Doing the little things well can take you a long way in the postseason.

Karns City girls basketball coach Dave Kerschbaumer has seen that from his squad. He certainly sees it in Girard, which the Gremlins will face at 7:30 p.m. today at Meadville High School.

"They are a fundamentally sound basketball team," said Kerschbaumer. "They have a strong tradition, and we'll try and beat their tradition and get our girls to believe they can do it."

Girard (22-6) is coming off a 50-36 victory over Ford City in last Friday's PIAAClass AA first-round game and is led by sophomore Raegan Moore, a 5-foot-11 sophomore who averages 15.0 points per game. She scored 23 points in the win over the Sabers.

Kara Wilson, a 5-5 sophomore, and Carlee DiFucci, a 5-8 junior, average 6.9 and 6.7 points per game, respectively. They are joined by Elizabeth Rickard, a 6-0 junior, (5.3) and Courtney Byham, a 5-9 junior, (4.4) to round out the starting five.

"Raegan Moore is the go-to girl," said Kerschbaumer. "It all starts with her. We'll have to play sound defense, which we've done."

Moore reminds Kerschbaumer of Lakeview star Sheena Aden.

"She a point guard that can do anything and she can find the open girl," he said.

Karns City (22-5) defeated Shady Side Academy 39-26 in its first round game and Kerschbaumer is seeing a wave of confidence hitting his team.

"These girls didn't celebrate when they won the District 9 title," said Kerschbaumer. "They are looking for bigger and better things."

He has a strange name, but he's been the key to Ambridge's success this season.Slade Unis.The 5-foot-11 senior guard leads the Bridgers in scoring with nearly 15 points per game.Grove City will try to keep Unis in check when the two teams clash at 7:30 p.m. today at Butler High."He's an outstanding guard," said Grove City coach Don Fee. "They are more athletic than Chartiers Valley and have an outstanding two-guard in (Jared) Gibson. Those are two keys guys."Grove City is feeling much better about itself after beatingChartiers Valley in the first round of the state playoffs."I know they really felt good about what happened Friday night," Fee said.Of Ambridge's six losses, four have come against Quad-A teams. The Bridgers edged Quad-A Seneca Valley at the C.J. Betters Tournament Dec. 29.

Slippery Rock girls coach Adrienne Orris is very familiar with Lewistown.She's spent the better part of the last 10 years watching them make deep state playoff runs.Orris will see the Panthers up close and personal, this time coaching against them as Slippery Rock takes on Lewistown at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at Central Cambria HighSchool in Ebensburg.The Panthers have won two state titles in the last 10 seasons, finished runner-up in the 2004-05 season and were in the final four of the state in 2003-04 and last season.This Lewistown team is unlike the ones Orris has seen in the past."I liken them most to General McLane," Orris said. "Scrappy. Smaller, pressing team. I try to get out of the back of my mind the Lewistown team I'm used to seeing because they are different. They aren't as big."That's because the Panthers starting center, Morgan Bobb, was lost for the season with a knee injury.Lewistown has gone smaller; it's tallest player is 5-foot-7, and the Panthers are quick.Lewistown is 8-0 in second round PIAA games during its 13-year playoff run. Five times, it has lost first-round games.

One thing Union coach Josh Meeker knows for sure is that Mount Alvernia is certainly a battle-tested squad.The Lions compete in the WPIAL Section 4-A with the likes of North Catholic, Vincentian and Avonworth.Those four squads all reached the WPIAL semifinals and held their own quite well.Union is coming off a 49-38 victory over Ferndale in the opening round while the Lions dispatched Berlin Brothersvalley 53-47 in their first-round game.Meeker has seen the tape of the Berlin Brothersvalley game, and the Lions' athleticism definitely stood out, among other things."They play all zone defense and that was different. We don't see that very often," said Meeker. "At every position, they have an inch or two on us. Not overpowering, but Janele Divins is 5-foot-2, the girl she'll cover is 5-4. It'll be interesting how we handle it."As it has been all season, Mount Alvernia used a balanced scoring attack in its first-round game.Renee Brown, a 5-9 junior forward led the way with 20 points, followed by Karmyn Gouch (eight), Lisa Kaczynski (seven), Tracie Ferrari (six), Tahlar McIntosh (five), Katarina Owunna (four) and Gabby Holko (three).Brown averages 15 points and 11.5 rebounds per game, while Kaczynski averages 13 points and shoots 75 percent from the free-throw line.Gouch averages 11 points and Ferrari averages 10 points, six rebounds and 4.5 assists. Owunna (7.0 ppg, 5.0 rpg), Holko (6.0 ppg) and McIntosh (4.0 ppg, 4.0 rpg) have also played key roles, whether as the fifth starter or off the bench."One of our strengths is we do have balanced scoring," said assistant coach Bill Barker. "We have four in double figures, and it's difficult for teams to stop one player."We know Union is a very good team that was a couple of points away from the state championship game. We know they're hungry. They have maturity and that means a lot in the playoffs."Wednesday's game will be at 6 p.m. at Knoch High School.