To Jim Thorpe’s Dean Dibonifazio, it’s not the size of the dog in the fight it’s the size of the fight in the dog.
The 5-foot-6 guard hit back to back triples in the third quarter to cap off an 11-0 run and help the Olympians pick up a 57-45 victory.
“Dean is probably our best pure shooter on our team,” said Jim Thorpe coach Brian Carroll. “He is a great spark for us and tonight he was on fire not to mention he is a great defender as well.”
The Colts were staring at a 29-22 third quarter deficit after Rashid Epps blocked a shot, hustled down the floor, and received a pass for a baseline slam. Marian however, would not go quietly into the night and responded. A Matt Yaich jumper, followed by a Tommy Gottstein trey would bring the Colts within two. After an Olympian miss, junior Mark Stawick drove to the lane and tied the game with a lay-in.
The Marian run was short lived, though, with Dibonifazio leading a Jim Thorpe three point binge which put the Colts in a twelve point hole going into the fourth.
“We really wanted to ease into this game after such an emotional win last night at North Schuylkill,” said Carroll. “We just played great defense tonight, which created a lot of transition buckets for us down the stretch.”
Jim Thorpe scored more points in the third (23) than they did in the first two quarters combined (20).
The Olympians held the Colts in check, and in the first half held Marian’s leading scorer Matt Yaich to just three points. Yaich was more successful in the second half, scoring nine of his team-leading 12 points.
The Olympians are in the middle of a tough week, beating North Schuylkill on a last second shot Tuesday and going into a hostile Marian gym the next night. There is still work to be done; they must face Pottsville Friday night where they can wrap up the Schuylkill League Division I title with a win.
Rashid Epps led Jim Thorpe with 14 points. Dibonifazio finished with 13, Sam Lux had 12 while Corey Cinicola added 11.
Yaich’s 12 paced the Colts, while Chris Barletta notched 10 and Drew Sherkness had nine.