CLARION - No offense? No problem.

Karns City failed to score a field goal in the second quarter and sank less than 50 percent of its free throws Saturday night in the District 9 Class AA girls basketball championship game at Clarion University.

But the Lady Gremlins (20-5) rolled to their 13th consecutive victory and third straight district title with a 44-28 victory over Redbank Valley.

"We play team defense all of the time," Karns City senior Laura Seyler said. "Everybody knows her assignment."

And the Gremlins know the Lady Bulldogs.

"Katie Kepple knows what Amy Hepler's tendencies are and what she likes to do," Karns City coach Chris Bellis said. "She's been playing against her since ninth grade.

"Our seniors have been going against their seniors for a long time. And our kids love this floor. A lot of our players attend camps here.

"We're very familiar with this place. It's like a second home court to us," Bellis added.

Redbank Valley (17-9) was held under 30 points for the first time all season. Karns City held an opponent below 30 for the 10th time this year.

"I've never seen our offense look as befuddled as it did in the first half," Redbank coach Dave Moore said.

The Bulldogs scored only eight points in the first two quarters and trailed 17-8 at the intermission.

Senior 6-foot-1 center Gretchen Colwell did not score in the first half and took only four shots. She scored 14 of her team's 20 points in the second half before fouling out with 2:29 remaining.

Point guard Jenni Rupp missed the final 5:31 of the third quarter after picking up her fourth foul. Starting forward Cara Dinger fouled out in the third quarter.

"The foul situation didn't help us," Moore said. "We don't have a very deep bench."

Redbank suffered 21 turnovers while Rupp was in and out of the action. Karns City had 12 turnovers, but only seven in the first three quarters.

After taking a 16-5 first-quarter lead, the Gremlins scored a mere point in the second quarter.

"The girls were down about that at halftime," Bellis said. "I had to remind them we were up by nine points in a district championship game. I didn't care how many points we had."

Redbank was within 31-22 with 6:48 to play when Seyler converted a lay-up, drained a 3-pointer, stole the ball and added a free throw during a two-minute flurry.

That outburst upped the lead to 37-22 and ended any Bulldog comeback hopes. Karns City's lead peaked at 43-26 with 1:31 to play.

"Every team concentrates on stopping Katie because she's such a great player," Seyler said. "The rest of us know we have to make things happen."

Ariel Venesky scored 15 points - including three treys - for the Gremlins and Seyler scored 13 points. Kepple had 11 points.

"Katie Kepple is a great player, but she's not our only player," Bellis said. "Laura Seyler is a streaky shooter. The girls did a good job of getting her the ball during that one stretch."

Colwell had 14 points and eight rebounds for Redbank. Rupp added six of her team's 25 rebounds.

Karns City defeated Redbank for the third time, having downed the Bulldogs 66-55 and 55-44 during the regular season.

The Gremlins have won the District 9 title six times in the past seven years and will face Maplewood (18-8) in the first round of the PIAA tournament Friday.

"We've stumbled in the first round the past couple of years," Bellis said. "We want to end that trend."

Moore is stepping down as Redbank's coach after 30 years on the job.

"I'm disappointed going out this way because I've brought this group of girls along for three years and anticipated some big things," Moore said. "We could never get them all on the floor healthy at the same time. It must be the water in New Bethlehem.

"I thought we had the right game-plan today. We just fell behind by too many too early."

REDBANK VALLEY 28

Bobbie Neiswonger 0-1 0-0 0, Gretchen Colwell 5-13 4-6 14, Jenni Rupp 3-6 1-3 7, Lacey McClaine 0-0 0-2 0, Amy Hepler 1-7 0-1 3, Anne Sellner 0-1 0-0 0, Danica Case 2-3 0-0 4, Desirae Sayers 0-1 0-0 0, Cara Dinger 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 11-32 5-12 28

KARNS CITY 44

Laura Seyler 3-6 5-8 13, Ashley Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Felicia Gray 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie Devore 0-4 0-1 0, Katie Kepple 4-9 2-2 11, Amber Double 0-2 0-2 0, Alicia Kerschbaumer 2-5 1-2 5, Ariel Venesky 4-7 4-8 15, Emily Bly 0-1 0-2 0, Morgan Summerville 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-34 12-25 44

3-point goals:

Hepler; Seyler 2, Kepple, Venesky 3

Friday:

Karns City vs. Maplewood, PIAA Class AA playoffs, site and time TBD