ALLENTOWN - Patience is a virtue.

On Thursday afternoon, Allentown Central Catholic exercised patience and poise on the offensive side of the floor, while also holding Jim Thorpe to just 36 points.

The result was the Vikettes leaving the PPL Center with their 23rd District 11 championship, coming away with a 41-36 victory.

The Olympians’ recipe for success over the past three seasons has been their ability to create turnovers and get out in transition. From the start in the Class 4A final, it was obvious that Central did not want to get into an up-tempo battle with Thorpe. The Vikettes slowed the game down and were able to attack Thorpe’s half-court 1-3-1 zone defense to lead by seven (14-7) after the first quarter.

Hanna Hoeing was a willing recipient of Central Catholic’s crisp ball movement in the first, scoring seven points. Hoeing was able to find some spot-up openings against the zone and converted the open jumpers.

“We thought if we could keep them from getting out in transition and getting fastbreaks, we could do some good things, and I was really proud of our defensive effort,” said Central Catholic head coach Mike Kopp. “We wanted to attack at the right times, and when we had the opportunity to attack.

“I think we showed a lot of poise. There was a stretch, though, where we tried to force it a bit and they were able to get some steals, but these girls never got discouraged and never gave up. This is a great group of kids.”

The Olympians got back to their style a bit in the second, creating a few turnovers and pressuring more, which resulted in Thorpe taking the lead twice in the quarter. Skyler Searfoss came up big in the frame, scoring nine points.

But once again, the Vikettes were able to slow down the game and put together solid back-to-back patient possessions late in the quarter to lead 24-21 at intermission. Two buckets by Maddie Szoke gave Central Catholic the important advantage.

The third period belonged to the Olympians. A nice halftime adjustment saw Thorpe being the aggressor on the defensive end, extending its defense out to the half-court line. Trailing 26-21, the Olympians went on an 8-0 run to lead by three with just over two minutes remaining in the frame. A Leila Hurley triple from deep on the left wing looked to give Thorpe momentum as it finished the third with a 32-30 advantage.

“We made some adjustments at halftime, and we were able to come out and put a few runs together,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Nadia Gauronsky. “The key for us was not to let them get the ball into the middle. When we were able to do that, we had more success.”

The Vikettes defense, which played exceptional, took the term “lockdown defense” to a new level in the fourth quarter, holding the Olympians to just four points. The key, once again, was Central’s ability to slow down the tempo and take away Thorpe’s transition game.

The play of the game came with 45 seconds remaining. With the contest knotted at 36, an almost NBA length three-pointer from the left wing by a wide-open Emily Vaughan gave Central Catholic the lead. The Olympians were never able to recover, and weren’t able to convert on the offensive end the rest of the way.

LEADERS … Balance is always the key for ACC. Szoke led the way with 10. Vaughan, Hoeing and Molly Driscoll all added nine. Searfoss led the way for Thorpe, scoring a game-high 18.

FUTURE IS BRIGHT … Both teams return a ton of talent next season. Thorpe returns its top six, while ACC returns four of five starters.

CLUTCH … The foul line proved important for ACC as it went 11-for-11 from the charity stripe.

CENTRAL CATHOLIC

Vaughan 3-2-2-9, Hoeing 4-0-0-9, Dietz 0-0-0-0, Roth 0-4-4-4, Szoke 4-2-2-10, Driscoll 3-3-3-9. TOTALS: 14-11-11-41.

JIM THORPE

Snisky 0-2-2-2, H. Smelas 1-0-0-3, Yuhas 2-0-0-4, Hurley 2-0-0-6, Searfoss 7-3-3-18, O. Smelas 1-1-3-3. TOTALS: 13-6-8-36.

Jim Thorpe 7 14 11 4 - 36

Central Catholic 14 10 6 11 - 41

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Hurley 2, Searfoss 1 H. Smelas 1; Allentown Central Catholic - Vaughan 1, Hoeing 1.