CLARION — One for the history books, courtesy of Livia Andreassi.

The Karns City junior forward stuck back an offensive rebound at the buzzer — off her own missed shot — to give the Gremlins a 36-35 District 9 Class 3A girls basketball championship win over Moniteau Friday night at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

KC seniors Alyssa Gibson and Mackenzie Craig became the first players to win four district titles in the program's history.

“I was thinking about our seniors when I put the shot up,” Andreassi said. “I know how important this was to them and I didn't want to let them down.”

The Gremlins (18-5) called a timeout with 13.4 seconds left, trailing by a point.

“Our play was to get the ball to Emily (Hegedus) in the post, but she was covered,” Gibson said. “We swung the ball the other way and Livia had the open lane.”

Andreassi's runner in the lane banged off the back of the rim. The rebound deflected right back to her and she deftly put up a second shot just before the buzzer.

The ball rolled around the rim and fell through.

“The whole thing felt like slow-motion,” Andreassi said.

“It seemed to take forever to fall. But it fell,” Gibson said.

As Karns City players and coaches jumped off the bench to join a mob scene in front of the basket, Moniteau's players slowly walked toward their bench. Some had their hands hiding their faces.

“It was awful. I feel sick for our girls,” Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster said. “But I'm so proud of them. I feel bad for our seniors. They deserved better.

“They (Karns City) got the bounce at the end. We didn't. It's as simple as that, We fell a rebound short.”

Neither team ever had a double-digit lead. Karns City led 17-8 midway through the second quarter and had a 19-13 lead at halftime.

The Warriors (19-5) began the third period with an 11-0 run to grab a 24-19 edge. Alazia Greaves got behind the defense twice on fast-breaks, resulting in a layup and two free throws. Emma Bair hit a pair of baseline jumpers during the spurt.

With 23 seconds left in the quarter, Andreassi sank a trey from the corner to pull the Gremlins within 24-22 and avoid a scoreless period for her team.

“That was a huge shot, too,” KC coach Dave Kerschbaumer said. “It stemmed the tide, slowed their momentum.

The teams traded shots in the final period. The scored was tied on six occasions overall, including three times in the fourth quarter.

“It was typical Moniteau-Karns City,” Arblaster said. “Whether it's for the district championship or it's the first game of the season. This is the way these games go.”

A pair of free throws by Greaves tied the game at 32 with 2:45 to play. Hegedus responded with a layup at the 1:56 mark and Andi Arblaster drained a trey for Moniteau seven seconds later for a 35-34 Warrior lead.

That's the way the score stood until Andreassi's heroics.

“She never put her head down after missing that first shot,” Kerschbaumer said. “Livia stayed with the play and stuck it back in.”

The win was Karns City's 90th against just 14 losses over the past four seasons.

“It's an awesome feeling to be part of something like this,” Andreassi said. “There's no other group of girls I'd rather be going through it with than these girls.”

Gibson led the Gremlins with 16 points. Hegedus had 11 points, Haley Scherer seven rebounds and three steals, Andreassi five rebounds.

Karns City assistant coach Steve Andreassi, Livia's father, said he had a dream the other night his daughter would sink the winning shot.

“I never told anybody about it,” he said. “It's not like you think it's going to happen.

“She dooesn't get many shots, but she's not afraid to shoot. The confidence is there. She showed that tonight. I'm so proud of her. I'm ecstatic over this.”

Bair had 10 points and five rebounds for Moniteau. Greaves had 10 points and three assists, Kristina DeMattreis eight points, eight rebounds, six steals and three assists.

The loss ended the prep careers of Warrior seniors DeMatteis, Greaves, Sara Hull and MaKayla King. DeMatteis, Greaves and Hull were four-year starters.

“It was fun coaching against them. They are great competitors and I told them that in the (handshake) line after the game,” Kerschbaumer said. “They kept me up a lot of nights trying to figure out how to defend them.”

KARNS CITY 36Alyssa Gibson 6-12 4-4 16, Emily Hegedus 3-9 5-6 11, Haley Scherer 1-4 0-0 2, Mackenzie Craig 1-9 0-1 2, Livia Andreassi 2-7 0-0 5, Emma Clark 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-41 9-11 36.MONITEAU 35Kristin Auvil 0-2 0-0 0, Kristina DeMatteis 4-10 0-2 8, Alazia Greaves 2-10 5-5 10, Andie Arblaster 1-1 0-0 3, Cambrie Campbell 0-6 0-0 0, Emma Bair 4-8 2-5 10, Sara Hull 2-6 0-2 4. Totals: 13-43 7-14 35.Karns City 11 8 3 14 — 36Moniteau8 5 11 11 — 353-point goals: Andreassi; Greaves, ArblasterNext: Karns City in PIAA Class 3A tournament March 11, opponent, site and time TBA