CLARION — All Karns City had to do was work the kinks out.

Then the Gremlins worked over Carlynton with their inside game.

LeeAnn Gibson scored 26 points and grabbed 14 rebounds. Mackenzie Craig added nine boards and KC got to the basket often in defeating Carlynton, 59-37, Friday night in a first-round PIAA Class AA girls basketball tournament contest at Clarion University.

“We just had to settle in a little bit,” Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer said. “We were making some mistakes with the ball early in the game.

“Their guards are pretty quick and we had to get into the flow of the game.”

The Gremlins (24-2) turned the ball over six times in the first quarter. The game was even at 9-9 when Craig sank a pair of free throws with 1:50 left in the period. Karns City never trailed again.

But the Cougars (20-6) didn't make things easy.

An Ashley Greiner lay-up pulled Carlynton within 21-20 with 2:40 left in the half. Two lay-ups by Gibson followed and the senior forward stuck back an offensive rebound to give KC a 27-20 lead at the intermission.

“We felt like we could score inside and rebound on them after watching them on film,” Gibson said. “Mackenzie always gets her share of rebounds and she was a big factor tonight.”

A Brooke Moore trey with 28 seconds left in the third quarter extended the lead to 40-27. KC had a 48-37 lead with 1:36 to play befiore scoring nine consecutive points on free throws.

“They are not 20 points better than us,” Carlynton coach Tim Bonner said. “They shot 31 free throws, we shot 11. Their girl gets three fouls on her early, never leaves the game and never gets another foul?

“I'm not happy about that. Karns City is a power team. They are very good. They don't need any help.”

The Gremlins' Emily Hegedus picked up her third foul with 4:22 left in the first half. She finished with 14 points.

“I always leave Emily and LeeAnn on the floor, regardless of fouls,” Kerschbaumer said. “They know how to play smart and stay productive in those situations.”

Carlynton turned the ball over only eight times, but suffered through a miserable shooting night. The Cougars shot 22 percent from the field, hitting 14 of 63 shots.

Ashleigh Wilson and Lexi Kowal, two of the team's better offensive players, combined to sink two of 27 shots.

“I knew they could give us problems with their inside game,” Bonner admitted. “They are tough to handle in there.”

Greiner paced Carlynton with 14 points and added five rebiunds. Diamond Thomas had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Kowal and Wilson had four steals each.

Alyssa Gibson and LeeAnn Gibson had three assists each for the Gremlins, who have won 18 straight games. Karns City will face North Star — a 37-26 winner over Marion Center — in the next round.

“At this point, it doesn't matter who we play. We have to concentrate on playing our game,” LeeAnn Gibson said.

“We weren't particularly nervous tonight ... We're a little nervous at the start of every game we play, but we didn't treat this differently because it was a state game. We've got a lot of confidence in each other right now.”

CARLYNTON 37

Diamond Thomas 4-16 3-4 11, Ashleigh Wilson 1-15 0-0 3, Summer Nichols 0-0 1-2 1, Britney Kowal 0-1 0-0 0, Lexi Kowal 1-12 3-4 6, Abigasil Greiner 7-14 0-1 14, Denise Griffin 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 14-63 7-11 37.

KARNS CITY 59

Alyssa Gibson 1-4 2-2 5, Abby Wolfe 1-3 5-6 7, Emily Wolfe 1-1 0-0 2, LeeAnn Gibson 7-10 12-16 26, Emily Hegedus 6-10 2-4 14, Brooke Moore 1-4 0-1 3, Olivia Mourer 0-0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Craig 0-4 2-2 2. Totals: 17-36 23-31 59.

Carlynton 11 9 9 8 — 37

Karns City15 12 14 18 — 59

3-point goals: L.Kowal, Wilson; A.Gibson, Moore

Tuesday: Karns City vs. North Star, site and time TBA