After the first three quarters of Thursday’s Tamaqua at Jim Thorpe’s girls’ basketball game, anyone who was debating which team would win would have likely definitely sided with the Olympians.

But a fierce fourth-quarter comeback by the Raiders, however, wiped out an 18-point JT lead to tie the game.

In the end, though, the Red, White, and Blue prevailed to earn a 66-58 Schuylkill League victory and remain undefeated at 15-0.

“We finally played like we know how at the end,” said Tamaqua coach Erika Davis, “but you have to play all four quarters against a team like Jim Thorpe.”

“Give them credit,” said JT mentor Rob Kovac. “We knew they were going to throw a punch at some point in the game, but I like how our girls kept their poise in the last two minutes.”

Following a 19-4 last-quarter Raider run and Sophia Boyle’s three-pointer that tied the score at 58 with 1:25 to go, the Olympians scored the game’s final eight points from the charity stripe.

The first half belonged to Jim Thorpe. Senior Natalia Richards hit three outside shots and freshman Skyler Searfoss was four-for-four from the floor as the home team took an 11-point lead at 20-9 with a minute to go in the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Raiders took only nine shots against JT’s 1-3-1 zone and managed just eight points in eight minutes. Meanwhile, freshman Olivia Smelas worked her inside game to score three baskets in a row as Thorpe built a 38-20 lead at the intermission.

“We didn’t get into the gaps of their zone and work the paint so we could collapse the defense,” said Davis.

“I was concerned that we hadn’t played in a week,” said Kovac. “We had fresh legs early in the game, but you could tell we weren’t in game shape in a good part of the second half.”

The third quarter saw Tamaqua (14-3) try to cut the deficit, as Jamie Zuber, Rebekah Hromyak, Emma Kuczynski, and Boyle all hit from downtown. But JT, which led by as many as 20 points in the game, answered each basket and Richard’s trey from the left side of the perimeter with 30 seconds left preserved their 18-point lead going into the final eight minutes.

Kuczynski, who paced the Raiders with 18 points, scored on a short jumper five seconds into the fourth to spark a rally that would eventually cut 15 points away from JT’s lead. Emily Titus sank a perimeter three to make the score 56-48 at the halfway mark of the quarter, causing Kovac to call a timeout to regroup and try to stem Tamaqua’s tide of baskets.

After an early basket by Kristen Scott and a turnaround bank shot by Smelas with 3:50 left, the Olympians would not score again from the floor.

Kuczynski’s bucket off a driving layup brought her team within three, and Boyle’s bomb knotted the score, thrilling the visiting fans. The home crowd that had been relaxing with the double-digit lead for most of the game, began to squirm in their seats.

After JT freshman Leila Hurley’s two free throws regained the lead at 60-58, Tamaqua missed its last five shots.

Forced to foul in the final minute, the Raiders put Searfoss on the line, where she sank five of six free throws to seal the win for the Olympians.

“Our girls had a lot of fight in them to come from that far back,” said Davis. “Jim Thorpe is a really good team and very balanced, but I’m proud how we almost pulled it out.”

‘We missed some layups near the end, but we held on against a good team,” said Kovac. “This kind of game will help us when we get to the postseason. Tonight, we took a big step in the right direction.”

A DOZEN FROM DOWNTOWN

... Tamaqua hit on 12 three-point shots by five different players, which accounted for 36 of its 58 points.

MUM’S THE WORD

... Kovac mentioned that the undefeated record brings no extra pressure upon his team. “In fact, we never talk about it at all,” he said, explaining that the focus is always on the moments of a game and then on their next opponent.

TAMAQUA

Kane 1-0-0-3, Zuber 4-0-0-11, Hromyak 2-0-0-6, Boyle 3-0-0-9, Titus 2-0-0-5, Hope 0-0-0-0, Frederickson 3-0-0-6, Kuczynski 6-4-6-18. TOTALS: 21-4-6-58.

JIM THORPE

Richards 4-2-2-13, Scott 4-1-3-9, Hurley 3-4-4-12, Searfoss 7-6-7-20, Smelas 5-2-5-12. TOTALS: 23-15-21-66.

Tamaqua 12 8 16 22 - 58

Jim Thorpe 20 18 16 12 - 66

Three-pointers: Tamaqua - Zuber 3, Boyle 3, Hromyak 2, Kuczynski 2, Titus 1, Kane 1; Jim Thorpe - Richards 3, Hurley 2.