a big lift for us; it was something that we needed at that point in the game.”

The flip of the switch occurred right after Schrantz drained a trey to put Thorpe in front for the final time at 47-46. The Tribe got a terrific defensive play from Johnson, who kept the ball from going out of bounds, ending up in the hands of Roth for an easy bucket. Johnson then began to help ice the game with four straight foul shots as his team slowly put some space between the teams.

“I thought we had some tense time, then we stepped up and answered that,” Miller pointed out. “This was the first game we played with Brayden Johnson back ... he kind of dominated in that fourth quarter. I know he went 8-for-8 from the foul line in the fourth quarter. He’s the engine that makes us go.”

Yes, Johnson had a big say in the final closing minute, but so too did Roth, who converted four times from the charity stripe as well.

“At the end, I thought we gave everything we had, we shot all of our bullets and the chamber was empty at the end,” O’Donnell said.

The Indians, on the other hand, had plenty of arrows to fire at the end to settle the issue in their favor.

UPSIDE … Thorpe had firepower all over, as they bombed away for 10 triples. Schrantz had five and Curran three. Not to be overlooked was the standout play of Pierce Gothard, who fired in 16 points, including nine in the first half.

GETTING IT DONE … Lehighton had to dig and grind, but it was mentally tough and never seemed frustrated. The Indians got some big minutes from Fairchild, Light, Aiden Solt and Caden Meek when their numbers were called.

LEHIGHTON

Johnson 4 8-8-16, Roth 5-4-5-14, Roberts 5-1-3-11, Fairchild 3-1-2-8. Light 3-0-0-7, Meek 2-0-0-6, Solt 0-0-0-0, Dietz 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 22-14-18-62.

JIM THORPE

Schrantz 6-0-1-17, Curran 5-4-17, Gothard 6-3-5-16, Moore 1-0-0-3, Lazorick 0-0-0-0, Zurin 0-0-0-0, Kiehl 0-0-0-0, Antigania 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-7-10-53.

Lehighton 16 15 8 23 - 62

Jim Thorpe 18 9 15 11 - 53

Three-pointers: Lehighton - Meek 1, Light 1, Fairchild 1; Jim Thorpe - Schrantz 5, Curran 3, Moore 1, Gothard 1.

Records: Lehighton (14-6; 10-6); Jim Thorpe (4-15; 3-13).