Taylor’s trey lifts KC girls to win in KSAC semifinal
CLARION — It may not have been exactly the way Steve Andreassi drew it up, but the result still managed to send members of Karns City’s girls basketball team and its fans into celebration mode.
Down by one to North Clarion with 7.5 seconds left in Thursday’s KSAC tournament semifinal, the Gremlins inbounded and reached midcourt before getting the ball to Brooklynn Taylor. The junior guard slipped to the corner thanks to a screen set by Phoebe Brandon and let go on a 3-point attempt that beat the final buzzer and sent KC to Saturday’s championship game against Redbank Valley.
“It felt good coming off my hand, but the two 3-point attempts I had before that felt good too and they both rimmed out,” said Taylor, who scored 11 points in the game. “Phoebe set a phenomenal screen and I knew I had to take advantage of it.”
Andreassi said he was surprised at the defense North Clarion used on the final possession.
“I thought we’d face more pressure back up court than we did,” he said. “That threw us off a bit, but we definitely planned to have Brooklynn coming off a screen.”
“In the timeout just before that last shot, we told our girls to not allow a 3-pointer, but I think they were afraid of committing a foul. If given the choice, I’d rather have them foul. But I’m proud of the team. They played hard.”
The Wolves (16-7) broke a 34-all tie when Lily Homan broke free on an inbound play and scored on an uncontested bank shot, after which KC called a timeout to set up Taylor’s game-winner.
“Brooklynn has put a lot of pressure on herself to score, especially since Chloe (Fritch, junior guard) went down with injury,” Andreassi said. “She wants to be the girl taking the shot at the end.”
Behind strong play from Naomi Venesky, who scored a team-high 12 points, the Gremlins (16-7) built a 30-19 lead with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. But North Clarion responded with a 15-2 run to take a 34-32 lead late in the fourth.
Savanna Prescott knotted the score with a pair of free throws with 1:42 remaining.
Just 10 days ago, the Gremlins let a sizable advantage slip away in a 41-34 loss to the Wolves.
“We’re up 11 (Thursday) and I’ve got to do a better job of coaching,” said Andreassi. “We should have stayed full-throttle.”
Lily Homan led all scorers with 14 points and Ainsley Hartle added 10.
The Gremlins will get a third shot at top-seeded Redbank Valley (18-5) in Saturday’s title game. The Bulldogs won the first two meetings by scores of 48-47 and 46-40.
“We lost two tough overtime games to them,” said Andreassi. “With the defense we play, I feel we can be in any game.”
KARNS CITY 37
Naomi Venesky 5 1-1 12, Savanna Prescott 2 4-8 8, Hannah Buchanan 1 0-2 2, Brooklynn Taylor 3 2-4 11, Phoebe Brandon 2 0-0 4, Hanna Dailey 0 0-0 0, Hannah Summerville 0 0-0 0. Totals: 13 7-15 37.
NORTH CLARION 36
Akeela Greenawalt 3 0-0 8, Lily Homan 6 0-0 14, Kaylee Castner 1 0-0 2, Ainsley Hartle 3 3-4 10, Ava Best 1 0-0 2, Brooke Steinman 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 3-4 36.
Karns City 5 10 15 7 — 37
North Clarion 7 10 7 12 — 36
3-point goals: Karns City 4 (Taylor 3, Venesky); North Clarion 5 (Greenawalt 2, Homan 2, Hartle).
Saturday: Karns City vs. Redbank Valley, KSAC Championship at Clarion University, 6 p.m.
