Emily Hegedus scored 19 points to lead Karns City Tuesday night. Photo by Mike Schnelle.
By Shane Lux
CLARION, Pa. – Karns City used a strong start and an even better finish to top Kane, 53-38, in the District 9 Class AA girls’ semifinals.
The Lady Gremlins duo of Emily Hegedus and LeeAnn Gibson continued to shine, as the two combined to score 35 points to lead Karns City to the District 9 AA Title game for the third straight year.
Awaiting Karns City will be rival Moniteau which beat Redbank Valley 40-33, the Lady Gremlins have beaten the Lady Warriors twice this year by scores of 46-31 and 43-38.
LeeAnn Gibson finished her night with 14 points, five rebounds, two assists, two steals and block, while Emily Hegedus finished with a team-high 19 points, five boards, four assists and two steals. The last Lady Gremlins also got 12 points, five assists and five steals from Alyssa Gibson and eight points and four rebounds from Mackenzie Craig.
Both teams got off to a quick start as Karns City lead 20-13 after a quarter.
Kane was able to keep things close through a half thanks to freshman Ella Marconi and sophomore Trinity Clark, who each scored 12 points. But the Lady Wolves were still down 31-19 at halftime.
In the second half the Lady Gremlins turned up the pressure and forced 13 turnovers in the final two quarters (18 all together). Hegedus scored 11 points in the second half including five in the third quarter to give the Lady Gremlins a 43-29 lead after three. LeeAnn Gibson added five third-quarter points and seven in the second half.
Karns City then wasted little time putting the game away in the fourth, as they went on 10-2 run that eventually brought the final score to 53-38.
GAME NOTES – Karns City is aiming for a third straight D9 title … The Lady Gremlins qualified for the PIAA playoffs with the win for the third straight year.
KARNS CITY 53, KANE 38
Score by Quarters
Kane 13 6 10 9 – 38
Karns City 20 11 12 10 – 53
KANE – 38
Ella Marconi 3-11 6-6 12, Rachel Morgan 3-4 1-1 7, Camryn Cummings 2-4 0-0 4, Sydney Dyne 0-2 0-0 0, Trinity Clark 5-13 0-0 12, Lindsey Hottell 1-5 0-0 2, Hanna Buhl 0-1 1-2 1, Alexis Lima 0-0 0-0 0, Caitlin O’Hara 0-0 0-0 0, McKenna Ennis 0-0 0-0 0, Nicole Buhl 0-0 0-0 0, Haley Williams 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-40 8-9 38.
KARNS CITY – 53
Alyssa Gibson 4-6 2-3 12, Abby Wolfe 0-3 0-0 0, Alyssa Stitt 0-0 0-0 0, LeeAnn Gibson 3-10 8-12 14, Emily Hegedus 5-7 5-6 19, Mackenzie Craig 4-10 0-0 8, Brooke Moore 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 16-37 15-21 53.
THREE-POINTERS – Kane 2 (Clark 2). Karns City 6 (Hegedus 4, A. Gibson 2).
