Thorpe pulls away from Marian

Pressure can either work for you or against you.

Jim Thorpe kept bringing it against Marian on Friday night—and it worked for the Olympians.

After a 14-9 Colts’ lead after the first quarter, Thorpe clamped down and applied its tenacious full-court trapping defense, which helped boost them to a 66-47 victory over Marian.

“We saw that starting to work in the second quarter and we just continued on with it,” said Jim Thorpe head coach Jason McElmoyle of the pressure defense. “We have fast guys and a lot of guys that we can rotate in. We just want to wear you down and I think eventually we did.”

The Colts turned the ball over eight times in the second quarter, which helped Thorpe enter halftime with a 24-20 lead. However, Tyler Fritz was the story of the first half for Marian, as he scored eight in the first frame and ended up with a game-high 23.

“I thought Tyler did a great job,” said Marian head coach John Patton. “He’s being double and triple covered, and someone else has to step up.”

Although Patton’s team turned the ball over eight more times in the third period, they trailed by only five entering the final frame. But Jim Thorpe took control in the fourth quarter.

At the 5:20 mark, Justin Marykwas hit a corner three for Thorpe, then the Olympians stole the immediate inbound pass, and Marykwas hit another corner three from the exact same spot. The Olympians scored six points—all from Marykwas—in a matter of about six seconds. The JT lead was stretched from five to 11 in no time. He finished the contest with a team-high 20 points.

“He’s a great shooter,” said McElmoyle. “Once he gets into that rhythm—in the second half, he settled into it and started getting some shots.”

A five-point game prior to the fourth quarter turned into a 15-point game by the middle of the period. Turnovers were the main Achilles’ heel of Marian, as it gave the ball away a total of 29 times.

“We started a little sluggish, but we bounced back, and it was basically off of our hustle plays,” said McElmoyle. “Those 50/50 plays motivate you and get you going, and you start looking for more. That’s what happened, it’s the trickle-down effect. We kept doing it, and eventually we were getting easy buckets out of it.”

Six-foot-four freshman Isiah Spruill was another huge factor in Jim Thorpe’s win on Friday—and he didn’t let any pressure get to him. Spruill patrolled the paint and finished with 14 points and seven rebounds (three offensive).

“We were kind of nervous on how he would react in his first varsity game as a freshman,” said McElmoyle. “But he played great. He came out and went after the rim and the boards, so he did more than we anticipated.”

TEAM EFFORT ... Jim Thorpe’s swarming defense led to a ton of easy transition baskets. “Once we got into our rhythm I thought we played good defensively,” McElmoyle said. “I thought we rotated well, and we played for one another—which led to turnovers and easy baskets for us.”

BACK TO WORK ... Patton gave kudos to his team, which didn’t quit, and hustled until the end. “We’re going to get there,” he said. “I told them, we can only go up from here and I think that’s the way you have to look at it. We’re going to go in every day and we have to get better. You’re not going to come out of the gates with a new team basically, and be as strong as you have been in prior years. We have some good kids, they work hard, but it’s going to take some time.”

FULL HOUSE ... Fans from both programs packed the Marian gymnasium—a great environment for opening night. “Everyone pitched in and helped out ... Any time you start 1-0 you’re happy. They’re a tough team and this is a tough place to play,” added McElmoyle.

JIM THORPE

Spruill 7-0-1-14, Searfoss 1-0-0-2, Burak 0-0-0-0, Valdez 1-7-8-9, Scott 0-0-1-0, Foreman 4-0-0-10, Marykwas 7-2-2-20, Ni. Rosahac5-1-1-11. TOTALS: 25-10-13-66.

MARIAN

Stauffer 4-0-0-9, Fritz 8-5-5-23, Maylath 2-2-5-6, Tate 2-1-1-5, McLaughlin 0-0-0-0, Sabulsky 0-0-0-0, McNelis 1-0-0-2, Agosti 0-0-0-0, Ritsick 1-0-1-3, McCall 0-0-0-0, Goff 0-0-0-0, Latoff 0-0-0-0. TOTALS: 18-8-12-47.

Jim Thorpe 9 15 17 25 - 66

Marian 14 6 16 11 - 47

Three-pointers: Jim Thorpe - Marykwas 4, Foreman 2; Marian - Fritz 2, Stauffer 1, Ritsick 1.