KARNS CITY — Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer was looking for a little separation in Thursday's game against Keystone.

So, he went to his defense to gain some more offense.

Trailing 26-25 at halftime, the Gremlins erupted for 22 third-quarter points and came away with a 63-47 girls basketball victory over the Panthers in a battle of Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference division leaders.

"We changed up defenses a little bit to keep them off-balance," said Kerschbaumer. "Now and then, we'd change things up defensively, and I thought that certainly made things tougher for them.

"When we got some steals, we were able to get some cheap baskets," he added.

A 7-0 run by the Panthers (10-6, 8-3) to close out the first half gave them a tentative one-point lead, but the Gremlins opened the third quarter on a 9-2 spurt — capped by an Allyson Kepple 3-pointer — for a 34-28 lead.

Cassy Hinterliter answered with a three-point play to pull the Panthers to within three, but Karns City (13-3, 10-1) scored the next seven points and 15 of the next 19 to take a 49-35 advantage early in the fourth quarter.

Keystone did trim the deficit to eight at 49-41, thanks to a 6-0 run, including a steal and score apiece from Hinterliter and Sam Schwabenbauer.

Ashley Campbell, however, broke the Gremlins' brief drought with two clutch free throws with 4:34 left.

Schwabenbauer scored 13 seconds later, but the Gremlins scored 10 of the next 12 points to put the game out of reach.

"They wore us down a little," said Keystone coach Bruce Turk. "It was a more intense game than we've had in our last few games.

"Karns City's a physical team and aggressive, and they play well together," he added.

In the second quarter, the Panthers' Amanda Rodgers caught an elbow to the eye that opened a cut and she left the game. She also had a mild concussion, Turk said.

Karns City's Haley Callihan led all scorers with 18 points while Kepple had 14 and Campbell had nine points.

Hinterliter and Schwabenbauer had 15 and 13 points, respectively, to lead the Panthers.

KEYSTONE 47Alex Craig 0 0-0 0, Cassy Hinterliter 6 3-6 15, Jess Bifano 1 1-3 4, Amanda Rodgers, Sam Schwabenbauer 6 1-3 13, Brit Mohney 0 0-0 0, Britt Senard 0 0-0 0, Sadie Eisenman 2 1-4 5, Caitlin Turk 3 2-2 8.

Totals: 19 8-18 47.

KARNS CITY 63Tausha Bowser 1 2-3 4, Allyson Kepple 6 1-4 14, Ashley Campbell 3 3-5 9, Haley Callihan 7 3-5 18, Kylee Rankin 1 1-2 3, Michelle Sweeney 2 0-0 4, Julia Zaludek 3 1-2 7, Kailyn Weibel 1 1-2 4.

Totals: 24 12-23 63.

Keystone 13 13 9 12—47Karns City 14 11 22 16—633-point goals: Bifano; Kepple, Callihan, Weibel

JV: Keystone, 41-35

Wednesday: Karns City at Cranberry