Olympians trying to stay alive
Jim Thorpe will try to keep its season alive today when it meets Southern Lehigh in the District 11 Class AAA consolation game.
District 11 Class AAA Girls
Third-place consolation game
No. 5 Jim Thorpe (21-5, 11-2 Schuylkill League) vs. No. 2 Southern Lehigh (22-4 overall, 15-1 CL)
TIPOFF: Saturday, March 3rd at 4:30 pm at Martz Hall in Pottsville
COACHES: Jim Thorpe Rob Kovac; Southern Lehigh Megan Dellegrotti
LEADING SCORERS: Jim Thorpe Celeste Robinson (24.5 ppg), Chelsea Smelas (11.0 ppg), Kristin Lawrence (6.8 ppg, 43 three-pointers); Southern Lehigh Bridgette Dougherty (15.4 ppg), Madelene McDonald (11.0 ppg), Julia Nemeth (5.3 ppg)
GAME NOTES: Despite setbacks in the district semifinals, No. 5 seeded Jim Thorpe and No. 2 seeded Southern Lehigh have another chance to keep their seasons alive when they play this afternoon in the District 11 Class AAA consolation game. The Olympians dropped a 45-28 decision to top seed Allentown Central Catholic, while the Spartans were routed by No. 3 seeded Bethlehem Catholic 57-39 ... A year ago, Jim Thorpe and Southern Lehigh were part of the AAA field and both were eliminated by eventual District champion Tamaqua. The Olympians were knocked off in the quarterfinals and the Spartans in the semifinals ... Jim Thorpe has played three of the Spartans' Colonial League opponents this season. The Olympians went 3-0 against the CL as they knocked off Palmerton (59-52 in the Lady Indian Holiday Classic at Lehighton High School), Northern Lehigh (52-37 to win the Lady Indian Holiday Classic) and Northwestern (41-36 in a non-conference showdown in New Tripoli). Against those same three teams, Southern Lehigh was 4-0 on the season. The Spartans escaped with one-point wins over both Northwestern (53-52) and Palmerton (43-42) at home, while scoring a double digit victory (39-29) against Northern Lehigh in Slatington. The Spartans also scored a 57-48 win over Northwestern in the Colonial League semifinals before posting a 42-33 win over Bangor to capture the CL title this season ... Before suffering a third loss of the season to Becahi Thursday night, Southern Lehigh only losses were to Allentown Central Catholic (54-37) and Notre Dame of Green Pond (54-40) ... The winner of this game earns the right to play in the first round of next week's Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association State playoffs against the District 2 champion. If the Olympians can reach the state playoffs, it would be the first-time in the program's history ...
QUOTABLE: ""We just have to play Jim Thorpe basketball. That's something we didn't do against ACC. Our rebounding has to be better, our press has to be better, and we have to score the basketball.
"We have to make sure we look to attack them in transition and make good passes when we're in the half-court. It's key for us once again to get on the boards.
"They have nice size as well so we're going to have work hard to get boards. We have to do a nice job of limiting Doughtery's touches and have some things go our way."." Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac
