COAL TOWNSHIP - Southern Columbia had to work hard to reach the championship game of the Shamokin Knights of Columbus Tournament. Shamokin, not so much.
The Tigers (1-1) used a strong second half, and scored the final eight points of the game for a 45-37 win over Lourdes Regional (2-3) in the first game of the boys portion of the tournament Wednesday. In the second game, Shamokin (4-3) streaked to a 19-point lead in the first quarter and put 13 players in the scoring column for a 67-17 win over outmanned Line Mountain (1-8).
In the first game, the Tigers, despite not being in real basketball shape yet, used their athleticism to take down the Red Raiders. Lourdes had a 19-17 halftime lead but Southern used a big rebounding advantage (36-22) and forced 19 turnovers to come from behind.
Keith Day led Southern with 15 points, Kristian Klebon had 11 and Brad Fegley 10. No Lourdes player scored in double figures, with Zack Oquendo scoring eight points. Zack Chesney and Matt Savitski scored seven points each.
Shamokin came out hot in the second game, hitting 9 of 16 first-period shots, including four three-pointers, to build a 22-3 lead against the Eagles. Kimi Newborn dominated the inside, with 16 points and 15 rebounds, and although he only blocked one shot, he intimidated the Eagles and forced many errant shots. Shamokin had a 48-21 rebounding advantage and Line Mountain shot just 7-for-51 overall.
Sophomore Josh Pappas came off the bench to score nine points for the Indians, who hit eight three-pointers overall.
The championship game will be played at 8:30 tonight, with the boys consolation game set for 5:30.
Game Summaries
SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (45) - K. Klebon 4 1-2 11, Stimer 0 0-0 0, Parry 1 0-0 2, Klock 0 1-2 1, Pavlick 0 0-0 0, M. Klebon 0 0-0 0, Day 5 5-10 15, Fegley 5 0-1 10, Savitski 0 2-4 2, Zelinski 1 0-4 2, Heitzman 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 9-23 45.
LOURDES (37) - Gilger 0 4-6 4, Menapace 1 4-7 6, Chesney 2 2-3 7, Pennypacker 1 2-2 5, Savitski 2 3-5 7, Qquendo 4 0-1 8, Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Howal 0 0-2 0. Totals 10 15-26 37.
Southern 7 10 12 16 - 45
Lourdes 9 10 5 13 - 37
3-point FGs: Southern (2) - K. Klebon; Lourdes (2) - Chesney, Pennypacker.
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LINE MOUNTAIN (17) - Breinich 1 1-3 4, Weiler 0 0-0 0, D. Michael 1 0-0 2, Marciniak 1 1-3 3, Yeager 1 0-0 2, Scott 0 0-2 0, Morris 2 0-1 4, Rickert 1 0-0 2, Hunsberger 0 0-1 0. Totals 7 2-10 17.
SHAMOKIN (67) - Taylor 1 0-0 2, Shurock 2 0-0 5, Craft 3 0-0 7, Spade 2 0-0 5, Madara 1 0-0 3, Newborn 7 2-4 16, Pappas 3 1-2 9, Wasko 3 0-3 6, Yost 0 0-0 0, Delbaugh 2 0-0 5, Foltz 1 0-0 2, Bainbridge 1 0-0 3, Thompson 0 0-0 0, Vanaskie 1 0-0 2, Stine 1 0-2 2. Totals 28 3-11 67.
Line Mountain 3 4 4 6 - 17
Shamokin 22 16 16 13 - 67
3-point FGs: Line Mountain (1) - Breinich; Shamokin (8) - Shurock, Craft, Spade, Madara, Pappas 2, Delbaugh, Bainbridge.