COAL TOWNSHIP - Lourdes' Nikki Komara stepped in front of a Greenwood pass, made a beeline for the basket and scored an easy layup.
The Red Raiders' sophomore didn't just do it once, she did it often enough that Greenwood could sketch the design on the backs of her shoes from memory, because all the Wildcats could do was watch.
For all intent, over the last 10 minutes of the game, Greenwood was reduced to a group of spectators with the best view in the house during an 18-2 finishing run by Lourdes on the way to a 46-31 victory in the opening round of the PIAA Class A state tournament Saturday at Shamokin Area.
Lourdes will face a familiar foe in the second round. The Red Raiders will play Tri-Valley, a 75-14 winner over MCS Charter, Wednesday with site and time to be announced.
Komara led all players with 14 points, and was the one to watch on defense with six steals.
"Nikki Komara had a super game," Lourdes head coach Mike Klembara said. "She was all over the floor. She's the quarterback on the floor."
Lourdes needed that kind of no-nonsense leadership in the third quarter.
After steadily building up a 26-17 lead by the half, the Raiders came out of the break getting away from all the things that had made them successful.
They turned the ball over, missed shots, and had defensive lapses.
Greenwood took advantage. The Wildcats spread the ball around and scored 12 points to Lourdes' two to take a 29-28 lead.
"We were a different team," Greenwood head coach T.J. Weller said. "I don't know if we needed a breather, but we looked like a deer in headlights for a while in the first half.
"We went in at half, they looked each other in the eye and said, 'It's now or never. Sixteen more minutes, go as hard as you can.' And they did, they just couldn't put it through at the end."
Greenwood's only lead of the game lasted for 19 seconds.
"I thought when we brought it back to 30-29 we showed a lot of heart," Weller said. "We took care of the ball well. We did all the things we were talking about the entire game - blocking out, being physical. I think we just got tired."
A jumper by Devan Dyszel regained the lead for Lourdes, and the Red Raiders never looked back.
"It shows a great deal of maturity for us," Klembara said. "Our sophomores don't play like sophomores. It's a tribute to (our kids) for regaining their poise and character and doing the things that were positive for us."
While the offense often gets the glory, the Lourdes' defense did the dirty work against Greenwood.
The Red Raiders forced a total of 18 turnovers, and held Greenwood's Autumn Pellman to just 10 points.
"They have a great player in Pellman," Klembara said. "So it was a challenge for us, and I challenged the girls. Shannon Kenney basically did most of the work on Pellman, and she had half (10 points) of what she normally gets."
Lourdes was able to keep the pressure on the Wildcats throughout the game thanks to their deep bench, something Greenwood couldn't counter.
"I think the pace wore them down a little bit," Klembara said.
While Greenwood's season ends with a 21-6 record and a Tri-Valley League title, Lourdes has revenge on its mind.
"I told (our girls) before the season started our season wouldn't be considered successful unless we won in the first round of states," Klembara said. "I also said to them, now that we're there, we're going to try to get a little greedy and try to win the second one."
Game Summary
PIAA Class A First Round
GREENWOOD (31) - Pellman 2 6-9 10, Shaffer 3 0-0 8, Stephens 2 0-0 4, Vohs 0 2-2 2, Rumberger 3 0-0 7, Seigel 0 0-0 0, Loy 0 0-0 0. Totals 10 8-11 31.
LOURDES (46) - Komara 5 3-4 14, Dyszel 4 0-2 8, Singh 1 2-2 5, Loftus 0 0-0 0, Getchey 1 2-4 4, Reybuck 0 0-0 0, Perles 4 4-6 12, Kenney 0 0-0 0, O'Donnell 1 1-1 3, Schultz 0 0-0 0, Klembara 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0. Totals 16 12-19 46.
Greenwood 9 8 12 2 - 31
Lourdes 13 13 8 12 - 46
3-point FGs: Shaffer, Rumberger, Komara, Singh.