CHERRY TWP — Redbank Valley succeeded in taking Alyssa Deal, Moniteau's leading scorer, out of the game Friday night.

Moniteau has gotten used to that — and was prepared for it.

Kristin Baronetski scored 25 points and Kenzie Timblin added 14 as the Warriors cruised to a 62-40 first round District 9 Class AA girls basketball playoff victory.

The win was Moniteau's first postseason triumph since 2001, the last year it won a district championship. The Warriors (15-9) face Cranberry, a 44-38 winner Friday over Curwensville, at 6 p.m. Tuesday at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

"Teams have been concentrating on taking Alyssa out of the game offensively for about six weeks now," Moniteau coach Mark Yeager said. "So we've been working on pounding the ball inside."

The Warriors pounded the Bulldogs (11-14) into submission Friday.

Moniteau held a 39-24 advantage on the boards, as Baronetski had 12 rebounds — nine in the first half — while Timblin snared seven boards and Amy Gladd had five.

"Rebounding is what we do best," said Baronetski, who is averaging 13 rebounds per game. "We have three girls who can go get the ball. I like our chances that way."

Moniteau jumped out to a 16-8 lead in the first quarter even though Deal, the program's all-time leading scorer, failed to score during the first eight minutes.

Baronetski had nine points in the first quarter and Timblin added four.

"My biggest fear coming down here was our rebounding ability," Redbank coach Tom McClaine said. "We're not very big and it's been our weak spot all year."

Redbank managed to score only 22 points in the first three quarters, sinking just 9 of 37 field goal attempts during that time.

"That hurt because I felt like we were doing a nice job defensively," McClaine said. "We were getting good enough looks. We just couldn't make any shots."

The Bulldogs missed 15 of their first 18 field goal attempts in falling behind 20-8 with 4:19 left in the first half.

Deal got loose for a pair of 3-pointers in the second half, the latter trey giving the Warriors their biggest lead of the night at 52-28 with 5:12 remaining in the game.

Deal wound up with 11 points. Timblin scored 10 of her 14 points in the second half when Baronetski missed some time with foul trouble.

Timblin averages 2.8 points per game this year, but did not crack the starting lineup until Amanda Gladd suffered a groin injury late in the season. Timblin also scored 14 points in the Warriors' regular season finale against Cranberry.

"Kenzie helped bail us out tonight," Baronetski said. "We needed her to get points underneath and she did it."

"That girl surprised us," McClaine said of Timblin. "We didn't even know about her. We never saw her do much before."

Yeager said Gladd should be ready to play Tuesday night.

He wasn't certain his team would be ready to play Friday night.

"Our practices this week were awful," he said. "Our girls were ready to play this game last Thursday, but since then … nothing. I cut practice short by 15 minutes last night to talk to them about our preparation.

"I'm very surprised we played as well as we did tonight."

Sophomore Lacey Blose paced Redbank with 19 points and eight rebounds. Jesse Hartman had 10 points before fouling out late in the game.

Notes:

Both teams played their first game in 15 days. … Moniteau defeated Redbank 62-38 in their lone regular season meeting. … The Warriors had 13 turnovers, including seven in the fourth quarter and three in the first half. … Redbank dropped its third straight game while Moniteau won for the 10th time in 13 games. … Moniteau's boys face Redbank Valley at 7:30 p.m. Monday in a playoff game at Clarion University. The District 9 Class AA girls and boys championship games are at 6 and 7:30 p.m. Friday at Clarion University.

REDBANK VALLEY 40Jesse Hartman 5-11 0-0 10, Kim Goth 0-2 0-0 0, Lacey Blose 8-20 2-2 19, Lacy McClaine 0-7 0-0 0, Heidi Hepler 0-0 0-1 0, Kristen Reichard 0-0 0-0 0, Jerna Gruver 4-15 1-2 9, Amanda Dawson 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 18-56 3-5 40

MONITEAU 62Kristin Baronetski 10-14 5-8 25, Amy Gladd 2-8 1-2 5, Sam Kristufek 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Deal 4-9 1-2 11, Jodie Davis 0-0 0-0 0, Sara Vinca 2-5 0-0 4, Maura McCaslin 1-2 1-3 3, Ellie Hilliard 0-0 0-0 0, Kenzie Timblin 7-9 0-0 14, Alyssa Moore 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 26-48 8-15 62

3-point goals: Blose; Deal 2

Tuesday: Moniteau vs. Cranberry @ Clarion University, 6 p.m.