Bethlehem Catholic tops Jim Thorpe for D-11 title

EASTON - The undefeated Bethlehem Catholic girls were no stranger to Jim Thorpe. A season ago, the perennial power gave the Lady Olympians their first loss of the season in the District 11 championship game and proved that they were going to be around for a while.

Both Jim Thorpe and Bethlehem Catholic maneuvered through their respective seasons with similar success this year, with the two teams meeting once again for the title.

The players are a year older, and some of the personnel has changed, but the end result remained the same.

The Golden Hawks’ pressure defense limited the Olympians’ attempts to generate offense, and Becahi rolled to a 48-31 victory Saturday.

“They’re probably one of the best defensive teams I’ve ever coached against,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Rob Kovac. “You see things that are open and a half second later, it’s gone. They’re long, they’re athletic, they come at you in waves, it seemed.

“Early on, I think we missed a few layups; we missed from the foul line; and I’m not sure it would’ve made a large difference down the stretch, but to fall behind early on to a great team like that, it wasn’t the start that we wanted.”

In the first eight-minute period, an Olivia Smelas turnaround shot down low, and a Leah Snisky jumper from the top of the key, were the only points the typically high-powered Olympians could muster.

Regular point-producers Skyler Searfoss and Leila Hurley were the focal point of the Golden Hawks’ defense. As soon as Searfoss brought the ball over half court, the double and triple teams were on point, forcing the talent to look to dish.

As for Hurley, her touches were limited, which took her out of the Olympian offense.

“Offensively, they disrupt you, they take you out of rhythm, and I thought against their man-defense, we were getting some good shots,” Kovac said. “But unfortunately, when they were in their zone, they’re so big and long, and we don’t have too many good outside shooters and they kind of took our one away and we were in trouble.”

One aspect of the game that Kovac and his staff were content with was their defense. In the second frame, they limited the Hawks to four points to remain in the contest. However, the Hawks’ defense continued to press, and JT scored three points in that same session, to trail 19-7 at the intermission.

“I thought our effort was solid, and I thought we played hard,” Kovac said. “We played sound defensively, for the most part. Some of their points were from really long threes, or they were beating us in a scramble. But then, when they missed some shots, we didn’t necessarily do a good enough job on (Abigail) Brown down low.”

It was clear that Bethlehem Catholic was going to run and keep its legs fresh, as it seemed every minute produced substitutions to regenerate the energy necessary to stymie the Olympian offense.

The two sides came out of the locker room in the third and produced more points than in the first half. But it seemed the Hawks had answers for any kind of charge Thorpe made.

At the end of the third, Becahi held a 38-18 lead and seemed to put it in cruise control. In the fourth, the two sides traded baskets before the Golden Hawks celebrated the win.

“Obviously I’m disappointed with the outcome,” Kovac said. “But I’m not all that upset with the effort and what we did here today.

“I thought Olivia was pretty special for us today because there are some kids on the other side that are probably going to be playing Division 1 basketball in a year, and she didn’t back down.”

Smelas led the Olympians with a team-high 14 points and nine rebounds. For the Golden Hawks (27-0), Kourtney Wilson led the way with 15 points and Brown added 13, including a perfect 9-for-9 from the free-throw line, to go along with her 13 boards.

DOWN THE ROAD...Next up for the Lady Olympians is the first round of the PIAA tournament, where they will be facing off against Bonner Prendergast, the District 12 third place team which carries a record of 8-16 into the tournament. “I told the girls that the first thing we need to do is look at their record and ignore it because they’ve played some great teams, they’ll be tough to play against,” Kovac said. The game will be held Saturday at 2 p.m. at the Lehighton Elementary Center.

ON THE BRIGHT SIDE...”We had a goal since the beginning of the season, and that was to win a game in the state playoffs, and Saturday, we have an opportunity to do that, so we’re looking forward to it,” Kovac said.

JIM THORPE

Cinicola 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Snisky 1-0-0-2, Berger 0-0-0-0, Yuhas 0-4-4-4, Leight 0-0-0-0, Hurley 2-2-2-6, Searfoss 1-3-6-5, O. Smelas 6-2-4-14, H. Smelas 0-0-0-0, Craigie 0-0-1-0. TOTALS: 10-11-17-31.

BETHLEHEM CATHOLIC

Rosario 1-0-0-2, Lanier 1-2-2-5, Walters 2-0-0-6. Fernandez 0-0-0-0, Williamson 0-0-0-0, McNally 0-0-0-0, Wilson 5-2-2-15, Stanton 0-0-0-0, Scott 0-0-0-0, Medina 3-1-2-7, Brown 2-9-9-13, Alia 0-0-0-0, Rigo 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 14-14-15-48.

Jim Thorpe 4 3 11 13 - 31

Bethlehem Cath. 15 4 19 10 - 48

Three-pointers: JT - None; BC - Wilson 3, Walters 2, Lanier 1.