This is what postseason basketball is all about. Two teams that have been dominant throughout the season are clashing for a league championship.
On Friday evening at Martz Hall in Pottsville, the Schuylkill League Girls Championship will tip off at 6 p.m. between the Division I regular season champions, the Schuylkill Haven Hurricanes, and the Division II regular season champions, the Lourdes Regional Red Raiders.
For Schuylkill Haven, the Hurricanes are looking to begin what could be a potential Schuylkill League dynasty. They are the defending league champions and with just one senior on their roster this fall, will return much of the same team next season.
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Meanwhile, Lourdes is looking for its first-ever league championship, and will have the opportunity to win even more this postseason as the Red Raiders continue to put together a storybook season.
The last time the two programs met was in February of last year, in the Schuylkill League quarterfinals, a 45-28 win for the Hurricanes.
Head Coaches
Lourdes – Michael Klembara: A pillar of high school basketball in Northeastern Pennsylvania, Michael Klembara is in his 41st season as the coach of the Red Raiders, and has compiled over 841 career wins. In an era of athletics where coaches come and go, Klembara is one of the few remaining members of a dying breed of coaches. Klembara led Lourdes to a state championship in 1994, an achievement that this year’s team may be good enough to earn next month.
Schuylkill Haven – Tony Sanders: Sanders is now in his seventh season at the helm of the Schuylkill Haven program, and is looking to lead his team to a second-straight Schuylkill League title after capturing its first last season. When Sanders took over the Hurricanes , they were struggling to find success. However, since an 8-14 record in 2022-23, the Hurricanes have now won 20, 24, and 18 games over the last three seasons, including a state tournament appearance last year.
How they got here
The Red Raiders and Hurricanes have embarked on similar paths to Friday’s league championship game.
Lourdes has been incredible all season, posting a 22-1 record, including 14-0 in league play during the regular season. Heading into Friday’s matchup, the Red Raiders have won 16 straight games, including a 49-32 win over North Schuylkill on Tuesday in the league semifinals.
Schuylkill Haven has won 11 straight games and coasted into the title game with a 19-4 overall record. In the semifinals on Tuesday evening, they dismissed Mahanoy Area, 53-38. The Hurricanes had a small slip-up midseason, losing two of three in early January to Marian Catholic and North Schuylkill, but regained their form and haven’t lost since.
Starting fives
For Lourdes, the Red Raiders will roll out a balanced starting five of Kylla Sandri, Onaleigh Barnes, Sophia Karlovich, Hannah Lokitis, and Vivian Reiprish. It’s a starting five that can score quickly and in bunches. The heart of the offense is the trio of Sandri (12.0 PPG), Karlovich (11.3 PPG), and Lokitis (11 PPG).
The frontcourt duo of Karlovich and Lokitis is dangerous on both ends of the court, and makes it a miserable experience for undersized opponents in the paint. Reiprish, also a forward, adds even more versatility to the forward rotation. While this is a team that can dominate the post, they can also make life difficult on the perimeter. Sandri and Barnes have played lockdown defense and are efficient scorers. Both have strong vision and can make the needed passes throughout the court to generate high-percentage shot opportunities while also remaining offensive threats themselves from outside the paint and beyond the arc.
The Hurricanes’ starting five is one built around speed and skill, led by junior McKenna Runkle (15.0 PPG) and senior Audrey Hutchinson (13.0 PPG). Both Kylie Siket (8.1 PPG) and Ava Terencko (6.2 PPG) are right behind them, providing additional scoring punch while Braelynn Strenkoski (3.0 ppg) rounds out the starters.
While the Hurricanes may not have the size that Lourdes will possess, which could make getting to the basket more difficult on Friday night, the Hurricanes are effective shooters from beyond the arc, which could create an interesting chess match as the game progresses. Both Runkle and Hutchinson have shown the ability to take over games, with Hutchinson leading the way with 18 points in the Hurricanes’ win on Tuesday night over Mahanoy Area. But both Siket and Terefencko can find offensive grooves of their own, which makes the Hurricanes so dangerous. When clicking on all cylinders, Schuylkill Haven doesn’t have two scorers; they have three and sometimes even four. Strenkoski may not be as big a scorer as her fellow starters, but the sophomore provides quality defense down low for the Hurricanes.
Off the bench
In a championship game, sometimes the player you don’t expect to make the difference is the one that ultimately does. Both teams will likely shorten their bench for Friday’s championship game. Here’s how both teams’ depth looks coming into the matchup.
For the Red Raiders, the bench is deep with three players totaling 20 or more points this season, including senior Luci Shingara, freshman Karmen Schroyer, and Alysssa Alber. Albert is especially good defensively this season, with 26 rebounds and 23 steals in 23 games. Shingara also has 11 rebounds and 15 steals, while Adalynn Schu has 18 rebounds this season. Kaidian Bunch is also available off the bench for the Red Raiders.
For the Hurricanes, the bench has been shorter than most. Only freshman Audrey Wade saw consistent playing time this season, playing in 21 games. A young bench, the Hurricanes will also have Aubree Brand, Madison Bayer, Octavia Houvig, and Tessa Benedict at their disposal.