Gremlins play on
CLARION — The best way to answer an opponent's run is with one of your own.
The Karns City girls basketball team showed Kane how it's done.
The Gremlins led Saturday's District 9 Class AA semifinal 8-1 with 2:30 left in the first quarter.
The Wolves then took the lead with a 12-0 run that ended early in the second quarter.
But KC came right back with 14 unanswered points en route to a 51-41 win at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.
"We talked all week about attitude," said KC coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "When we go through the motions, teams go on runs against us.
"That's how (Kane) was able to make some plays against us there in the second quarter."
The Gremlins will face Cranberry, a 44-37 winner over Brookville, in Wednesday's title game at 6 p.m. at the same venue.
KC fans had to settle for a split, as the boys fell to Cranberry, 47-45.
The Gremlins' girls second-quarter spurt helped them take a 24-16 lead into halftime.
Paced by Ashley Campbell's eight points in the third quarter, the Gremlins (15-10) extended their advantage to 42-27 with one period to play.
The third period saw Kane (15-10) miss its first eight field goal attempts.
The Wolves' offense improved in the final period, but the Gremlins had the clock on their side.
Campbell ended the game with 19 points and Allyson Kepple added 18.
The latter's six steals consistently broke any momentum the Wolves were able to manage.
"For some of our girls, this was their first playoff game," said Kerschbaumer. "But with (Campbell and Kepple), they've been here before and knew that they had to play well for us today."
Kepple tallied six baskets in the game, most of them coming after Kane turnovers.
"The difference was we gave up too many fast-break points," said Wolves' fourth-year coach Stacy Hastings.
Bree Bergman, Kane's leading scorer at 15.3 points per game, was held to just one field goal. She paced the Wolves with eight points.
Cranberry 47, Karns City 45Karns City entered the fourth period with momentum on its side.But the final eight minutes of play spelled the end of the Gremlins' season in Saturday's District 9 Class AA semifinal at Clarion University.Mike McConnell's 3-pointer just before the buzzer that ended the third quarter capped a 21-10 period and gave KC a 38-33 lead as the fourth quarter began.The Gremlins had trailed at halftime 23-17."We were down six at halftime," said Gremlins' coach Steve Andreassi. "We wanted to come out in the third quarter and get after it."And I think we did that," he added. "We owned them in the third."With 45 seconds remaining in the game, Cranberry's Norman Felmlee hit a 2-point bucket that gave the Berries a 46-45 lead.Felmlee added a free throw with 5.8 seconds left for a 2-point edge.The Gremlins (16-9) had a chance to win or tie on their final possession, but were unable to get a shot off before the buzzer.KC missed its final four field goal attempts of the game.Mike McConnell led KC with 13 points, but Cameron Turner, who entered the game as the Gremlins' leading scorer at 14.7 points per game, was held to just seven, including two in the second half.In the teams' regular season meeting Jan. 16, Turner keyed a 50-45 KC win with eight points in the fourth period."In the last game, (Turner) ate them up inside," Andreassi said. "So I think they probably paid a little extra attention to him.""We spent the last week and a half preparing for Karns City," said Berries' coach Eric O'Polka. "That's why we were able to hold them to less than 50 points."We were ready for all of their offensive sets, zone and man," O'Polka added.KC's Brandon Collier was called for a questionable intentional foul early in the fourth quarter.The Berries took advantage and cut KC's lead to 38-36 at the free throw line.Collier answered with a 3-pointer and a 41-36 lead with 6:35 left in the game.But the Berries went on an 11-4 run the rest of the way."There were some plays in the second half that went against us," said Andreassi. "But we just didn't play well enough to win."Nick Persing and Felmlee both scored 11 points for Cranberry, while Chase Mitchell added 10.<B>GirlsKARNS CITY 51Allyson Kepple 6 6-9 18, Hannah Beck 2 0-1 4, Ashley Campbell 6 7-12 19, Katie Weibel 1 0-0 2, Kylee Rankin 1 0-3 2, Maureen McGreevey 3 0-2 6, Caitlin Davis 0 0-0 0, Taylor Kerschbaumer 0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 19 13-27 51.<B>KANE 41Trisha Johnson 1 2-2 4, Chelsea Mague 2 2-3 6, Natalie Kossack 1 4-4 6, Andrea Saquin 3 1-2 7, Jennifer Moore 2 0-0 5, Bree Bergman 1 6-8 8, Emily Carlson 1 0-0 2, Kalie Walter 1 1-1 3.</B> Totals: 12 16-20 41.<B>Karns City 8 16 18 9—51Kane 8 8 11 14—413-point goals:</B> Kane 1 (Moore).<B>Wednesday:</B> Karns City vs. Cranberry, District 9 Class AA Championship Game at Clarion University, 6 p.m.<B>BoysKARNS CITY 45Cory Terwilliger 1 0-0 3, Mike McConnell 5 2-2 13, Cameron Turner 3 1-4 7, Matt McConnell 4 0-2 9, Josh Callender 2 2-2 6, Dan Everetts 2 0-0 4, Brandon Collier 1 0-0 3, Evan Olszak 0 0-0 0. </B>Totals: 18 5-10 45.<B>CRANBERRY 47Nick Persing 4 1-2 11, Norman Felmlee 4 3-6 11, Shawn Hogue 1 0-3 2, Chase Mitchell 4 0-0 10, Kelly O'Neil 2 0-0 4, Brad Rembold 4 1-1 9, Jared Burrows 0 0-0 0, Luke Heeter 0 0-0 0.</B> Totals: 19 5-12 47.<B>Karns City 11 6 21 7—45Cranberry 11 12 10 14—473-point goals:</B> Karns City 4 (Terwilliger, Mi. McConnell, Ma. McConnell, Collier); Cranberry 4 (Persing 2, Mitchell 2).
