KARNS CITY — There is a simple message on the board in the Karns City girls basketball locker room.

Run. Run. Run.

The Gremlins like to go full-throttle, particularly on defense.

It worked last season.

It's working this season.

It really worked against Venango Catholic in Karns City's home opener Friday night.

The Gremlins forced 28 first-half turnovers by the Vikings, led 47-12 after two quarters, and cruised to a 72-33 victory in their first action in 10 days.

“We like to pressure them and make them make mistakes,” said senior guard Emily LoPresti of the defense. “That's what we do.”

Quick and athletic, Karns City's defense was like a purple net, smothering Venango Catholic (3-3), which struggled in the first half to even get into its half-court offense.

The Vikings were without two starters, which also didn't help matters.

“We didn't play very smart mentally against their press,” said Venango Catholic coach Tom McNellie. “They know better than that. They're very good at it. They are a very good team. They are definitely the class of the (Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference-South). There's no doubt about that.

“We were missing 25 points of offense tonight,” McNellie added. “It wasn't a good night to play them.”

The Karns City defense fed its offense in the first half as eight players scored at least two points and five had at least six points heading into the half.

“It felt good, especially since we haven't had a game in forever,” said senior point guard Annie Hegedus. “We just work well together. We work as a team. We know what we're going to do, and that just helps a lot.”

Perhaps even more encouraging to Karns City and coach Dave Kerschbaumer was how the team performed in the half-court offense.

Shanel Preston banged home four of her five 3-point attempts for 14 points, LeeAnn Gibson scored a team-high 15 points and LoPresti added 12.

Hegedus scored six points, but added 11 assists.

The Gremlins (3-1) spent much of the time between games working on shooting in practice.

It paid off. Karns City shot 62 percent (32-of-52) from the floor Friday night.

“We haven't played since (Dec. 9), so in practice we've been working on getting our feet set, letting it fly and playing Karns City basketball,” Kerschbaumer said. “I think that's what we started to do.”

Still, its the team defense that gets these Gremlins going, Kerschbaumer said.

“I think they are all getting the concept of it,” Kerschbaumer said. “We've played it so long, we're moving as a team instead of individually. They communicate very well and they sort of have that sixth-sense with everyone out there. It's nice.”

VENANGO CATHOLIC 33

Ashley Finch 0-6 4-4 4, Destinee Sheffer 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Dziekciasz 1-3 0-0 2, Allison Guth 6-8 2-3 13, Claire Niederriter 1-2 0-0 2, Taylor Moltz 2-7 6-6 11. Totals: 10-27 12-13 33.

KARNS CITY 72

Alyssa Gibson 4-6 1-1 9, Emily LoPresti 5-8 0-0 12, LeeAnn Gibson 7-10 1-2 15, Annie Hegedus 3-5 0-0 6, Shanel Preston 5-9 0-0 14, Emily Hegedus 4-5 0-0 8, LeErin Jones 1-2 0-0 2, Saydie Moore 2-3 0-0 4, Clara Stoughton 1-2 0-0 2, Mackenzie Craig 0-1 0-0 0, Abby Wolfe 0-1 0-0 0, Book Moore 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 32-52 2-3 73.

Venango Catholic 4 8 6 15 — 33

Karns City18 29 17 8 — 72

3-point goals: Venango Catholic 1 (Moltz); Karns City 6 (LoPresti 2, Preston 4)

JV: None

Tuesday: Karns City at Farrell