MANSFIELD - The playoffs are a study in collective amnesia.
Winning, which means moving on, by two or 20 points, is forgotten as quickly as the bus doors shut for the ride home, with just the faintest notion of something good having happened.
And because Lourdes is moving on with a chance to win its third consecutive District 4 Class A title after a 42-40 semifinal win over Cowanesque Valley, head coach Mike Klembara wasn't overly concerned with his team's sloppy play on Wednesday at Mansfield University.
"I don't care if we won by one, two or 22," Klembara said. "We get to play for the championship and that's important for our kids and our school.
"We have the chance to do something I don't think any other Lourdes' team has had a chance to do, and that's three-peat."
The Red Raiders will play Line Mountain, a 46-43 winner over Muncy, noon on Saturday at Danville.
Regardless of that outcome, all the teams remaining in the Class A bracket are headed to the PIAA state playoffs.
Against Cowanesque Valley, Lourdes did enough good things to win. They include Nikki Komara's team-leading 12 points and four steals. Also lumped in there are the 30 turnovers the Red Raiders' defense forced.
On the other hand, Lourdes turned the ball over a whopping 24 times, and shot just 14-for-40.
"We missed shots tonight that we wouldn't normally miss," Klembara said. "Our foul shooting wasn't spectacular down the line, and that's got to get better. We have to be able to handle pressure better if we expect to continue to advance."
Lourdes built an 11-5 lead during the first quarter, but there were signs of things to come with a 26 percent shooting percentage and five giveaways.
Still, the Red Raiders built an 11-point lead midway through the second quarter, but found themselves in foul trouble as a team.
The Indians took advantage, making their last seven free throw attempts in the second quarter, and added in a couple layups to cut Lourdes' lead to 24-21 by the end of the half.
"We hurt ourselves in the second quarter when they made eight-for-10 foul shots. We had an 11-point lead and left it go at that," Klembara said.
"I told our girls in the beginning that we didn't want to let (Cowanesque Valley) think they can win."
After outscoring the Raiders by three in the second quarter, the Indians had all the confidence they needed for the third frame.
Cowanesque Valley's Brittany Phelps opened the second half with a 3-pointer from the top of the key and added a putback to give the Indians their first lead of the game.
Apart from that outburst, neither team scored much in the third quarter. Lourdes had eight turnovers and only attempted seven shots, while Cowanesque Valley, which finished the quarter up by two, never capitalized on its chances to put the Red Raiders on the ropes.
Staggered, but far from out of it, Lourdes scored the first 10 points of the fourth quarter. The Raiders' defense fueled the surge with eight turnovers.
But, the Red Raiders' inconsistency at the foul line (4-of-10 during the final five minutes), and some untimely turnovers were enough to allow the Indians a crack, and a final shot to tie the game as time wound down.
Lourdes' Devan Dyszel hit one of two foul shots to give the Red Raiders a two-point lead with just 3.9 seconds remaining.
Off the ensuing inbound pass, Cowanesque Valley's Carley Murdock drove the length of the floor uncontested but her layup attempt, which went in, was ruled as being released after the buzzer sounded.
Game Summary
District 4 Class A Semifinal
LOURDES (42) - Dyszel 1 1-4 3, Singh 1 0-0 3, Loftus 0 0-0 0, Komara 4 3-6 12, Getchey 3 1-2 8, O'Donnell 0 0-0 0, Raybuck 0 0-0 0, Perles 1 5-7 9, Kenney 4 1-2 9. Totals 14 11-21 42.
COWANESQUE VALLEY (40) - S. Painter 1 2-2 5, Murdock 3 4-5 10, Andrews 1 2-2 4, Phelps 4 2-3 12, Harter 3 0-2 7, Northrup 1 0-0 2, Farma 0 0-0 0. Totals 13 10-14 40.
Lourdes 11 13 4 14 - 42
C. Valley 5 16 9 10 - 40
3-point FGs: Singh, Komara, Getchey, Painter, Phelps 2, Harter.