HS Girls’ Hoops: Lourdes routs Tri-Valley for program’s 1,000th victory
Lourdes players and coaches pose with ballons and wear commemorative T-shirts celebrating the program's 1,000th win after beating Tri-Valley on Thursday night (Photo by Leroy Boyer).
COAL TWP. — Michael A. Klembara sat in the Lourdes athletic office overlooking the Lee E. Korbich Gymnasium and reflected on the Red Raiders’ girls’ basketball program.
The 83-year-old is in his 44th season as the girls’ head coach at the regional Catholic school located in the hills above Shamokin, the caretaker of a Class A powerhouse that has won 15 District 4 championships and reached the PIAA state championship game five times.
Klembara talked about the early days of girls’ basketball in Pennsylvania and how the game has evolved. He discussed Ron Grzybowski, who guided Lourdes from 1976-1989. He recalled battles with Schuylkill League rival Nativity in the late 1990s and early 2000s and detailed how Lourdes overcame the loss of star Nikki Schroyer to win the 1994 state title.
Thursday night, Klembara and Lourdes added another milestone to the program’s long, storied history — win No. 1,000 — with a 59-27 victory over Tri-Valley in a Schuylkill League Division II contest.
Sophia Karlovich paced a trio of double-digit scorers with 15 points as the Red Raiders improved to 13-1 overall with their seventh straight victory, one that ended with the players donning commemorative T-shirts, posing for photos with balloons and passing around a basketball listing all the players’ names.
According to historical information provided by athletic director Michael Gilger, Thursday’s victory gives Lourdes a program record of 1,000-495 (.669 winning percentage).
“It’s a tribute to the program itself, the people who have coached before me,” Klembara said. “It’s a tribute to the parents, a tribute to the kids, how well they’ve been committed both academically and athletically.
“It’s been a wonderful journey, a wonderful trip.”
Klembara has been a part of 802 of Lourdes’ 1,000 wins, coaching the Red Raiders from 1969-1976 and again from 1989 to the present. With Thursday’s victory, Klembara has a career mark of 833-376, going 802-332 at Lourdes.
He compiled a 77-43 mark in his first seven years at Lourdes, capturing the 1976 District 4 crown. After a three-year stint at Hazleton from 1978-1981 during which he went 31-44, Klembara returned to Lourdes in 1989 and has been there ever since, racking up 18 seasons of 20 or more wins. His 1992-93 squad went 31-3, while the 1993-94 club was 30-4.
This year’s team has an excellent chance of adding another chapter to the program’s history.
With a trio of 6-footers inside complimented by a pair of sharpshooting guards and a precision-passing sparkplug guard coming off the bench, Lourdes has all the ingredients to make another long postseason run.
The Red Raiders showcased their skills Thursday against an undermanned Tri-Valley squad, with Vivian Reiprish scoring on layup five seconds into the game and Lourdes building a 26-4 lead after one frame.
Lourdes upped that margin to 42-17 at halftime and evoked a running clock early in the third quarter.
Kylla Sandri added 14 points and Reiprish tallied 11 points for Lourdes (13-1, 9-0 D-II), while Hannah Lokitis contributed seven points and 10 rebounds.
Avery Miller had a team-high 15 points for Tri-Valley (3-11, 2-7), which dressed just six players.
“They’re far from done,” Klembara said of his squad. “They’re young. We start three juniors and two sophomores.
“They’re just marvelous to work with. They’re good students, they work hard in the classroom. We’ve been improving since the very beginning.”
Klembara finished his walk down memory lane by relating his current team’s success and work ethic to a talk he once had with Korbich, the long-time boys’ basketball coach at Lourdes who guided the Red Raiders to the 1990 PIAA Class A state title.
“Lee said, ‘You can always tell what kind of team you have when practice is over and they’re not running out of the gym,’ ” Klembara said. “When practice is over, they want to stay and do some extra work. Or they come in early.
“You have to put in the extra time. (And this group) is willing to do so.”
Game Summary
TRI-VALLEY (27) — A. Miller 4 4-4 15, Sitlinger 0 0-0 0, Sankus 1 0-0 2, Snyder 1 6-8 8, Hanlon 1 0-0 2, Dietrich 0 0-0 0. Totals 7 10-12 27.
LOURDES (59) — Sandri 5 1-1 14, Barnes 2 0-0 6, Lokitis 3 1-4 7, Karlovich 6 3-5 15, Reiprish 4 0-0 11, Schroyer 2 0-0 4, Shingara 1 0-0 2, Albert 0 0-0 0, Schu 0 0-0 0, Bunch 0 0-0 0. Totals 24 5-10 59.
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Final |
| TV (3-11, 2-7) | 4 | 13 | 2 | 8 | 27 |
| Lou (13-1, 9-0) | 26 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 59 |
