Long after her playing days were over, she wanted to give back to the sport she played at Champion High School before graduating in 1982.

That’s when she learned to love the sound of a blown whistle intertwined with the swish sound of the ball as it falls through the twine.

At the urging of her brother-in-law, Rob Luklan, she began officiating in 1998.

“Rob is a college football official for the Atlantic Coast Conference who also refereed some (ACC) basketball games before he decided doing both was taking away too much of his family time,” Pavlansky said. “He was my mentor. He’s still a local basketball official who helps a lot of area officials. He’s as good as they get, so I learned from the best.”

Submitted photo / Frank Marr Karen Pavlansky keeps her eyes on the play during a girls basketball game earlier this month. Pavlansky, a cancer survivor, recently completed her 21st and final season officiating in the Mahoning Valley and is moving to Florida.

After 21 years, Pavlansky has officiated her final basketball game, as she prepares to move to Orlando at the end of the school year and live with her older daughter, Danielle.

“When I started (refereeing) in 1998, my two girls were 11 and 4, and now I have two granddaughters who are 5 and 2,” said Pavlansky, who teaches kindergarten at Niles. “I’m moving on to a new chapter in my life. My first priority is my family. That’s my focus.”

Basketball has always been part of Pavlansky’s life. She and her twin sister, Sharon (Lane) Luklan, both played at Champion. Pavlansky’s ex-husband is Pat Pavlansky, who was a basketball coach Canfield High School for 28 years, including 19 as head coach. Their daughters, Danielle (2006 grad) and Allison (2013 grad), both played basketball and tennis for the Cardinals.

Karen Pavlansky’s final game as a referee was March 6, when she worked a Division II girls regional final between West Branch and Shaker Heights Laurel in Barberton.

She made some history during her journey. In 2003, she partnered with D’nelle Seiple to become the area’s first female duo to work a boys basketball game.

“We worked the Harding junior varsity boys game and it was like the earth shook,” she said. “There were reporters there just to talk to us and the Tribune did a nice story about it. It’s pretty common now to see a woman working a boys game instead of just girls games. But it’s still not often you see two women together refereeing a boys game.”

During her time as an official, Pavlansky encouraged other women to be part of the new wave.

“There are close to 40 women in the area who officiate now and most do boys and girls games,” she said. “D’nelle had to give it up because her work schedule changed, so I was the only female for a while. I recruited some and got others involved. I feel proud that I helped pave the way for the larger number of women who do this now.

“When they came in, many of them called me mom and asked me for my advice. I told them they are going to be harassed. All officials get that. But they’re going to be harassed in a different way because they are females. I told them to stand their ground.”

Pavlanksy said she has given more than a handful of technicals to coaches, but says she maintains a good rapport with most.

“Most coaches, if you hustle and answer their questions, they’re usually fine with you,” she said. “They want to see you working hard and in position to make calls. And, obviously, you have to know the rules inside and out.”

In fact, Pavlansky said she had more trouble with fans than coaches, especially early on.

“I’ve had several fans removed for disrespecting the game and disrespecting the officiating,” Pavlansky said. “The first one I tossed was in Columbiana in a girls game. The guy repeatedly called me Helen Keller and my partner Ray Charles. Then he said to me, ‘shouldn’t you be home in the kitchen making cookies?’ That did it.

“(Columbiana) had a woman athletic director, too. Afterward, I spoke to her. I said there are girls in the stands everywhere. They’re seeing a woman official and they’re hearing me getting harassed. If I did nothing, these girls would think boys can get away with bullying, saying things like that to them in the classroom or in the hallways. That’s not right. That’s not OK.”

Pavlansky said times have changed, but thinks it still takes a female official longer to earn respect on the hardwood.

“It takes a little time to get that respect, whether you’re male or female, but I always felt there was more scrutiny on females,” she said. “I tried my best to be a role model every time I took the floor.

“If you’re doing a boys game, it is more demanding. You’ve got to be able to run the floor well and you’ve got to allow some bumping. You’ve got to be ready physically and mentally.”

Pavlansky displayed her mental and physical toughness every time she took the floor in the 2016-17 season.

She was diagnosed with breast cancer on Dec. 28, 2015.

“I ran in every Panerathon before that because I’m a runner and I was supporting the journey of those women and families affected by breast cancer,” she said. “It’s a 10K run and a 2-mile walk to benefit the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center and all of the proceeds go to the Mercy Health Foundation of Mahoning Valley.

“So I went from being a supporter to getting treatments at the Joanie Abdu Center. I had surgery and six months of chemo. It ended just before the Panerathon. So I walked it that year, but my sister put together a nice team and there were lots of people running for me. I went back the following year to run the 10K again.”

Pavlansky also went back to the court as an official a few months later.

“It was really tough because my body was still recovering,” she said. “I tried to get myself ready by running, exercising and lifting weights and stuff, but my body was still recovering. I made it through, but it was tough.

“As an athlete, when you can’t do something you love, it’s a challenge. I wasn’t told by my doctors that I couldn’t referee right away, but nobody thought I could or should do it. I wanted to prove it to myself, that I was strong enough to handle it. I wanted to know I can still do this, despite what the drugs had done to my body. I was determined.”

Throughout the summer of chemo and surgery and in her return to refereeing, she said her fellow officials had her back 100 percent.

“They were very, very supportive,” she said. “Every step of the way, they were there with kind words or doing favors or asking if I needed help. But it was tough at first, because I was out there and I was bald. You go from having long blond hair to being bald. … But it made a stronger statement to have no hair. Let people see what cancer can do, and let them see how I was going to fight it.

“As an official and a woman, I felt like I was representing a lot of people and I wasn’t going to hide that with a wig. I wanted to show others that you can be strong and fight through it, not hide it from people.”