BUTLER TWP - Liz Suwala wasn't in the game. She's not even a member of either team.

But she played as big a factor as anyone in Greensburg Central Catholic's 59-45 PIAA Class AA girls basketball tournament victory over Karns City Tuesday night at Butler High School.

Karns City (21-6) trailed 23-20 at halftime, as senior point guard Katie Kepple scored 16 of the Gremlins' 20 points.

"I knew she was good, but she was killing us," Greensburg Central coach Ed Pultz said. "We had to adjust our defense.

"I told the girls we were playing against Liz Suwala (of Ford City) again. We switched to the defense we had designed to stop her when we played them," he added.

Suwala was a big scorer who couldn't get free against the Centurions. Kepple had similar problems in the second half, scoring only seven more points.

"They came out and did a good job on her," Karns City coach Chris Bellis said. "Our scoring wasn't as balanced tonight as I would have liked.

"We got to a point where we couldn't take time to set screens. Katie had to shoot off the dribble, and that's always tougher, particularly from outside," he added.

Karns City's last lead was at 4-2 midway through the first quarter. But two Kepple free throws on the Gremlins' first possession of the fourth quarter pulled them within 37-36 with 7:48 to play.

"We were doing a good job of hanging around even though we were struggling offensively," Bellis said.

But Shelby Baker and Lauren Donahoe - two non-starters - drained 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give the Centurions (21-6) a 43-36 lead with 5:48 remaining.

Karns City never got closer than seven points the rest of the way.

"They were huge shots," Bellis said. "Two girls off the bench who can hit clutch shots like that in a state playoff game? I have to hand it to them."

Baker sank a layup and Monica Mull stole the ball at mid-court and scored as Greensburg Central extended its lead to 47-36.

Karns City' Alicia Kerschbaumer hit a 3-pointer to cut the gap to 48-41 at the 2:25 mark, but the Centurions put the game away at the free throw line, sinking eight free throws in a row after missing five straight earlier in the quarter.

Mull scored 20 points for Greensburg Central. Baker added 10 off the bench and sophomore Maggie Gibson grabbed 12 of her team's 33 rebounds.

Freshman Ashley Henderson scored nine points - all in the first half - before fouling out with 2:37 left.

Kepple had 23 points for Karns City. Emily Bly contributed 10 points and five rebounds off the bench, and Ariel Venesky added five of 30 Gremlin rebounds.

Venesky, Kepple and Bly all fouled out in the final 1:40.

Both teams had 16 turnovers.

The Centurions won for the eighth time in nine games. Karns City had its 14-game winning streak snapped.

The Gremlins are graduating nine seniors from the program: Kepple, Laura Seyler, Ashley Craig, Stephanie DeVore, Amanda Anderson, Amber Double, Kerschbaumer, Venesky and Bly.

"I coached those girls in seventh and eighth grade, then right through high school," Bellis said. "They were freshmen when I got the varsity job.

"It's always hard to say goodbye to seniors. It's particularly hard to say goodbye to this group."

KARNS CITY 45

Laura Seyler 2-6 2-2 7, Ashley Craig 0-0 0-0 0, Stephanie DeVore 0-2 0-0 0, Katie Kepple 6-16 8-8 23, Amber Double 0-1 0-0 0, Alicia Kerschbaumer 1-3 0-1 3, Ariel Venesky 1-8 0-0 2, Emily Bly 2-4 6-6 10. Totals: 12-40 16-17 45

GREENSBURG CENTRAL 59

Shelby Baker 3-5 2-2 10, Theresa Chesterfield 1-4 0-0 2, Monica Mull 5-9 10-14 20, Lauren Donahoe 1-3 1-4 4, Maggie Gibson 4-9 0-4 8, Annie Keyes 2-4 0-0 4, Ashley Henderson 4-12 1-3 9Danielle McRickard 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 21-49 14-28 59

3-point goals:

Baker 2, Donahoe; Seyler, Kepple 3, Kerschbaumer