INDIANA — Karns City girls basketball coach Dave Kerschbaumer offered a very simple yet fitting comment following the Gremlins’ PIAA Class AA second-round playoff against North Star Tuesday night.

“We picked a bad night to have a bad game,” he said.

The Gremlins watched North Star build an 11-0 lead in the first four and a half minutes of the contest as KC’s season came to an end with a 50-30 loss to the Cougars at Indiana (Pa.) University’s Ed Fry Arena.

North Star’s run to start the game was aided by seven Gremlin turnovers in just over half of the first quarter.

“Our last few practices went well,” said Kerschbaumer. “We had a good game-plan coming in, but things went haywire early on. They (Cougars) just outplayed us tonight. They beat us to every loose ball and they played well.”

The Gremlins (23-3) began the game using a press on defense, but the Cougars broke through it and led 6-0 after 2:17 had elapsed from the clock.

“We haven’t been phased by the press all year,” said North Star coach Randy Schrock. “We were able to get a couple easy baskets and that got us started.”

North Star stumbled a bit in the second quarter, scoring just eight points in the period, but the Gremlins were unable to take advantage, scoring just six themselves and trailed 24-11 at halftime.

The Cougars (26-2) were led during the season by senior guard Courtney Schrock and junior forward/center Jackie Stanko and the duo didn’t disappoint. Schrock scored 16 points and Stanko had 19 points and nine rebounds.

“Those two get a lot of the accolades for what they do offensively, but I thought Kayla Rice did a good job defensively on the Gibson girl (LeeAnn) and Olivia Zuchelli and Maggie Friedline stepped up, too,” said Coach Schrock.

LeeAnn Gibson led KC in points with 11, but her drives to the basket were well-contested and she had four of her shots blocked.

North Star used the third period to post a 16-9 run and entered the fourth quarter with a commanding 40-20 lead.

“I told the girls that it’s not about tonight,” Kerschbaumer said. “It’s about all the success we’ve had with three straight KSAC titles and three straight District 9 titles. It’s about our three seniors (Brody Whited, Abby Wolfe and LeeAnn Gibson) and the leadership they’ve exhibited.”

Gibson, a Slippery Rock University recruit, ends her prep career third on Karns City’s all-time scoring list.

“But I know she is more proud of the titles we won,” Kerschbaumer said. “She concerned herself with making sure her teammates were where they needed to be and she wanted them to improve as players. That exemplifies what a Lady Gremlin is all about. I wish her well at SRU.”

KARNS CITY 30

Alyssa Gibson 2 4-4 9, LeeAnn Gibson 4 3-5 11, Emily Hegedus 2 4-4 8, Mackenzie Craig 1 0-0 2, Abby Wolfe 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Stitt 0 0-0 0, Brooke Moore 0 0-0 0, Olivia Mourer 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 11-13 30.

NORTH STAR 50

Olivia Zuchelli 1 0-0 3, Courtney Schrock 7 1-2 16, Maggie Friedline 4 0-1 8, Kayla Rice 2 0-2 4, Jackie Stanko 9 1-3 19, Kylie Hoffman 0 0-1 0, Madyson Miller 0 0-0 0, Rockel Eutin 0 0-0 0, Kyrsten Joseph 0 0-0 0, Allison Carmean 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 2-9 50.

Karns City 5 6 9 10 — 30

North Star16 8 16 10 — 50

3-point goals: Karns City 1 (A. Gibson); North Star 2 (Zuchelli, Schrock).