Drought ends!
CLARION — Karns City's faithful were forced to hold their breath for a moment, but soon relished the boys basketball program's first playoff win in nine seasons.
The Gremlins led Kane 44-43 in the closing seconds of Thursday's District 9 Class AA quarterfinal at Clarion High School. The Wolves had just rebounded a missed free throw from KC's Logan Moroney with 6.6 seconds left.
Following a timeout, Kane inbounded the ball and quickly got it past midcourt before Jeff Kocjancic attempted an off-balance shot near the free-throw line. It missed and Kocjancic's brother, Jack, rebounded the ball on the left baseline and quickly put up a shot that did fall. Kane's players began to celebrate and its student section stormed the court, unaware that the officials had waved off the basket from the start, ruling it was released just after the final buzzer.
The Gremlins (15-7) had escaped with a one-point victory.
“We were trying to force them into a bad shot and I thought we did that,” said KC coach Chris Bellis. “They were able to get the rebound and get another shot off, but fortunately for us, it came just after time had expired.”
“It would be great if we had instant replay,” said Kane coach Matt Gasbarre. “It was very close. Sometimes, things go your way and sometimes they don't.”
The evening's first game, a Class AA girls quarterfinal between Karns City and Brookville, was decided early on as the Gremlins coasted to a 57-23 triumph.
John English gave Kane's boys their last lead, sinking a free throw for a 38-37 edge with 3:46 left in the game. David Olszak answered for Karns City with a 3-pointer at 3:05 and followed with a pair of free throws at 2:05 for a 42-38 lead.Ahead 42-41, the Gremlins received two more points as Tyler Kepple drained a pair of attempts from the free-throw line with 21.8 seconds on the clock. Kevin Cleer then hit a short jumper for Kane (7-16), setting the stage for the dramatic ending.Kepple (25 points) and Olszak (17) scored all but two of KC's points in the game. Kepple's total included seven 3-pointers.“It helped that Tyler has played in this gym before and he is comfortable playing here,” said Bellis. “He came up big in a playoff game.”“Any playoff win is big,” Kepple said. “This was a little closer than we were hoping for, but we made enough plays to win.”Jeff Kocjancic's two-point bucket gave Kane its first lead of the game (19-17) with 2:23 left in the first half, but Kepple and Olszak both drained a trey to give the Gremlins a 23-19 advantage at the break.Jeff Kocjancic paced the Wolves with 24 points.“Karns City is a heck of a team,” said Gasbarre. “There is a nice rivalry between these two schools from football and I think this game added to it.”Karns City will face Brookville, a 53-51 winner over Curwensville, in the semifinals at a date, time and site to be determined.Girls BasketballKarns City 57, Brookville 23From the opening tip, the Raiders (8-15) proved ill-equipped to match Karns City on both ends of the floor.Brookville's offense was reduced to simply trying to get the ball past midcourt against KC's press defense. The Gremlins converted 14 first-quarter turnovers into a commanding 24-2 lead after eight minutes of play.“That was our game plan,” said Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer. “We wanted to keep pressing and keep attacking all night.”“We can't simulate Karns City's speed and size in practice,” said Brookville coach Mark Powell.KC defeated the Raiders 63-27 in a regular-season meeting Dec. 13.“We learned from that game that a lot of what Karns City does goes through (LeeAnn) Gibson,” said Powell. “I thought we held her down well tonight, but we knew we'd be in trouble if they started to hit some outside shots and that's what happened.”Trouble came in the form of five 3-pointers in the first half, three from Annie Hegedus and two more from Emily LoPresti.“Our style is five playing as one,” said Kerschbaumer. “It doesn't matter who is scoring the points or who is getting the assists. The girls bought into that about halfway through the season.”Shanel Preston led all scorers with 20 points, while Hegedus and LoPresti both added 12 for the Gremlins (22-1).The Gremlins will play Redbank Valley, which defeated Moniteau 47-42, in the semifinals at a date, time and site to be determined.BoysKANE 43Kevin Cleer 4 4-6 13, Jack Kocjancic 1 0-0 2, Jeff Kocjancic 11 0-0 24, Andrew Pierson 1 1-1 3, John English 0 1-2 1, Zach Scholl 0 0-2 0, Tyler Rolick 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 6-11 43.KARNS CITY 44David Olszak 4 7-8 17, Tyler Kepple 8 2-3 25, Logan Moroney 1 0-3 2, Dalton Callihan 0 0-2 0, Ethan Conto 0 0-0 0, David Markel 0 0-0 0, Nathan Weckerly 0 0-0 0, Christian Turner 0 0-0 0, Dan Filges 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 9-16 44.Kane 8 11 11 13 — 43Karns City12 11 8 13 — 443-point goals: Kane 3 (Je. Kocjancic 2, Cleer); Karns City 9 (Kepple 7, Olszak 2).Next: District 9 Class AA semifinals, TBDGirlsBROOKVILLE 23Brenna Dworek 3 1-2 9, Samantha Reinard 2 0-0 4, Hali Olson 2 1-2 5, Kylee Deal 1 0-0 2, Brooke Shattenberg 1 0-1 2, Elaina Powell 0 1-2 1, Amanda Ray 0 0-0 0, Mackenzie Ganoe 0 0-0 0, Abby Blochberger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 9 3-7 23.KARNS CITY 57Alyssa Gibson 1 0-0 2, Emily LoPresti 5 0-0 12, Saydie Moore 1 0-0 2, LeeAnn Gibson 2 3-7 7, Annie Hegedus 4 0-0 12, Emily Schumacher 1 0-1 2, Shanel Preston 9 0-1 20, Abby Wolfe 0 0-0 0, LeErin Jones 0 0-0 0, Clara Stoughton 0 0-0 0, Brody Whited 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 3-9 57.Brookville 2 3 8 10 — 23Karns City24 13 16 4 — 573-point goals: Brookville 2 (Dworek 2); Karns City 8 (Hegedus 4, LoPresti 2, Preston 2).Next: District 9 Class AA semifinals, TBD
