COAL TOWNSHIP — Backyard rivals Lourdes and Shamokin will clash for the Knights of Columbus Tournament girls’ title tonight.
The Red Raiders’ stingy defense sparked an easy 44-26 victory over Hamburg in the tourney opener to clinch their berth in the final. The Indians battled hard, getting 21 points from Gabby Lahr for a 44-39 win over Southern Columbia in the other semifinal.
Lourdes (7-1) made it difficult for the Hawks to move the ball inside, and often when they did, a Red Raider was there to intercept the pass.
“We were in a two-defense,” Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said. “The people at the top were really helping at the elbow. They really helped the big girls on the inside.”
That defense held Hamburg to nine points or less in every quarter, including just three in the opening quarter.
Offensively, the Red Raiders were led by Bailey Trell.
The senior scored 21 points, including five 3-pointers. Along with Carmella Bickel’s 13 points, the two guards combined for 34 points — or more than two-thirds of the Raiders’ offense.
“They really get the girls going for us,” Klembara said. “They’re two good guards, offensively and defensively. They’re smart and we just needed the other girls to get their points.”
The other starters were capable of doing that. Caity Funk added five points and led the team with six rebounds, Krissy Komara had three points and Selina Albert tallied two.
Hinata Yoshida led Hamburg with eight points.
The Lourdes defense is likely to face a much more dangerous offense against Shamokin (6-4) and Lahr.
Statistically, she had her best game of the season in the Indians’ win over Southern Columbia (4-2).
Lahr tallied 10 field goals, adding a free throw for her 21 points. But she was even more impressive on the boards, pulling down 18 rebounds and keeping several offensive possessions intact for Shamokin.
Her biggest quarter came in the third, when Shamokin used a 15-5 run to turn a 19-17 halftime deficit into a 32-24 cushion.
“I think we went cold,” Southern Columbia coach Kim Chaundy said. “We were missing a lot of shots, they were good shots, but they didn’t go in. But the girls gave a good effort.”
Despite the scoring differential in the third period, the Tigers fought back in the fourth and got within five before the end of the game.
Shamokin fouled often in the second half and put Southern Columbia into the bonus.
“We were sloppy,” Shamokin coach Jordan Rickert said. “We were out of position, which led to the fouls. We have to work on controlling what we can control.”
Haley Levan led the Tigers with 10 points. Southern Columbia will face Hamburg in the consolation game at 4 p.m.
Game Summary
Shamokin K. of C. Tournament
At Shamokin Area H.S.
HAMBURG (26) — Kissinger 0 0-0 0, Kurtz 1 1-2 3, Pursell 1 0-1 2, Lutz 3 1-1 7, Yoshida 3 0-0 8, Ruiz 0 0-2 0, Essig 0 0-0 0, Lesher 2 0-0 4, Caruso 0 0-0 0, Klahr 1 0-0 2. Totals 11 2-6 26.
LOURDES (44) — Bickel 5 0-0 13, Trell 7 2-2 21, Albert 1 0-0 2, Funk 2 1-2 5, K. Komara 1 1-3 3, Khanna 0 0-0 0, Krebs 0 0-0 0, Milewski 0 0-0 0, M. Komara 0 0-0 0, Connor 0 0-0 0, Dobson 0 0-0 0, Kulick 0 0-0 0, Baskin 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 4-7 44.
Hamburg (3-6) 3 6 9 8 — 26 Lourdes (7-1) 10 15 14 5 — 44
3-point FGs: Yoshida 2, Trell 5, Bickel 3
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (39) — Hager 4 0-0 8, Podpora 1 2-4 4, Oley 3 0-0 6, Chaundy 4 0-5 8, Levan 3 4-8 10, Hoffman 1 1-1 3, Jankowski 0 0-0 0, Klock 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 7-18 39.
SHAMOKIN (44) — Erdman 1 0-0 3, Erb 1 0-0 2, Pesarchick 1 0-0 2, Lahr 10 1-4 21, Zimmerman 0 0-0 0, Bonshock 4 0-0 8, Popewczak 0 0-0 0, Nazih 0 0-0 0, Aurand 1 2-2 4, Hasuga 0 0-0 0, Shoff 2 0-0 4. Totals 20 3-6 44.
Southern (4-2) 9 10 5 15 — 39 Shamokin (6-4) 4 13 15 12 — 44
3-point FGs: Erdman