GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Jim Thorpe runs by Mahanoy Area

Feb. 24—POTTSVILLE — It's been a goal since this time last season.

Jim Thorpe is back in the Schuylkill League championship game.

The Olympians, finalists the past two seasons and champions two years ago, will get another shot at collecting the league's championship trophy after a dominating 70-33 semifinal victory over Mahanoy Area on Tuesday evening at Martz Hall.

The bitter taste of last season's title-game loss to North Schuylkill still lingers, fueling the desire of, in particular, juniors Skyler Searfoss, Olivia Smelas and Leila Hurley, all of whom have started every game the past three seasons for Jim Thorpe.

"It means a lot," said Searfoss, who spearheaded the Olympians' offense in Tuesday's victory with 19 points. "For us juniors, this is our third shot at a league championship.

"We really need this one."

Next up for Division I wild card Jim Thorpe is a matchup with the winner of Tuesday's second semifinal between Division II champion Minersville and Division I champ North Schuylkill. The girls' championship game is slated for Friday at 5 p.m. at Martz Hall.

Searfoss, Hurley and Smelas were all huge in the victory over the Golden Bears, with Hurley scoring 17 points and Smelas collecting 12 points and pulling down a game-high 15 rebounds.

The trio combined for 33 points in the first half as Jim Thorpe ran out to a 40-17 lead at intermission.

"They're phenomenal," said Mahanoy Area head coach Eric Moucheron, whose team will now prepare for the District 11 Class AA playoffs. "They're battle tested.

"You could see the difference in the experience here. Their pressure, the way they switch on defense. They're just that good. You can tell, they're natural, they just go out and do it. They're not mechanical."

Jim Thorpe's goal was to get out fast on the Bears and not allow Mahanoy's fast-paced style of pressure defense to gain traction.

The Olympians succeeded. Less than four minutes in they led 12-2, with Searfoss scoring the first four points on layups resulting from steals in Mahanoy's offensive end.

Overall, it was the Jim Thorpe defense that forced Mahanoy Area into a very uncharacteristic 27 turnovers.

"Our goal, knowing that they were pretty aggressive and they were going to play man-to-man, we wanted to get out and to get on them early," said first-year Jim Thorpe head coach Nadia Gauronsky.

The Olympians continued to roll along. A 9-6 run over the last 2 1/2 minutes of the second quarter had them firmly in control, leading 21-11 at the end of the first quarter.

Smelas was a key to that run, scoring twice on putbacks of offensive rebounds.

"Credit to Olivia Smelas, she was big on the boards and that helped with our transition game," Gauronsky said. "She did a terrific job.

"For a kid, when we talk about team basketball, she leads our team in assists, she rebounds, she sees the court and she's a vocal leader as well."

By the half, fueled by another big run, this one 12-1 over the final 4:37 of the second quarter, the Olympians were up 40-17.

The second half was a repeat of the first. Thorpe's size, offensive punch and strong defense kept rolling.

In addition to Searfoss, Hurley and Smelas, sophomore Mackenzie Yuhas, who missed the first part of the season with an ankle injury, also reached double figures, scoring 10 points.

Mahanoy Area was led in the offensive end by Claudia Clark and Haley Moss with 10 points each.

Smelas' strength on the boards led the Olympians to a 37-22 rebounding advantage. Allyson Babinsky's six boards paced the Bears.

Contact the writer: croth@republicanherald.com; 570-628-6025