CLARION — Megan DePrimo should think about spending 7½ hours on a bus before her team's next game.

It certainly didn't hurt her performance Friday night.

The Greensburg Central Catholic girls basketball team bus left at 1:30 p.m. Friday bound for Clarion University and a PIAA Class AA first-round playoff against Karns City.

Bad weather turned the Centurions' trip into a slog, as the squad didn't arrive at Tippin Gymnasium until just before 9.

The start of the game was delayed 3½ hours, but DePrimo was primed for a big night.

The junior guard-forward scored a career-high 35 points, making 12 of 15 field goal attempts in a 62-54 victory.

Greensburg Central features a balanced scoring attack, but the Gremlins held all but DePrimo in check.

"We knew they had three or four girls who can score a lot of points," said Gremlins coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "We had the answer for the other girls, but not (DePrimo). She caught fire."

With 3Z\x minutes left in the game, DePrimo rebounded a teammate's miss and, with her back to the basket, threw the ball up with both hands and through the cylinder.

A personal foul was tacked on to the improbable field goal and DePrimo turned it into a three-point play and a 52-47 lead.

Baskets by Kylee Rankin and Maureen McGreevey helped KC cut its deficit to 57-54 with 38.9 seconds left.

But the Centurions (18-8) received a free throw from Erica Keto for a two-possession lead before DePrimo came up with her fourth steal of the game with 28 seconds left.

KC would not score again.

DePrimo scored 16 points in the final quarter, making 8-of-9 free throws in the process.

"They tried to take Keto out of the game with that 2-3 zone," said Greensburg Central coach Rich Rosensteel. "But to do that, they gave up a lot of high-percentage shots to Megan, and she's capable of knocking them down."

The Gremlins (16-11) came up with big plays throughout the night to stay close and, in some instances, take a brief lead.

Allyson Kepple led KC with 18 points, but Hannah Beck, Ashley Campbell, Rankin and McGreevey all made clutch shots during the game.

KC also outrebounded a much taller Centurions squad, 35-33.

Campbell led the Gremlins with eight boards and added 10 points, while Rankin scored 11.

Rosensteel was not worried about his team being ready after the long bus ride.

"These girls are resilient," he said. "They were just singing on the bus and having fun.

"But if it wasn't for (sophomore guard) Marissa Muffie's dad, Greg — he got behind us and pushed the bus with his four-wheel drive truck about seven times to help us get going in the snow."

Wearing KC purple and gold for the last time were seniors Kepple, Rankin and Katie Weibel.

"Not many girls can leave Karns City after winning three straight District 9 titles," said Kerschbaumer. "It's an elite group."

GREENSBURG C.C. 62Emily Nowicki 3 1-4 7, Lauren DePalma 3 3-4 10, Erica Keto 3 1-4 7, Tess Zufall 1 0-0 2, Laura McCauley 0 1-2 1, Megan DePrimo 12 11-13 35, Marissa Muffie 0 0-0 0, Abby Weaver 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 17-27 62.

KARNS CITY 54Allyson Kepple 7 3-4 18, Hannah Beck 4 1-1 9, Ashley Campbell 4 2-4 10, Kylee Rankin 3 5-8 11, Maureen McGreevey 2 2-2 6, Katie Weibel 0 0-0 0, Taylor Kerschbaumer 0 0-0 0, Caitlin Davis 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 13-19 54.

Greensburg C.C. 14 8 18 22—62Karns City 10 10 17 17—543-point goals: Greensburg Central Catholic 1 (DePalma); Karns City 1 (Kepple).