College and medical school can wait.
Lourdes senior guard Nikki Komara still has work to do. Komara is trying to help Lourdes win a fifth straight District 4 Class A championship and finish her career with a district championship all four years there. She is off to a good start, too.
Komara operated the Lourdes offense with precision and carved up Galeton Thursday at Montoursville, dealing 10 assists, grabbing 12 rebounds and making seven steals while leading the Red Raiders to a convincing 57-15 quarterfinal win over Galeton. Komara did most of the facilitating as Lourdes took a 42-6 halftime lead and finished only four points shy of a triple-double.
"Nikki is probably the best athlete in the building. She plays volleyball, basketball and softball and is a great student," Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said. "She wants to be a doctor and she will be. She is the kind of player that you wish you had 10 of them."
Komara had plenty of help as Lourdes dominated the overmatched Tigers and opened the game on a 19-0 run that lasted until the second quarter. Rachel Shultz scored a game-high 22 points and Sarah Getchey had 17 points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
Lourdes earned a semifinal appearance next week against either No. 2 Benton or No. 7 East Juniata at a time and place to be determined. It also brought an end to a nice Galeton season. The Tigers (14-9) made drastic improvement this season and improved their win total by 11 games.
"(Andi Leach) is a nice player and (Latascia Shadle) is good, too, and we were trying to get the ball out of their hands," Klembara said. "Our kids can run the floor and I think our pressure worked well."
Lourdes was playing for the first time in two weeks and took a bit to get going, leading only 2-0 in the opening three minutes. Once the Raiders rediscovered their touch, the game basically was over. After taking a 16-0 first-quarter lead, Lourdes hit 6 of 7 3-pointers in the second quarter and really broke things open. Getchey was locked in, hitting four straight 3-pointers and extending it to five in the third quarter.
Schultz excelled in transition and Komara repeatedly found her for layups as Lourdes forced 15 first-half turnovers. Lourdes hit 10 of 17 second-quarter shots and led 55-8 entering the fourth quarter.
"They were ready to play," Klembara said. "They were very focused and there was no clowning around. They know what's ahead of them. They play well as a team and listen and that's all you can ask for as a coach."
Mataya McPherson scored eight points for Galeton while April Howell grabbed seven rebounds.
GALETON (15)
Latascia Shadle 0 0-0 0, Andi Leach 2 0-0 4, McKayla Cochran 1 0-0 2, Mataya McPherson 2 4-4 8, April Howell 0 0-0 0, Shaleigh Proctor 0 1-4 1, Talia Hatch 0 0-0 0. Totals 5 5-8 15.
LOURDES (57)
Sarah Getchey 6 0-0 17, Nikki Komara 3 0-0 6, Rachel Shultz 11 0-2 22, Bailey Trell 3 0-0 8, Caitlin Funk 1 0-0 2, Angelique Pennypacker 1 0-0 2. Totals 25 0-2 57.
Galeton0 6 2 7-15
Lourdes16 26 3 2-57
3-pointers: Lourdes 7 (Getchey 5, Trell 2).
Records: Lourdes 18-5. Galeton 17-6.
District 4 Class A
Boys Quarterfinal
Lourdes 49, Sayre 41
SAYRE (41)
Nate Williams 6 4-6 17, Seth Murrelle 2 0-0 4, Nick Skerpon 1 0-0 2, Marshall Higley 3 3-3 10, Adam Wampole 1 1-2 3, Walter Wampole 0 1-2 1, Cuyler Kochin 1 0-2 2, Joey Dalizzio 1 0-0 2. Totals 15 9-15 41.
LOURDES (49)
Anthony Pennypacker 4 1-4 12, Matt Savitski 2 2-2 8, Zack Oquendo 8 2-5 18, Michael Menapace 2 2-2 6, Michael Gilger 0 1-6 1, Justin Howal 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 8-19 49.
Sayre5 9 13 14-41
Lourdes14 11 11 13-49
3-pointers: Sayre 2 (Williams, Higley); Lourdes 3 (Savitski 2, Pennypacker).
Records: Lourdes 18-5. Sayre 13-10.
