It may have been a different starting lineup.

But it was exactly the kind of start Jim Thorpe was hoping to receive.With a number of reserves on the floor to open Friday's Schuylkill League game against North Schuylkill, the Olympians didn't miss a beat.Thorpe jumped out to an early lead on Senior Night and ended up cruising to a 52-39 victory. The win also clinched a district playoff berth."I thought it was a complete team effort," said Olympian head coach Jason McElmoyle, who started seniors Damian Burak, Jake Burkhart, George Swartz and Jon Fikentscher along with regular Chris Micciche. "The seniors that were in there got us a lead, and then the other guys came in and put some pressure on them and we jumped out pretty early."For the first time in a while, we kept our foot on the gas. We didn't let up. Our intensity was good, and I thought our aggressiveness on defense was good throughout the game. And we hit some shots."Micciche especially was hitting shots in the early going.The team's second-leading scorer seemed to be the go-to guy with the unfamiliar cast starting the game. Micciche ended up scoring 11 first-quarter points to help his team grab a 15-6 lead."I was feeling it early," Micciche said. "My teammates were passing it to me ... It's just a good feeing when you're on. The shots were dropping."The day before, (tonight's starting lineup) practiced together. They knew all the plays coming in. They see playing time during the season anyway, so we just made it work. And we played as a team. The early jump actually helped us a lot. It gave us more confidence when the other guys came in."With the regulars in the game during the second quarter, the advantage grew. Brendan Carroll drained a three-pointer, and Matt Elmore controlled the boards and dropped in six points. Nick Rosahac added a couple of baskets as the lead swelled to 33-15.Carroll dropped in another trey early in the second half to make it 40-20. Jim Thorpe's lead stayed in double figures the rest of the evening."Yeah, this is a weight off our shoulders," said Micciche about securing a spot in the postseason. "It gives us confidence going forward."Micciche finished with a game-high 19 points while Carroll ended with 11. Elmore collected 10 points and 12 rebounds."Yeah, that's your goal (to make the playoffs) and we're in now," said McElmoyle. "Obviously, there's still work we need to do but we've won seven out of the last 10."We're not peaking now, but we're going in the right direction."DEFENSIVE EFFORT ... Jim Thorpe's defense frustrated the Spartans. North Schuylkill shot just 10-of-41 through the first three quarters, including 2-of-17 from three-point range. "I thought we contested shots pretty well," said McElmoyle. "They didn't have many (threes) tonight ... I'd like to think a lot of their struggles was because of our defense."THE RECORDS ... The Olympians improved to 11-8 overall and 6-5 in the league. The Spartans are 3-16 and 2-10.JV GAME ... Jim Thorpe also won the opener by a 49-23 score. The Olympians, who opened up the contest with a 17-2 second quarter, received 12 points from Zach Searfoss and 11 from Chris Valdez.NORTH SCHUYLKILLStokes 6-1-4-14, Stavinski 0-0-0-0, Bolinsky 3-2-2-9, Weist 1-1-2-3, Roshannon 0-0-0-0, Burke 2-0-0-4, Guerrero 0-0-0-0, Knerr 0-0-0-0, Kotzo 3-3-6-9, Kempsey 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 15-7-14-39.JIM THORPECarroll 4-1-2-11, Samuel 0-0-0-0, Elmore 3-4-8-10, Micciche 7-4-5-19, Burkhart 0-0-0-0, Searfoss 0-0-0-0, Swartz 0-0-0-0, Joyce 2-0-0-4, Marykwas 0-0-0-0, Burak 1-0-0-2, Ni. Rosahac 2-0-0-4, Fikentscher 1-0-0-2. TOTALS: 20-9-15-52.North Schuylkill 6 9 9 15 - 39Jim Thorpe 15 18 13 6 - 52Three-pointers: NS - Stokes 1, Bolinsky 1; Jim Thorpe - Carroll 2, Micciche 1.