KARNS CITY — Emily Hegedus' family was packed in one section of the gym.

Some had come from out of state to see the senior guard on the Karns City girls basketball team make history.

Her mother, Molly, told Emily before the game, “No pressure.”

“Yeah, right!” was Emily's response.

Pressure, though, has rarely affected Emily Hegedus this season.

Needing 23 points at home against Clarion Wednesday night to break the girls all-time scoring record, Hegedus scored 20 in the first half. With 4:52 remaining in the third quarter, she drained a 3-pointer to get the mark, which had been held by Elizabeth Whitmer for 31 years.

And Karns City cruised to a 53-37 win over Clarion.

“I tried not to think about it because the main goal was to play as a team and win,” Hegedus said. “It was in the back of my mind.”

It was hard not to be with family in attendance and two big billboards counting down to zero.

“Yeah,” Hegedus said, smiling. “I guess there was a little pressure.”

That was dashed quite a bit early when Hegedus scored 10 of Karns City's 15 points in the first quarter for a 15-4 lead after one.

She added 10 more in the second quarter as the Gremlins led 30-14 at the half.

It was just a matter of time.

Hegedus took a pass from junior guard Alyssa Stitt at the top of the key and swished a 3-pointer to send the gym and the Gremlins into a frenzy.

“It means so much to me,” Hegedus said. “It's a huge accomplishment and I'm proud and I couldn't have done it without my teammates. We've been through good times and bad times together and it was great to share this with them.”

The previous record was 1,496 points set by Whitmer at the end of the 1986-87 season.

After Hegedus broke the mark, a statement from Whitmer was read over the public address system.

“In the past 30 years since I played my last high school basketball game, Karns City girls basketball has built such a rich tradition of success, claiming numerous district titles and even a state championship title,” her statement read. “Along the way, many fabulous players have come and gone. The fact that Emily has outscored all of those great players speaks volumes on what a special player she has become.”

Hegedus was surprised Whitmer had taken the time to write a statement honoring her accomplishment.

“I had no idea and it was really meaningful to me,” Hegedus said.

Hegedus has been a four-year starter for the Gremlins and is averaging 26 points per game this season.

She finished with 29 in the win over Clarion.

Hegedus said when she was a freshman she had no designs on breaking such a prestigious mark.

“Oh, no, not at all,” Hegedus said. “I didn't think about it at all. It wasn't until the end of last season that I started to think about it.

“If I didn't get it, I'd still be proud of myself,” she added. “Getting it, though, is amazing.”

Last year when Hegedus eclipsed 1,000 career points, she climbed into the bleachers to hand her mother, who was undergoing treatment for breast cancer, the basketball.

This year, she did the same thing with her record-breaking ball. This time, though, Molly is cancer-free.

“It was great to know she's healthy and hugging her knowing she's healthy,” Hegedus said.

Karns City needed just about every one of Hegedus' points as Clarion simply would not yield.

The Bobcats cut a huge deficit following Hegedus' record-breaking shot down to 13 before Karns City regrouped and put healthy distance again between it and the Bobcats.

“It was understandable,” said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi. “After the emotion of something like that, it was going to be anticlimactic. It's something that's hard to stop and I don't know if you can stop it. I told them to celebrate tonight and tomorrow we'll talk about how we ended the game.”

Andreassi is in his first season as Karns City's head girls basketball coach. He was an assistant under Dave Kerschbaumer, who was in attendance for Hegedus' milestone and hugged his former player after the record was eclipsed.

Hegedus' father, Mike, is also an assistant coach with the Gremlins.

“(Emily) — you see how she plays relentlessly on offense and defense,” Andreassi said. “She's dynamic and obviously she makes everyone better and they love playing with her. She definitely deserves the moment.”

CLARION 37

Kait Constantino 5-18 3-4 13, KK Girvin 2-10 0-0 4, Ali Troese 0-3 0-2 0, Wedny Beveridge 7-21 0-1 17, Cassie Acey 0-1 0-0 0, Sadie Rudesyle 0-5 0-0 0, Hannah Hazlett 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 15-60 3-7 37.

KARNS CITY 53

Emily Hegedus 12-21 4-5 29, Alyssa Stitt 1-8 0-0 3, Livia Andreassi 4-11 0-2 9, Sara Knox 4-8 0-1 8, Emma Clark 1-2 1-2 4, Brooke Stahlman 0-2 0-0 0, Kate Slagenhoup 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Huff 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 22-52 5-10 53.

Clarion 4 10 12 11 — 37

Karns City15 15 13 10 — 53

3-point goals: Clarion 4 (Beveridge 4); Karns City 4 (Hegedus, Stitt, Andreassi, Clark)

Friday: Redbank Valley at Karns City