SL Girls’ Basketball Playoffs: Runkle, Terefencko guide Haven to 1st-ever league playoff win
Schuylkill Haven's Ava Terefencko drives Lourdes' Sophia Karlovich during the fourth quarter of Saturday's quarterfinals (Photo by Danie Mae Photography).
POTTSVILLE — Mckenna Runkle put Schuylkill Haven on top with a big second quarter.
Ava Terefencko made sure the Hurricanes stayed there by leading a fourth-quarter outburst.
The two sophomores each dominated a portion of the game Saturday to lead Schuylkill Haven to a 48-29 victory over Lourdes in a Schuylkill League girls’ basketball quarterfinal at Martz Hall.
The win is the first Schuylkill League playoff victory in school history for Schuylkill Haven (18-5), which advances to play Division II co-champion Marian (20-2) in Tuesday’s semifinals at Martz Hall.
“It feels good,” Schuylkill Haven coach Tony Sanders said of making school history. “The girls worked hard. They worked hard all week in practice and they did a good job for us tonight.”
Runkle, a 5-foot-10 forward, made her presence felt after both teams struggled to score in the first quarter.
Haven led 5-3 after the first frame, an eight-minute span where Lourdes shot 1-for-9 and committed nine turnovers and the Hurricanes were 2-for-14 with a pair of turnovers.
Runkle scored nine of her team-high 11 points in the second quarter and became a force on the glass, pulling down eight first-half rebounds.
She scored six points in a 12-3 run to close the first half that gave Schuylkill Haven a 23-9 lead at intermission.
“She did a great job for us, rebounding, scoring and playing against the big girl,” Sanders said of Runkle, who finished with 13 boards. “She was outmatched all night and she did a really good job on her.”
A big part of Runkle’s play was her defense on Lourdes’ 6-1 sophomore center Hannah Lokitis. Haven held Lokitis to one point in the opening half, denying her the ball inside.
The Hurricanes’ guard pressure then did the rest, forcing 14 first-half turnovers and limiting Lourdes to just 3-for-19 shooting from the field. The Red Raiders also didn’t help themselves when they were fouled while shooting, hitting just 1-of-8 from the foul line.
“We knew we had to keep her out of the post, because that’s where she scores most of her points,” Runkle said of her defense on Lokitis, who finished with seven points, 16 rebounds and four blocked shots.
“She definitely had the size advantage over us. Just denying her the ball … pump fakes we were using to get fouls on her. I think we did a pretty good job of that.”
The Red Raiders found life in the third quarter, with Kylla Sandri scoring five of her team-high 10 points and Lokitis adding five more.
Lourdes erupted for 15 points in the third frame, slicing what had been a 16-point Haven lead to just eight at 32-24 with 20 seconds left in the period.
“We could not score (early),” Lourdes coach Mike Klembara said. “Our shooting was not good. Maybe it was the idea of us being so young.
“Their pressure, the fact that we were making passes where our athletes were not coming to meet the pass. We had some good inside shots that we did not shoot very much. We have to work on that.”
Kylie Siket stopped Lourdes’ 12-4 run with a foul-line jumper with 10 seconds left in the third quarter, then hit a pair of free throws 13 seconds into the fourth to make it 36-24.
That’s when Terefencko took over. The reserve guard collected four steals and scored eight points in a 10-0, game-clinching run.
Four of her points were on steals around midcourt that she converted into layups at the other end. She added a wing 3-pointer, assisted on a jumper by Audrey Hutchinson, then buried a free throw after collecting an offensive rebound and being fouled.
Terefencko, forced to play more due to injuries to backup guards Taylor Haag and Lilly McDonald and foul trouble to senior forward Anna Schaeffer, averages just 2.6 points per game.
“We definitely, as a team, stepped it up from the third quarter into the fourth,” Terefencko said. “The first half we played pretty good, in the third quarter we kind of lost it. In the fourth we stepped it up again. I enjoy defense, I’ll put it up on offense when I’m needed.”
For Lourdes, the Red Raiders will look to embark on a long postseason run through the district and state playoffs as the top seed in District 4 Class A.
For the Hurricanes, it’s a rematch with Marian, who they fell to 35-32 in a non-league game Jan. 3, for a chance to reach the Schuylkill League title game for the first time.
“It felt great,” Runkle said of winning a league playoff game. “We got this opportunity last year, but we lost in the first round. Now we’re back at it and we’re excited to keep it going.”
