JEFFERSON TWP — Coach Curt Vasas knew his team would have its hands full in Friday's Knoch Holiday Classic championship game against Northern Cambria.

He just didn't expect to see the game slip away so early.

The Colts went on a 31-2 run that stretched from the first to the second quarter and rolled to a 60-28 girls basketball victory over the Knights.

"There's no doubt we worked harder in the second half," said Vasas, whose team outscored the Colts 22-21 in the final two periods.

"But, we're just not getting enough consistent play. If we get more consistent, there's not a team we can't play against," Vasas added.

Northern Cambria (10-1), a Class AA squad from District 6, had four starters reach double figures.

"We're very athletic and we rely on that athleticism to get up and down the floor," said Colts coach Eric Thomas. "We pride ourselves on defense.

"In the first half, we gave up two field goals and that's impressive. That's what we've been doing all year, holding teams to a few field goals in the first half,"Thomas added.

Both teams started three sophomores in the game, but the Colts have several key seniors on the floor that have made a big difference.

Breanna Kochinsky led Northern Cambria with 16 points, while Ariel Rocco and Brittany Sedlock had 12 apiece, and Jen Valeria added 11. Knoch received eight points off the bench from Laura Gray.

"None of our girls started on varsity before this season," said Vasas. "But at this point in the season, you can't keep using that as an excuse."

Notes: The Colts defeated Karns City 59-32 in Thursday's first-round game ... Knoch's Kristen Gagen, Laura Gray and Haley Hutterer and Northern Cambria's Sedlock, Valeria and Janae Dunchack were named to the all-tournament team.

Karns City 51Deer Lakes 23In the consolation final, the Gremlins (6-5) scored 12 unanswered points to open a 16-2 lead with 6:58 remaining in the second quarter.The Lancers (4-7) scored the next five points before Karns City pulled away by closing out the half on an 11-2 run for a 27-9 lead.Maureen McGreevy scored nine points in the second quarter to help the Gremlins."We didn't finish well early," said Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "We looked to push it early and try to get offense off our defense."I thought all night long we got good looks. You can't fault anyone when you have good looks. They just didn't fall in early,"Kerschbaumer added.In the third quarter, Allyson Kepple scored 11 of her game-high 17 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, that allowed the Gremlins to take a 44-17 lead through three quarters.Kepple also had 10 steals and five rebounds as the Gremlins kept up the pressure on the Lancers, who were held to single digits in all four quarters."We'd been in a funk lately, the last few games," said Kerschbaumer. "We just wanted to push, push, push tonight."

Notes: Campbell and McGreevy each scored 13 points for the Gremlins. Campbell added 11 rebounds, while McGreevy and Kylee Rankin had eight boards apiece. ... The Lancers are coached by Dana Petruska, who coached the Mars girls basketball team for 19 seasons.

Championship finalNORTHERN CAMBRIA 60Jen Valeria 4 2-5 11, Breanna Kochinsky 5 5-6 16, Ariel Rocco 6 0-0 12, Janae Dunchack 3 0-0 6, Brittany Sedlock 4 4-6 12, Ashley Kirsch 0 0-0 0, Emily Krumenacker 0 1-4 1, Jessica Rocco 1 0-02, Emily Stiles 0 0-0 0, Miriah Butterworth 0 0-0 0, Olivia Dumm 0 0-2 0.

Totals: 23 12-21 60.

KNOCH 28Haley Hutterer 2 1-2 5, Gina Robb 1 0-0 2, Kristen Gagen 0 0-0 0, Lindsay MacArthur 1 0-0 2, Hannah Novotny 1 2-2 4, Megan Burlbaugh 0 0-0 0, Jessica Protzman 0 0-0 0, Jade Thrower 2 0-0 4, Laura Gray 3 1-5 8, Sara Montgomery 1 1-2 3, Hannah Hashmi 0 0-0 0, Taylor Tresatti 0 0-0 0, Amber Rhodes 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 11 5-11 28.

Northern Cambria 17 22 14 7—60Knoch 4 2 8 14—283-point goals: Valeria, Kochinsky; Gray

Thursday: Hampton at Knoch

Consolation finalDEER LAKES 23Jamie Bradley 0 0-0 0, Jocelyn Hatfield 4 2-2 10, Samantha Holtz 0 2-2 2, Nikki Garland 1 0-0 2, Sara Katich 0 0-0 0, Nancy Baumgartel 0 0-0 0, Shannon Dugan 2 3-6 7, Nicole Holtz 0 2-2 2, Megan Kohan 0 0-0 0, Sarah Toth 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 7 9-12 23.

KARNSCITY 51Allyson Kepple 6 3-4 17, Hannah Beck 1 2-2 4, Ashley Campbell 4 5-6 13, Katie Weibel 1 1-2 3, Kylee Rankin 0 0-0 0, Maureen McGreevy 6 1-4 13, Taylor Kerschbaumer 0 0-0 0, Caitlin Davis 0 1-2 1, Stephanie Stoughton 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 18 13-20 51.

Deer Lakes 2 7 8 6—23Karns City 12 15 17 7—513-point goals: Kepple 2

Wednesday: Karns City at Venango Catholic

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