A coach can effectively game plan a halfcourt defensive strategy, but it's not always possible to prepare for the transition aspect of an offense.

Jim Thorpe came out of the gate against Panther Valley and simply ran, ran, and ran some more. The Lady Olympians' transition game was executed to perfection, as they sprinted by Panther Valley in a Schuylkill League contest, 63-38."We went with a substitution early on and had four freshmen on the floor," explained Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. We really sped Panther Valley up after that, we wanted the game to be at a quick pace. That (substitution) gave us an opportunity to get in transition."The Panthers had no answer for Jim Thorpe's freshman star Kayley Kovac, specifically on fast breaks in the open floor.Kovac single-handedly blew the game open in the first quarter, as she scored a dozen straight Olympian points during the midst of a 19-9 first period. Kovac scored 15 of Thorpe's first 19 and ended up with a game-high 33 points. She now averages 26 points per game through seven contests."We missed way too many shots," said Panther Valley head coach Brad Hurley. "You have to credit Jim Thorpe, Kovac (Kayley) has really perfected her full court game. We had a game plan coming into tonight but she shot her way through it. She played very well. Our goal was to slow it down, but the transition game killed us. It was our inability to score and their ability to outlet and score which made a difference.""Kayley is a blessed athlete," said the Jim Thorpe coach. "There aren't many 5-11 kids that can get up and down the floor like she can. She has the ability to finish with both hands, and we feed off her in transition. She made all of the right decisions early on in the game."The Panthers' Macey Markovich kept her squad within striking distance up until halftime. The three-point specialist totalled five triples for a team-high 16 points during the contest. Kailee Smith also chipped in seven points of her own during the losing effort."We need to get to the point where we can come down, run a set, and no pass gets tipped," said Hurley. "We need to get better at the fundamentals, out-working teams, and taking care of the basketball."The Olympians are full of youth, but seem to play well beyond their years. Kovac believes his team will only continue to get better as they grow."They have played a lot of basketball together, even the young kids," added the Thorpe coach. "A lot of these girls have grown up in a gym. One thing is that we haven't been playing for a full 32 minutes. Sometimes we hit the switch and we go off for a bit. We talked about that and it's going to hurt us eventually if we can't flip the switch back on. That being said we're 5-2 and if you would have offered me that a month ago when the season started, knowing that I would be playing five freshman consistently, I would have jumped at that.""We want to be a district playoff team, but the key to tonight was getting win number five. It's fun to watch us run and I like that a lot of these younger kids have no fear. There is no intimidation factor, they play with a chip on their shoulder that I like, and we were successful tonight."JIM THORPEDougherty 0-0-2-0, P.Kovac 3-0-1-6, Condly 1-0-0-2, Ohl 0-0-0-0, Naranjo 1-0-0-2, Binder 2-0-1-4, K.Kovac 14-5-9-33, Cressman 6-0-0-12, Waselus 1-0-0-2, Rush 0-0-0-0, Lignore 0-2-4-2, Fasolino 0-0-0-0, TOTALS: 28-7-17-63.PANTHER VALLEYMarouchoc 1-0-0-2, Weaver 0-0-0-0, Taylor 1-3-8-5, Picht 0-0-0-0, Corby 0-0-0-0, Smith 3-1-1-7, M. Markovich 5-1-2-16, Dacey 2-0-0-5, C. Markovich 1-0-0-3. TOTALS: 13-5-11-38.Jim Thorpe 19 18 14 12 - 63Panther Vy. 9 14 7 8 - 38Three-pointers: JT - none; PV - M. Markovich 5, Dacey 1, C. Markovich 1