Karns City slips up in sub-regional playoff tilt
CLARION — More turnovers than points isn’t necessarily a winning formula.
Karns City wasn’t any exception on Saturday in their girls sub-regional title matchup with District 5’s Chestnut Ridge. The Gremlins gave the basketball away 25 times in a 36-17 defeat at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium.
Karns City (15-9) held the Lions to just four points in the opening frame, and neither team really got much going in the first 16 minutes, overall. Isabella Hillegass’ buzzer-beating bucket before the midway point gave Chestnut Ridge (23-3) an advantage it wouldn’t let go of.
“It was a tale of two halves, defensively,” Gremlins coach Steve Andreassi said. “I thought we dictated the first half and they dictated the second half when they went to their zone. We knew that was going to happen. Some of the things we worked on, we just didn’t do. And some of the things that we worked on, we didn’t execute.”
Karns City looked a lot different than they did on film, Lions coach Mark Dillow said.
“Actually, they were bigger than what we thought,” he explained. “When we went out, it was like, ‘”Oh, they’re long.’ And they played physical at first, so what we had to do was all of a sudden, we had to adjust to it.“
The Gremlins shot just 1-of-8 from the field in the third and scored five points in all in the second half. In the fourth quarter, they turned the ball over on their first seven touches before finally getting a shot off with 2:34 to go. Neither team would get on the board the rest of the way.
“It’s a problem when you think about freshmen and sophomores trying to learn how to play the game and you lose focus,” Andreassi said. “That’s all it is, it’s just a loss of focus of what we’re supposed to do, what you’ve been taught to do, what you know how to do. And I think that lack of focus caught up with us.
“Once you get beat down a little bit and you get behind, the thought processes to how to execute don’t always work.”
Karns City will face Shady Side Academy at home in the state playoffs Friday night.
“I’m still proud,” Andreassi said. “Our girls worked to try to do well in our league, tried to do well in our district, and move on into the state playoffs, and we’ve done that. We’ve already accomplished that. We’re going to continue to move on.”
CHESTNUT RIDGE 36
Belle Bosch 51-4 11, Ashlie Weaver 4 1-2 10, Caylie Conlon 2 0-0 6, Isabella Hillegass 3 0-0 6, Maya Wingard 1 1-2 3. Totals: 15 3-8 36.
KARNS CITY 17
Chloe Fritch 3 1-2 8, Emma Dailey 3 1-2 7, Brooklynn Taylor 1 0-2 2, Jordan Macurak 0 0-1 0. Totals: 7 2-7 17.
Chestnut Ridge 4 10 9 13 — 36
Karns City 8 4 2 3 — 17
3-point goals: Chestnut Ridge 3 (Conlon 2, Weaver); Karns City 1 (Fritch)
