POTTSVILLE – Mission accomplished.

The Jim Thorpe High School girls’ basketball team is champion of the Schuylkill League.

Friday night, the Olympians unseated defending champion North Schuylkill, 48-36. It is the second time in four years Thorpe has won the title and they did it by beating the Spartans for the third time this season.

But this win was more difficult than the previous two.

With a minute and a half gone by, Maddy Wetzel opened the scoring for the Spartans with a three-pointer from the top of the key. The bucket was just the beginning of her hot shooting night that produced 24 points by game’s end.

Down 5-0 and then 7-2, the Olympians didn’t panic. They stayed focused against a 3-2 zone defense that North Schuylkill didn’t show in either of the two prior meetings between the teams.

“We had prepared to face every possible scenario ... except the 3-2,” said Jim Thorpe coach, Nadia Gauronsky, “But we stayed patient until we could get our shots.”

While the Olympians were trying to stay patient and wait for their shots, the Spartans were able to penetrate Thorpe’s defense, thanks primarily to some great give and goes. Wetzel ‘s driving layups and Madeline Hall’s running one hander kept the lead at five points, but Thorpe eventually tied the game at 11-11 on Leila Hurley’s baseline trey with 1:25 to go in the first period.

Skyler Searfoss then gave Thorpe a 13-12 lead - its first of the night - when she converted a driving layup with :08 remaining in the quarter.

Hurley hit another three for the Olympians early in the second quarter as they maintained a slight lead. Thorpe then closed the quarter with a

Snisky jumper and a Smelas’ follow up to take a 24-18 lead into the locker room.

Despite the halftime deficit, North Schuylkill coach Rich Wetzel thought some of his team’s adjustments from their regular season matchups with Jim Thorpe worked well.

“We had them off balance with our 3-2 zone and we were able to take them away from what they wanted to do,” said coach Wetzel. “Offensively, we thought they couldn’t cover Maddy (Wetzel) off the dribble.”

The teams traded baskets to start the third period. Wetzel, who scored nine of her team’s 11 points in the period, brought the Spartan fans to their feet with a full court driving layup that cut the Jim Thorpe lead to 30-27, but Snisky’s turnaround jumper in the lane and Hurley’s two free throws opened JT’s margin to 36-29 after three quarters.

Leading by double digits midway through the final quarter, the Olympians decided to hold the ball.

‘We had to stop their hot shooting so we decided to do that with a stall when we had the ball,” said Gauronsky.

The strategy worked perfectly. Thorpe kept possession with perimeter passing from the 3:18 mark of the fourth quarter until 1:32 remained. The Spartans began to foul and Thorpe put the game away at the line.

Coach Wetzel said that the difference in the outcome of the game was rebounding.

“We couldn’t keep them off second shots,” he said. “You can’t give extra chances to a team this good.”

Following the victory and the celebration by the Olympians at midcourt, Gauronsky was emotional.

“I never won one when I played,” said the former star player at Panther Valley about a Schuylkill League championship. “Tonight, I was 16 years old again and I played the whole game with them. I’m so proud of these girls and so happy for the Jim Thorpe community. We accomplished one of our goals ... now it’s on to districts.”

COMPARING TITLES

... Hurley and Searfoss were asked the difference between winning the league title as freshmen and now as seniors. “We got better since then,” said Hurley. “We had a chip on our shoulders this year and we set out tonight to leave it all on the floor.”

“It’s our last dance this year,” added Seafoss. “We had to get this win and we did.”

LEAH DELIVERS

... Snisky is perhaps the least heralded of the four senior starters for the Olympians as Searfoss, Hurley and Smelas are all 1,000-point scorers. “This was a great win and a full team effort, Snisky said after tying with Searfoss for game-high scoring honors with 12 points. “We’ll enjoy this now, but then we have work to do in the districts and then onto the states.”

BOARD WORK ... Smelas scored eight points in the game, but it was her rebounding that stood out once again Friday night, Her big game on the boards took her over the 1,000 mark in career rebounds.

NORTH SCHUYLKILL

Burke 1-0-0-2, Himes 1-0-0-2, Gawrylik 1-0-0-2, Mengel 3-0-0-6, Wetzel 10-1-2-24, Hill 0-0-0-0, Koutch 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 16-1-2-36.

JIM THORPE

L. Snisky 6-0-0-12, Hurley 3-3-4-11, Searfoss 3-6-7-12, O. Smelas 4-0-0-8, Yuhas 1-3-4-5. TOTALS: 17-12-15-48.

No. Schuylkill 12 6 11 7 - 36

Jim Thorpe 13 11 12 12 - 48

Three-pointers: North Schuylkill - Wetzel 3. Jim Thorpe - Hurley 2.