Extra Effort
KARNS CITY — The free throws weren't falling — until it mattered the most.
Karns City freshman LeAnn Gibson sank two free throws with 3.5 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime Monday night, then the Gremlins connected on six of their eight attempts in the extra period for a 37-35 KSAC South girls basketball victory over Redbank Valley.
The Gremlins (12-6, 4-3) had made just 5-of-12 free-throw attempts before Gibson's clutch shots.
“This was a good, grind-it-out game,” Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer said. “We had a good job by the student section. It was good for the kids. It was a great atmosphere.”
Redbank Valley freshman Brooke Hinderliter sank two free throws to give the Bulldogs a 31-26 lead with 19.9 seconds left before the Gremlins' comeback.
The Gremlins' Annie Hegedus countered with a 3-pointer with 9.9 seconds remaining, then the defense stood strong and forced a five-second infraction on the inbounds pass to give Karns City one final shot.
Gibson was fouled while shooting, but the ball rimmed out. No chance at a game-winning 3-point play, but Gibson made both free throws to tie and force overtime.
From there, Emily LoPresti sank a pair of free throws on a technical foul on Alex Bell for kicking, then Hegedus drained both her attempts to give Karns City a 35-31 lead with 1:10 to play.
Emma Kennemuth sank two free throws for the Bulldogs (12-7, 3-4) with 55.4 seconds left to make it a two-point game.
Emily Schumacher had a chance to add to the KC lead, but missed both free-throw attempts with 35.7 seconds left, but redeemed herself when she hit both with 25.4 seconds to play.Kaelyn Gruver scored with eight seconds left to close the gap to two points, but the Gremlins ran out the clock to preserve the win.“We have to make baskets in the second half and in overtime,” Bulldogs coach Robin Martin said. “We've played good in the first half of games, but we've let teams come back.”The Bulldogs looked strong early using three 3-pointers, including two on consecutive possessions by Madison McClaine late in the first half, to give Redbank an 18-11 halftime advantage.“McClaine and Hinderliter hit a couple of big 3s and we knew we had to keep track of them,” Kerschbaumer said. “In the second half, we did a much better job of identifying them.”The Gremlins outscored the Bulldogs 7-2 in the third frame and scored a free throw to open the fourth period to pull to 20-19, but never could get the lead back. Karns City's only lead of regulation was 1-0.“I said to our coaches when it was 20-19 — and we had missed a few free throws, a few layups — if we can get the lead, we'll be all right,” Kerschbaumer noted.Gibson and Hegedus led the Gremlins with 13 points apiece, while Hinderliter led the Bulldogs with 14 points and McClaine had 10.REDBANK VALLEY 35Alex Bell 0 3-4 3, Emma Kennemuth 0 2-2 2, Brooke Hinderliter 5 3-3 14, Madison McClaine 4 0-0 10, Erica Bowersox 2 0-0 4, Kaelyn Gruver 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 8-9 35.KARNS CITY 37Leah McGuire 0 1-2 1, Emily Schumacher 0 2-4 2, Annie Hegedus 4 4-6 13, Emily LoPresti 2 3-4 8, LeAnn Gibson 5 3-4 13, LeErin Jones 0 0-0 0. Totals: 11 13-20 37.Redbank Valley 7 11 2 11 4—35Karns City4 7 7 13 6—373-point goals: Redbank Valley 3 (McClaine 2, Hinderliter); Karns City 2 (Hegedus, LoPresti)JV: Karns City, 26-16Wednesday: A-C Valley at Karns City
