KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — Brooke Manuel finds any victory sweet.
But what about one on Senior Night? Even sweeter?
“Of course,” said Manuel, chuckling.
The Karns City senior forward and her Gremlin teammates needed the 41-37 win Friday night against Clarion-Limestone for many reasons.
For one, it kept the Gremlins alive for one of the four sports in the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference championship tournament. It also helped point Karns City back in the right direction after a disappointing loss Wednesday to Redbank Valley.
Manuel was a big part of the victory.
She scored 24 points as Karns City overcame a poor start to find a way to pull out a big, pivotal win.
Clarion-Limestone led 13-6 after the first quarter. The Gremlins cut that lead down to two by the half and led 32-29 after three.
Manuel scored 11 points in the third quarter and 15 in the second half. She was also 6 of 7 from the free throw line.
“All the guards on the team, they did all the work getting the ball inside,” Manuel said. “All I have to do is finish the shot, which is pretty much the easy part of the whole thing.”
Emma Dailey, another forward, came off the bench to score 10 for Karns City, which took advantage of its size to dominate in the paint against the smaller Lions.
“That was our game plan,” Manuel said.
“The energy in the gym was unlike anything else,” Manuel added. “It was good to get this win as a team on Senior Night with the whole crowd there. It was great.”
Frances Milliron scored 13 points and Lexi Coull added 10 for Clarion-Limestone (11-8, 5-3), which after a 9-2 start has lost six out of eight.
Karns City (11-8, 5-4) hosts West Shamokin Saturday afternoon in a non-conference game before a huge battle with rival Moniteau on the road Tuesday.
The Gremlins have had an up-and-down season, but still have a chance to make the KSAC tournament. They will already advance to the District 9 playoffs.
“All season when we get knocked down, we’ve kept our heads up and gotten back up,” Manuel said. “We take every battle as they come.”
