Jim Thorpe strikes gold with trio of freshmen TOP 10 STANDINGS SCORING
Jim Thorpe High School is an area girls basketball program with as bright a future as anyone could imagine having. The question is, are the Olympians four years ahead of schedule?
The Fab 3 — freshmen Skyler Searfoss, Leila Hurley and Olivia Smelas — have led the Olympians to an 11-0 start by blistering opponents by an average of 28 points per game.
Just two weeks into January and Jim Thorpe is three wins away from its best season since going 21-6 in 2011-12 and winning the Schuylkill League Division I championship.
Searfoss (16.5 points per game), a 5-foot-6 guard, excels at driving to the basket and scored a seasonhigh 28 points when the Olympians shocked Tamaqua, 55-49, last Friday on the Lady Raiders’ home court. Tamaqua was The Morning Call’s preseason pick to win the District 11 Class 4A title this season.
Jim Thorpe has beaten its 10 other overmatched opponents by an average of 33 points per game. The Tamaqua victory opened up some eyes as to the potential this team has under veteran coach Rob Kovac.
“We knew the kids could play,” Kovac said of his three freshmen who excelled at the AAU level for In The Zone. “Not only that but we knew the three of them complimented each other well. The Tamaqua game was a great experience for us. They are a great team and Emma Kuczynski is obviously a gifted player. What made the win special was it was the first time all season our kids faced real adversity.”
Tamaqua took its final lead 1. Bethlehem Catholic 10-1 2. Nazareth 9-2 3. Northampton 10-2 4. Notre Dame 9-1
5. Southern Lehigh 7-3
6. Freedom 8-3
7. Parkland 8-3 8. Central Catholic 8-4 9. Northwestern Lehigh 11-1 10. Jim Thorpe 11-0 Dropped out – Tamaqua, Allen.
Also considered – Bangor, Easton, Moravian Academy, Pleasant Valley, Stroudsburg, Wilson.
with about three minutes left before Jim Thorpe came back in a hostile environment to pull out the victory.
“There was a packed gym and playoff type atmosphere,” Kovac said. “We played with composure all night long, which is probably what I’m most proud of.”
Hurley (13.5), a 5-6 guard, and Smelas (11.9), a 6-foot forward, also average double figures in points while Smelas is the leading rebounder and has produced six double-doubles this season.
“Hurley can [shoot] and is a lefty catch-and-shoot kid,” Kovac said. “Searfoss is a prototypical slasher and the biggest ‘gym rat’ I’ve ever coached. Smelas is a skilled big, with great feet and a basketball IQ off the charts.”
Guard Natalie Richards is a savy four-year starter while junior Kristin Scott fills out the starting line up and plays a key role.
“We thought if everything fell into place we could be a good team by season’s end,” Kovac said. “It’s just fallen into place much quicker than we hoped. Credit to my staff Brian Carroll, Gene Binder and John Searfoss for really bringing these kids along.
“Most of all it should be noted what great kids they are. Leaders in the school, the classroom, the community. Great families produce great kids. We are blessed to have these kids.”
Colonial League notes
Northwestern Lehigh’s Chris Deutsch became the first coach in the Colonial League’s 44 -year history to win 200 league games when the Tigers beat Salisbury on Jan. 4. The 16-year coach has gone 189-76 in regular-season games and 11-8 in league playoff games with three titles in six championship games.
Jada Saeger became Northern Lehigh High School’s 12th girl to score 1,000 career points — and first in seven seasons — with a 26-point effort in a 59-36 victory over Lincoln Leadership.
The all-time top-five league regular-season winning streaks with year ended: Southern Lehigh 69 (2018); Notre Dame 46 (2001); Palmerton 35 (1998); Catasauqua 23 (1993), Northern Lehigh 20 (2010).
EPC notes
Northampton tied the area record for 3-pointers in a game with 12 — five each by Victoria Keenan and Morgan Sterner and two by Jenna Rogers — when the Konkrerte Kids fell three points short of its 24-year old modern era record for points in a game in a 92-67 win over Pleasant Valley.
Pleasant Valley started the week with a 65-53 win over Allen, which knocked the Canaries out of the top 10 rankings. Cameron Caffrey scored a career-high 23 points for the Bears.
Central Catholic jumped out to a 17-2 lead over Freedom and behind a combined 29 points from Emily Vaughn and Jess
East Penn Conference
Davis beat the Patriots 49-44 to climb into the top 10 rankings this week after also handily beating Pleasant Valley.
Pleasant Valley coach Nadia Guaronsky was omitted in last week’s list of 1,000-point coaches in the area. The Mansfield graduate scored over 1,000 points at Panther Valley.
Addison Morse made four 3pointers and Cassidy Saylor scored 17 points including the game-winning 3-pointer at the buzzer in Easton’s come-frombehind 46-45 upset win over Parkland. The Red Rovers, who were held to 14 points in a loss to Allen this season, fell to Central Catholic 39-27 in their next game.