Rough 2nd half dooms KC
KARNS CITY — All was going according to plan for Karns City — until Fort Cherry altered that plan.
The Gremlins held Fort Cherry without a field goal for more than an eight-minute span in the first half of their PIAA 2A boys basketball playoff game Saturday in the KC gym. Karns City (20-8) built an 11-point lead during that time, going on a 18-2 run.
KC led by eight at halftime, but was outscored 39-22 in the final two quarters and the Rangers (21-6) came away with a 61-52 triumph.
“We like to attack the basket and push the tempo,” Fort Cherry coach Eugene Briggs said. “For two-plus quarters, Karns City wouldn’t let us play that way.
“They were sagging back on defense, daring us to hit outside shots ... and we weren’t hitting them.”
The Rangers sank just two of 15 field goal attempts in the first quarter , eight of 26 in the half. KC, in the meantime, sank 10 of 12 free throws and had the game going its way at intermission.
But that quickly changed.
“They began hitting shots,” Karns City coach Zach Kepple said. “That’s all it was. Their tempo didn’t bother us. It was no different from what we see in District 9.
“We knew that No. 22 (Derek Errett) likes to drive to the basket and I thought we did a good job of taking that away. He hit some outside shots and that surprised us.”
The game was tied on four occasions, the last time at 47 with 5:15 to play. Matt Sieg came off the bench to drain a trey for Fort Cherry, giving the visitors a 50-47 lead with 4:31 to play. The Rangers kept that lead for the rest of the game.
The Rangers’ lead reached 10 before a layup by Cole Johnston, a steal and layup by Hobie Bartoe pulled Karns City within 58-52 with 26 seconds left. But Errett and Corey Bouchele combined to sink three free throws in the final 19 seconds to put away the win.
Errett led Fort Cherry with 26 points, four steals and three assists. Blake Sweder had 14 points, Shane Cornali nine rebounds and four steals.
“We got a lot more points in transition in the second half,” Briggs said. “We were able to turn them over and when we began making shots, we had time to set our defense instead of playing in scramble mode.”
The Gremlins had 20 turnovers in the game.
“Definitely hurt us,” Kepple sid.
At halftime, we talked about taking longer possessions, looking for the high-percentage shot. We became too timid offensively and passed up good shots at times.“
Shane Peters had 14 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Gremlins. Jacob Calihan scored all 11 of his points at the foul line. Luke Cramer scored 10 points while Taite Beighley compiled nine points, nine rebounds, five steals and four assists.
Fort Cherry won for the seventh time in eight games and returns to PIAA tourney action Wednesday night.
Karns City says goodbye to seniors Colson Ritzert, Bartoe, Beighey, Cramer and Callihan.
“That group won 20 games in each of its four seasons,” Kepple said. “They won the KSAC title this year, got to the District 9 title game twice ... They’ve certainly left their mark.”
FORT CHERRY 61
Jack Kitzmiller 1-5 0-0 2, Shane Cornali 2-7 2-3 6, Alan Tarolli 0-2 0-0 0, Derek Errett 11-21 1-2 26, Blake Sweder 5-8 2-3 14, Matt Sieg 3-4 2-2 9, Corey Bouchelle 1-4 2-2 4. Totals: 23-51 9-11 61.
KARNS CITY 52
Hobie Bartoe 2-6 1-2 6, Taite Beighley 4-18 1-2 9, Luke Cramer 3-7 2-4 10, Jacob Callihan 0-5 11-12 11, Shane Peters 5-9 4-4 14, Cole Johnston 1-1 0-0 2, Colson Ritzert 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 15-46 19-24 52.
Fort Cherry 7 15 17 22 — 61
Karns City 13 17 10 12 — 52
3-point goals: Fort Cherry 6 (Errett 3, Sweder 2, Sieg), Karns City Bartoe, Cramer 2)
