Saint Francis' Daemar Kelly (5) celebrates with teammate Riley Parker (11) during the second half of a First Four college basketball game against Alabama State in the NCAA Tournament, Tuesday, March 18, 2025, in Dayton, Ohio. (AP Photo/Jeff Dean)

“Nowheresville, Pennsylvania” burst onto the map thanks in large part to a joke.

Many thought that Saint Francis making the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament with a losing record was also a joke.

On Tuesday, with the whole basketball world watching, they proved they belonged in the tournament, but more importantly, they killed the “Nowhere” nickname and made Loretto a memorable small town in the state.

“I told our guys they put Loretto, Pennsylvania, on the map,” said Red Flash coach Rob Krimmel, whose team lost a heartbreaker on Tuesday, 70-68, to Alabama State. “I think in today’s social media world, maybe the ’91 team, they had a ton of success and they were really, really good. The talent that they had on that roster, Coach (Jim) Baron coached them up, and they had some really good players, but with some of the publicity that we got, Loretto, Pennsylvania, is now known by a lot of people.”

That 1991 team came before the dawn of the internet and social media and it’s certainly possible they, too, could have put Loretto on the map, but it was this year’s edition that got to earn that right.

And they earned every ounce of it.

It was far from easy, and at times it looked like the Red Flash were destined for the basement of the Northeast Conference, but they persevered when the calendar turned to 2025 and turned it on.

“It’s a special group, especially in the landscape of college basketball right now,” Krimmel said. “To bring in six new faces and then have two of your more experienced returning guys get hurt, one before the season and one four games in, says a lot about those guys in that locker room.”

That locker room played an unselfish brand of basketball as they meshed together throughout the season.

“There weren’t guys out there trying to get their numbers,” Krimmel said. “I heard one of the guys say it; they were pulling for each other, and they wanted the success to come as a group and not as a bunch of individuals.”

It helped Saint Francis achieve new heights, ones not reached for 34 years. It also helped players such as Valentino Pinedo, a transfer from East Carolina, thrive in the red and black.

“We just played together the whole year, and we managed to push through a lot of games, and obviously winning our championship to come here (Dayton),” Pinedo said. “We came up short, but I couldn’t be more proud of this team.”

For Riley Parker who joined the Red Flash from Cochise College, a junior college in Arizona, it was the community in addition to the team that made this season that much more special.

“This is a great team and a locker room full of great people, and that’s what Coach Krimmel told us when they recruited us, that Saint Francis is a community full of good people, and it really is,” Parker said. “Our team shows that. We gave it everything we got the whole time, and I’m very proud of my team.”

Parker and Pinedo make up the present version of Saint Francis lore, but the Red Flash program is steeped in tradition in talent with players such as Norm Van Lier, Kevin Porter and Maurice Stokes.

You can’t go anywhere in DeGol Arena without seeing the history of the program and for good reason. Now, these players will forever be immortalized as champions and the group that officially put Loretto on the map.

“It’s been home for me for over half my life, for 30 years,” Krimmel said. “What makes things great, organizations, their people. There’s no secret to that. All the craziness in the world, what makes things special are people. Saint Francis embraces that in the community. Blair and Cambria County, they certainly are in that category, as well.”

From the community to the band, they were with the Red Flash all the way to Dayton, and were certainly prepared to go beyond had Saint Francis won.

Now, the offseason is upon the Red Flash and they’ve got a lot more fans in their corner, but the ripple effects of this team will be felt for quite some time.

“What these guys have done for Saint Francis basketball, what these guys have done for our community, they don’t know, nor should they,” Krimmel said. “But they left their mark on Saint Francis basketball and the tradition that goes all the way back to the ’50s, ’60s, ’70s, and that ’91 team that set the standard for modern success, and these guys are part of that group.”

The loss will certainly sting and what could’ve been will now run throughout the thoughts of many on the team, but with each new day, that pain turns into a distant memory.

“As much as this hurts right now, 10, 15, 20 years from now, or maybe 10, 15, 20 months from now, they’ll be able to reflect on a really special season,” Krimmel said. “I couldn’t be more proud as their head coach, the way they respond to everything we gave them, both on and off the court.”

Jarrod Prugar covers both the Altoona Curve and Saint Francis basketball for the Mirror.