COAL TOWNSHIP - On Lourdes' first possession, Molly Loftus squared up and banked a 3-pointer.
It gave the Red Raiders the first lead in the game, one they'd never relinquish as they defeated Shamokin Area 50-39 in the Knights of Columbus Tournament championship game Thursday night at Shamokin.
Southern Columbia easily beat Sunbury Christian 41-16 in the consolation game.
Loftus, the tournament most valuable player, finished the championship game with 17 points, including four 3-pointers, and four rebounds, and Ali Singh added three more 3s for the Red Raiders.
"Loftus and Singh killed us tonight," Shamokin head coach Bill Callahan said.
Christina Perles also chipped in with 14 points and seven rebounds for Lourdes, which improves to 8-1 already this season.
The three combined for 84 percent of the Red Raiders' offense and had the Indians' defense spinning with the way the ball was moving from the inside out.
"Molly was hot and Ali came in for some big points," Lourdes head coach Mike Klembara said.
"The big thing was that we had only eight turnovers in the entire game, which was great, and better than the 20-plus we had the night before."
Shamokin was led in points by Keena Zalar with nine and couldn't get anything going consistently on offense and commit-
ted 20 turnovers as nearly every entry pass the Indians tried was contested and sent the other way.
It led to a 20 turnover night for the Indians.
"I really thought it was their aggressiveness," Callahan said. "We were standing still the whole night. We looked like a young, inexperienced team in a big game."
Shamokin was able to close to within six in the second quarter when Steph Pancher and Olivia Bonshock scored on consecutive possessions, but back-to-back 3-pointers by Singh effectively put an end to that rally.
The Red Raiders held Shamokin to just four points in the third quarter and built their lead to 19 midway through the fourth.
"I thought we played really good against a team that's going to get better," Klembara said. "I'd really hate to face them in the playoffs.
"We have to continue to work at playing defense all the time."
The win also gives the Red Raiders the second of their stated preseason goals, which included a Schuylkill League division title and a fourth straight District 4 crown.
"We've accomplished a couple things - winning our tip-off tournament and this Knights tournament - but there are other goals down the line," Klembara said. "Our only loss is to Tri-Valley and we're going to face them again, and we still have to play Minersville next week. It's a never-ending process of getting better as we go through the season."
The remainder of the all-tournament team was Sunbury Christian's Carissa Erdman, Southern Columbia's Sam Fraley, Shamokin's Zalar and Steph Pancher and Lourdes' Perles and Nikki Komara.
Consolation Game
Kayla Lavella drained three 3-pointers for Southern Columbia in an easy win over Sunbury Christian.
The Tigers built a 26-4 lead by the half and coasted from there to improve to 4-2 overall.
Game Summaries
LOURDES (50) - Singh 3 0-0 9, Leach 0 2-2 2, Loftus 6 1-2 17, Komara 0 3-4 3, Schultz 0 1-2 1, Getchey 1 0-3 2, O'Donnell 1 0-1 2, Perles 6 2-2 14. Totals 17 9-16 50.
SHAMOKIN (39) - Pancher 4 0-1 8, Schiccatano 2 0-0 5, Britton 1 1-2 3, C. Pancher 2 0-0 5, Bonshock 2 2-4 7, Yacko 1 0-0 2, Zalar 4 0-0 9. Totals 16 3-7 39.
Lourdes 19 10 9 12 - 50
Shamokin 9 11 4 15 - 39
3-point FGs: Singh 3, Loftus 4, Schiccatano, C. Pancher, Bonshock, Zalar.
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SOUTHERN COLUMBIA (41) - Mowery 1 2-2 4, Lavella 7 0-5 17, Lyash 1 0-0 2, Blass 3 0-2 6, Bobber 0 0-0 0, Daubert 0 0-0 0, Fraley 2 1-1 5, Fink 2 1-2 5, Pantalone 0 0-0 0, Long 0 0-0 0, Chaundy 0 0-0 0, Gilroy 1 0-2 2. Totals 17 4-14 41.
SUNBURY CHRISTIAN (16) - Gingrich 0 1-2 1, Erdman 4 0-2 9, Daddario 2 0-0 4, Stuck 0 0-0 0, Power 0 0-0 0, Billings 1 0-0 2, Latshaw 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 1-4 16.
Southern Columbia 12 14 8 7 - 41
Sunbury Christian 4 0 4 8 - 16
3-point FGs: Southern (3) - Lavella 3; Sunbury Christian (1) - Erdman.