SHENANDOAH — Rob Kovac knew his Jim Thorpe team wasn’t going to stroll into Shenandoah Valley and pick up an easy ‘W’.
After holding the Blue Devils to only four points in the first half, the Olympians were forced to hang on for a 36-27 victory in the season opener for both teams.
“You don’t come to Shenandoah and win unless you’re tough,” Kovac said. “We knew this was going to have to be like this tonight.”
Kayley Kovac scored a game-high 19 points for Jim Thorpe, which looked much better defensively to start this season compared to where it left off last season.
The Olympians allowed an average of 52.6 points a game last season, but were far better Friday night with their swarming press and zone defense.
Jim Thorpe sophomore Jordan Waselus spearheaded the press and wreaked havoc on the Shenandoah Valley backcourt. She finished with six steals, eight rebounds and seven points.
“It just shows how defensively strong we can be,” Waselus said of the press. “We’ve gotten better by working together.”
Shenandoah Valley was playing without Abby Snitzer and Kristina Nieddu for the first time since the duo graduated after last season. Snitzer was consistently among the league’s top scorers, while Nieddu controlled the Devils’ offense.
Although both were on hand for the unveiling of Shenandoah Valley’s District 11 Class A title banner from last season, the Blue Devils missed their presence on the court in the first half.
Shenandoah Valley got quality looks at the basket in the opening frame, but couldn’t get anything to fall through. In fact, neither team scored until nearly three minutes into the contest, when Kovac used one of her patented baseline drives to put the Olympians on the board first.
Carly Teaschenko scored the Devils’ first points 40 seconds into the second quarter.
“All kind of trouble putting the ball in the basket,” Shenandoah Valley coach Chris Conroy said. “Obviously four points in the half isn’t going to get it done.”
Shenandoah Valley’s rebounding prevented Jim Thorpe from pulling away. Marcella Creasy and Allison Wargo both had six rebounds in the first half.
Alaina Demalis’ defense on Kovac also kept the score close. The 5-foot-3 guard has earned a reputation as one of the toughest defenders in the area — proven by the bloodied nose she played with in the fourth quarter after taking an elbow to the face — and helped keep Kovac to seven first-half points.
“I thought we grew up as the game went on,” Conroy said. “You look around and Snitzer and Nieddu aren’t there anymore and the kids have to step up and play.”
Creasy scored all of her team-high 10 points in the second half, including two 3-pointers. Her trey with 1:30 to play brought Shenandoah within seven at 31-24, but the Devils couldn’t get any closer.
Five points from Kovac — all from the free-throw line — allowed the Olympians to secure the victory.
“I don’t care who’s graduated, we knew we were going to have to play smart, physical basketball and we did that for the most part,” Rob Kovac said. “Then, down the stretch, we looked like a bunch of kids who were ready to win a basketball game but didn’t quite know how.
“To come in here and win on opening night against a program that has a winning tradition like this, I couldn’t be happier,” Kovac added. “Do we have a lot of work ahead of us? Absolutely. We have to do a better job finishing and get some more offensive continuity.”
Game Summary
JIM THORPE (36) — K. Kovac 6 7-13 19, P. Kovac 1 0-0 3, Waselus 3 1-2 7, Ohl 1 0-0 2, Cressman 1 0-0 2, Lignore 1 1-1 3, Condly 0 0-0 0, Naranjo 0 0-0 0, Richards 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 9-16 36.
SHENANDOAH VALLEY (27) — A. Demalis 1 0-1 2, Teaschenko 2 0-4 4, Creasy 3 2-4 10, Wargo 1 2-2 4, Michalik 0 2-2 2, E. Demalis 2 0-0 5, Najera 0 0-0 0. Totals 9 5-13 27.
Thorpe (1-0) 6 6 14 10 — 36 ShenVal (0-1) 0 4 9 14 — 27
3-point FGs: P. Kovac, Creasy 2, E. Demalis
JV score: Jim Thorpe 34-29