CLARION — In the midst of a sloppy third quarter, Dave Kerschbaumer found a sign of reassurance.

Karns City’s girls basketball team never trailed in the period, but eight turnovers kept the Gremlins from taking control of their PIAA Class 3A first-round playoff against Seneca at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium Saturday afternoon.

“Fifteen days off for a girls basketball team at this time of the season is almost killer,” said Kerschbaumer in reference to his team’s layoff since defeating Moniteau in the District 9 title game Feb. 24. “We had to knock off some rust.

“There was about three minutes left in the third quarter (Saturday) when I could tell our girls had done that. They had gotten their second wind. I could see it in their faces.”

Holding a 44-39 lead with one quarter to play, the Gremlins scored nine of the first 11 points of the fourth quarter and went on to defeat the Bobcats 61-49.

It was the 13th consecutive victory for the Gremlins (19-5).

KC senior forward Mackenzie Craig led all scorers with 22 points, seven of them coming in the fourth period to help the Gremlins close the game.

“Sometimes it takes me a while to get going, but once I get into a rhythm, I usually play pretty well,” said Craig, who scored 11 points in each half.

While turnovers were a major problem for Karns City only in the third period, they proved to be a thorn in Seneca’s side the entire game.

“Our game plan was to attack not only on offense, but also on defense,” said Kerschbaumer. “We knew they (Bobcats) had two big girls inside (junior forward Vanessa Troutman and sophomore center Olivia Sonney). But we felt if we could work on their guards, we’d have a chance.”

KC was successful in that endeavor as most of the Bobcats’ 25 turnovers occurred before the team could get the ball inside.

Seven miscues in the final quarter sealed Seneca’s fate as it was limited to just two shot attempts from the field in the first five minutes of the period.

Haylee Wright’s trey gave Seneca a ray of hope, cutting KC’s lead to 53-44 with 1:41 to play. But the Gremlins’ 11-of-15 effort from the free throw line in the fourth quarter never allowed the Bobcats to make a serious run.

Emily Hegedus, Haley Scherer, Livia Andreassi and Craig all contributed from the stripe to ice the game.

Though the Gremlins were bogged down by miscues in the third, Seneca was unable to take advantage, suffering nine turnovers of their own.

“Karns City is very athletic and they play that 1-3-1 zone and bring a lot of pressure,” said Seneca coach Steve Carter, “There were a lot of nerves on our end and I think that came into play.”

Troutman and Sonney scored 12 points to lead Seneca (16-10), but both encountered issues that affected their production. Troutman picked up her second personal foul with 3:12 left in the opening quarter and spent the rest of the first half on the bench. Sonney fouled out of the game with 3:40 remaining in the contest.

Hegedus scored 17 points for KC and Andreassi added 11.

The Gremlins had won three straight district titles, but forward LeeAnn Gibson, a cornerstone on all of those teams, graduated last spring. It left Karns City as an unknown as the season began.

“If you would have told me at the beginning of the year that we would be playing in the second round of the state playoffs, I don’t know if I would have believed you,” said Kerschbaumer.

SENECA 49

Juli Wilczinski 3 0-0 9, Haylee Wright 5 0-0 13, Ashley Hoover 0 1-2 1, Kenna Brady 1 0-0 2, Vanessa Troutman 5 0-0 12, Olivia Sonney 4 4-4 12, Addy D’Antonia 0 0-0 0, Veruca Plott 0 0-0 0, Jordan Klick 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 5-6 49.

KARNS CITY 61

Alyssa Gibson 4 0-1 9, Emily Hegedus 7 3-6 17, Haley Scherer 0 2-3 2, Mackenzie Craig 7 8-13 22, Livia Andreassi 3 4-6 11. Totals: 21 17-29 61.

Seneca 15 11 13 10 — 49

Karns City13 17 14 17 — 61

3-point goals: Seneca 8 (Wilczinski 3, Wright 3, Troutman 2); Karns City 2 (Gibson, Andreassi).

Wednesday: PIAA Class 3A second-round playoff; Karns City vs. Neshannock, , 7:30 p.m., Slippery Rock University