HAZLETON — In the dim moments following Lourdes’ 50-38 loss to Old Forge in the PIAA Class A quarterfinals Saturday, it was hard not to notice the bright spots.
The Red Raiders’ leading scorers were sophomore Carmella Bickel (13 points) and freshman Selina Albert (11).
“Obviously with Carmella, Selina and Krissy (Komara) coming back, that’s a nice nucleus to build around,” Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said after Saturday’s loss at Hazleton Area High School’s McGeehan Gymnasium.
“But it will be how hard they want to work in the offseason,” Klembara added. “And I’m sure these girls see what they’ve accomplished this year. They’ll certainly move on and do a great job.”
Bickel burst on the scene last season in her freshman year. She finished 10th in area scoring in 2014 with 12.7 points per game.
This season has been even better for the guard. Bickel finished this year with 411 total points — 15.2 per game, sixth in the Schuylkill League.
In addition to her team-high 13 points Saturday, Bickel had six assists and eight steals for the District 4 consolation winners.
She knows that next season, even more responsibility will be placed on her shoulders with the graduation of senior captains Bailey Trell and Caity Funk.
“It’s hard to say goodbye to Caity and Bailey because they were such great leaders to our team,” Bickel said. “They’re who really helped us get this (playoff run) going. So we’ll see in the future, hopefully Krissy and I can step up and help the team out.”
If this season is any indication, that shouldn’t be a problem. Not many people expected Lourdes (20-8) to get as far as it did.
The Raiders opened the PIAA playoffs with a win over District 3 champion Lebanon Catholic that was so convincing (45-29), it really couldn’t be called an upset. They then followed it with a late rally past Schuylkill League Division II foe Williams Valley, which had won five of its last six games, in the second round.
“It’s like a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” Albert said. “They didn’t have this last year. I feel very honored to experience it as a freshman.”
The state playoff run is somewhat like Albert, a 5-foot-8 forward who offers a lot of surprises.
Like most forwards, Albert can rebound and block shots. She had seven boards and two blocks Saturday against Old Forge and nine rebounds against Williams Valley.
But she’s also lethal from long distance, which the Devils found out in the first quarter Saturday.
Old Forge started defensively with a 1-3-1 zone, trying to reduce the damage done on the wings by Trell and Bickel. So Albert slid into the corner and, when the Devils didn’t guard her, she opened fire.
Albert drilled two 3-pointers in the first quarter and one in the second, giving Lourdes a 20-15 lead with 3:30 left before halftime.
“When I was younger, I never was a post player or a forward,” Albert said. “I was a point guard, a 3-point shooter.”
But her tall stature and long reach forced her into the paint for a Lourdes team with only one other active player, Funk, who had the height to play around the post.
“And that’s what led people who played man on me to not expect a 3,” Albert noted. “So I wanted to show them I can shoot 3s.”
Her first few games were impressive, nearly netting 10 points in a couple outings, but teams started catching on and closed down on the freshman.
Having someone around like Bickel, who went through it all last season, helped tremendously.
“She’s one of my best friends and we’re very close,” Albert said of Bickel.
Again, Albert’s numbers began to rise. She finished the season averaging nearly seven points after playing in every game for the Red Raiders.
“I would occasionally call her ‘Freshman,’ and I told her, ‘You’re no longer playing like a freshman,’ ” Klembara said. “She plays like somebody more mature. ... She certainly gives us an awful lot of options as far as adjustments.”
However, it all had to end sometime. Unfortunately, that was Saturday in Hazleton. But the value of experience Lourdes’ youth picked up from the last three weeks is beyond estimation.
“That’s part of the adversity they surround themselves with,” Klembara said. “And they’re just going to be better, better kids because of it. But the future does look bright, and now we just want them to relax and enjoy the accomplishments.”
Albert doesn’t want to relax for long. She and the Red Raiders have even higher expectations for next year.
“We’re going to go further,” she said firmly.
With the confidence brimming from Lourdes’ youth, it’s hard to argue with her.