KARNS CITY — Annie Hegedus and her teammates were relentless defensively.

The 5-foot-8 Karns City point guard and her teammates were playing with a purpose. After a disappointing playoff loss to Brookville last season, the Gremlins wanted to get some revenge.

Karns City forced 26 turnovers in a 63-27 non-league win over the Raiders Friday night at Karns City High School.

“Since we lost to them in the playoffs, we wanted to come out hard and get ahead early,” said Hegedus, who finished with eight points, six steals and six assists.

Last season, the Raiders beat Karns City 46-37 in the District 9 quarterfinals. Gremlins coach Dave Kerschbaumer said he hardly mentioned the game.

“We really didn't talk about it much,” coach Dave Kerschbaumer said. “The last verbiage I said before the game was they are the team that knocked us out, let's go play hard. Their eyes kind of sparkled and they went out.”

The Gremlins (3-0) started with the intensity Hegedus wanted. Karns City opened on an 18-2 run and never trailed.

After Brookville's Maddie Hill made a jumper to cut the lead to 3-2 with 6:30 left in the quarter, the Raiders didn't score until 39 seconds were left in the first quarter.

“Basically, the wings were getting up and pressuring the ball hard,” Gremlins guard LeAnn Gibson said. “We were ready for steals running back and forth across the court. We were looking to get after them tonight.”

The Raiders, who graduated most of their scoring from last season, struggled to handle Karns City's pressure.

The Gremlins limited Brookville to 8-of-40 shooting from the field.

“When you play a team as good as Karns City, you can't play the first quarter like that,” Brookville coach Mark Powell said. “You're never going to come back against them.”

Karns City led 34-13 at halftime. Three Gremlins — Gibson (11 points), Emily LoPresti (11) and Shanel Preston (10) — scored in double figures. Gibson pulled down a team-high eight rebounds, while Emily Schumacher grabbed seven boards.

“We always talk about team basketball,” Kerschbaumer said. “The more players we can get in double figures the better off we are. We got good, solid ball movement and good athletic position I think we did well.”

Brookville never got within 17 points in the second half. Gibson said the Gremlins need to work on maintaining their energy throughout the game.

“In the first quarter, we came out hard and were getting steals and everything,” Gibson said. “In the second quarter we were alright with it, in the third and fourth quarters we slowed down. We definitely need to get the energy back up to finish hard and strong.”

BROOKVILLE 27

Kara Wonderling 1 0-3 2, Amanda Ray 0 0-0 0, Kylee Deal 0 2-2 2, Maddie Hilll 2 0-0 4, Elaina Powell 3 0-0 7, Hali Olson 0 3-6 3, Makenzie Gonoe 1 0-0 3, Brenna Dworek 1 3-4 5, Sam Reinard 1 0-1 2, Danielle VanSteenburg 0 0-0 0. Totals: 8 8-16 40.

KARNS CITY 63

Emily Schumacher 4 0-0 8, Shanel Preston 3 3-5 10, Annie Hegedus 3 2-6 8, Emily LoPresti 4 1-2 11, LeAnn Gibson 4 3-5 11, Alyssa Gibson 2 5-5 9, LeErin Jones 0 0-0 0, Saydie Moore 1 0-0 3, Abby Wolfe 1 1-2 3, Clara Stoughton 0 0-0 0. Totals: 25 15-20 63.

Brookville 4 9 9 5—27

Home18 16 18 11—63

3-point goals: Brookville 2 (Makenzie Gonoe, Elaina Powell); Karns City 4 (LoPresti 2, Preston, Moore)

Monday: Karns City at West Shamokin