CLARION — Eager to get the bad taste of two losses at the end of the regular season out of its mouth, Moniteau’s girls basketball team took the court for Friday night’s KSAC semifinal clash with North Clarion.

A strong second half got the Warriors back on the winning side of things.

Catherine Kelly poured in 22 points and the Wolves scored no more than 10 points in any quarter as Moniteau advanced to Saturday’s championship game with a 45-37 victory at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium.

Moniteau entered the game following losses to Redbank Valley (46-31) and Karns City (40-35).

“We knew we couldn’t change the past, those games were over with,” said junior forward Kendall Sankey. “Our focus needed to be on tonight.”

Moniteau will look to avenge two losses to Redbank this season when the teams meet here at 6 p.m. Saturday in the conference title game.

Friday’s score was knotted at 18 at halftime, but the Warriors took the lead for good when Sankey made two free throws with 4:31 left in the third period.

A trey from Abbey Jewart with seconds remaining in the quarter pushed the lead to 33-28 before Kelly drained two more attempts from beyond the arc in the fourth to help keep the Wolves at bay.

“Hitting our shots in the second half was the difference,” said Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster. “We missed a lot of shots early on and that was probably nerves.”

The Warriors were just seven of 32 from the field in the first half, but they also forced 13 turnovers.

“The things we had trouble with tonight, we’ve had trouble with all season,” said North Clarion coach Terry Dreihaup. “Rebounding and our inability to limit the turnovers ... and that’s on the whole team.”

The Warriors ruled the boards for much of the night and finished with a 37-24 advantage.

Sankey pulled down 14 boards to go with her 11 points and four steals.

“We needed to be the more physical team to get those rebounds,” she said. “(North Clarion’s) Lauren Lutz is 6-2 and we had to box her out.”

Arblaster said defending against guard Lily Homan “was a concern. They have better shooters than what they showed. They’re a good team.”

Homan led the Wolves (19-4) with 16 points, but scored just four points in the decisive second half. Her steal and layup brought North Clarion to within 41-35 with 2:27 left in the game.

MONITEAU 45

Catherine Kelly 8 2-2 22, Davina Pry 1 4-8 6, Kendall Sankey 3 5-6 11, Allie Pry 1 0-1 3, Abbey Jewart 1 0-0 3, Autumn Stewart 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 11-17 45

NORTH CLARION 37

Madison McFarland 1 4-4 6, Lily Homan 8 0-0 16, Lauren Lutz 3 0-0 6, Maria Bauer 1 3-4 5, Emma McFarland 1 0-0 2, Brooke Steinman 1 0-0 2, Ainsley Hartle 0 0-0 0, Akeela Greenawalt 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 7-8 37.

Moniteau 11 7 15 12 — 45

North Clarion 8 10 10 9 — 37

3-point goals: Moniteau 6 (Kelly 4, A.Pry, Jewart).