CLARION - When Karns City's Emily Bly entered Friday's PIAA Class AA girls basketball playoff game against Maplewood Friday, she was giving Amber Double a breather.

In the process, she gave the Gremlins' offense new life.

With Karns City trailing 3-2 four minutes into the game, Bly sank consecutive short jumpers to kick-start a 20-0 run that helped the Gremlins cruise to a 58-31 victory in this first-round matchup at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

"Emily did give us a good spark, a nice spark off the bench," said Gremlins coach Chris Bellis.

Double picked up her second foul with 4:01 left in the quarter before Bly entered the contest.

After Bly's baskets, Katie Kepple scored, Bly added a free throw and Laura Seyler added a basket to give Karns City an 11-3 lead after one quarter.

The Gremlins (21-5) scored the first 11 points of the second quarter - highlighted by Kepple's 6-of-6 shooting from the free-throw line - to surge to a 22-3 lead.

Lenore Watson's three-point play with 3:32 left before halftime snapped an 8:29 scoring drought by the Tigers (19-9).

The Gremlins' Ariel Venesky responded with a 3-pointer and a basket, and Alicia Kerschbaumer added another score for a 29-6 advantage.

Addie Parker scored for the Tigers before Kepple closed out the scoring in the first half with a basket to give Karns City a 23-point halftime lead.

"(Karns City's) whole team plays great defense and we played bad offense," said Maplewood coach Kathy Mattera.

"We were disappointed in our shooting in the first half. The kids were disappointed they didn't shoot better. In the second half, we did hold them a bit and we shot better," Mattera added.

The Tigers did get a strong second half from Parker, who had 14 of her team-high 18 points in the final two quarters.

Her teammates were able to work the ball inside, and the sophomore was able to take advantage, but the game was already out of reach, as the Tigers never got any closer than 21 the rest of the way.

"I think, with our depth, that we weren't tired," said Bellis. "We were able to keep fresh this late in the game.

"The girls are really playing team basketball right now, and, this time of year, you need to do that."

Notes:

Kepple led the Gremlins with 21 points and Venesky added 11. The Gremlins received points from eight different players. … Karns City will play Greensburg Central Catholic Tuesday.

MAPLEWOOD 31

Heidi Young 0 0-0 0, Amanda Bancroft 0 0-0 0, Kayla Ray 0 0-0 0, Addie Parker 8 2-5 18, Amanda Amon 0 3-4 3, Lenore Watson 2 3-3 8, Kaylee Kachik 1 0-0 2, Bridget Prenatt 0 0-0 0, Haley Marvin 0 0-0 0, Abby Malliard 0 0-0 0, Savannah Marvin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 8-12 31.

KARNS CITY 58

Laura Seyler 2 0-0 4, Stephanie DeVore 0 0-0 0, Katie Kepple 6 8-9 21, Amber Double 1 2-2 4, Ariel Venesky 4 1-4 11, Ashley Craig 0 0-0 0, Alicia Kerschbaumer 3 0-0 7, Emily Bly 2 2-4 6, Morgan Summerville 1 0-0 3, Jessica Smith 0 0-0 0, Jaime Reott 0 0-0 0, Brittany Green 0 0-0 0, Haley Callihan 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 13-19 58.

3-point goals:

Watson; Venesky 2, Kepple, Kerschbaumer, Summerville

Tuesday:

Karns City vs. Greensburg Central Catholic, TBD