CLARION — Some high school basketball games feature plenty of momentum swings.

This one didn't.

Kane grabbed the lead from Karns City midway through the second quarter and controlled the action for the rest of the night in a 55-42 District 9 Class AA boys semifinal win Monday night at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

"This is stunning to these guys," KC coach Steve Andreassi. "We had our best week of practice all year.

"We started the game well, but then went flat," he added.

The Gremlins trailed 38-26 entering the final quarter and did pull to within 50-42 when junior guard Mike McConnell completed a conventional 3-point play with two minutes left in the game, but the Wolves would not surrender another point.

The keystone of Kane's offensive success was junior center John Bizzak, who scored 17 points and added 17 rebounds.

His 15 first-half points helped the Wolves walk into halftime with a 27-17 edge.

"We saw (Bizzak) on tape and knew how strong he was," Andreassi said. "He has some great post moves, but we figured that Cam (Turner) would match up well with him.

"But he ended up getting some good weak-side passes and we never recovered from that."

Another key contributor for Kane (15-10) was sophomore guard Cory Waigand, who came off the bench to score 14 points.

Bizzak scored just two points in the final two quarters, but Waigand picked up the slack, scoring 12 of his points in the second half.

On KC's end of the floor, the Gremlins (16-9) committed 21 turnovers, including 18 in the first three periods.

"We played a zone trap against them," said Kane coach Jeff Labesky. "We wanted someone other than (Mike and Matt McConnell) to handle the ball. It caused them to turn the ball over a few times, which is uncharacteristic of them. They usually handle the ball pretty well."

The Gremlins started the game strong, holding a 10-4 advantage with 4:30 left in the first quarter. KC entered the second period with a 12-9 lead.

That's when a bad combination of poor shooting and turnovers, one that would haunt the team for the duration of the game, began to take hold.

KC had as many turnovers in the second quarter (five) as points, while Kane put up 18 points in the period.

Turner led KC with 12 points and Mike Senopole chipped in with 10.

Along with moving the Gremlins into the district title game against Smethport, a win would have clinched a PIAA playoff berth for the team.

KANE 55Mike Punk 4 0-1 9, Brad Avenali 2 1-1 5, Tyler Labesky 1 0-0 2, Zach Anderson 0 2-2 2, John Bizzak 6 5-7 17, Kenny Kane 3 0-0 6, Cory Waigand 5 3-4 14, Sean Perry 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 21 11-15 55.

KARNS CITY 42Mike Senopole 4 2-4 10, Mike McConnell 2 1-1 6, Cameron Turner 6 0-1 12, Matt McConnell 3 0-1 9, Chris Harmon 0 1-4 1, Trevor Williams 1 0-0 2, Kevin Beck 1 0-0 2, Kody Craig 0 0-0 0, Cory Terwilliger 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 17 4-11 42.

Kane 9 18 11 17—55Karns City 12 5 9 16—423-point goals: Kane 2 (Punk, Waigand); Karns City 4 (Matt McConnell 3, Mike McConnell)