Karns City boys, Moniteau girls opting into District 9 basketball tournament
After a 9-13 season, Karns City boys basketball is opting into the District 9 tournament set to begin next week.
Same is true of Moniteau girls, which will play in the KSAC tournament and will also opt into the D9 playoffs. The Warriors are 8-13 with one game remaining, Wednesday vs. Brookville.
Both teams informed the Butler Eagle of their decision Tuesday.
District 9 accepts all teams in its basketball tournaments that finish with a .500 record or better, but teams under .500 can also choose to opt into the tournament.
The Gremlins are doing so after finishing 5-5 in the KSAC. Moniteau opted in because it will play in the conference tournament beginning Friday. KSAC tournament games do not impact seeding heading into the D9 tournament.
The KSAC girls tournament will be held Friday and Saturday at Clarion University. Friday’s semifinal matchups are: Karns City vs. Cranberry Area at 6 p.m. and Moniteau vs. Redbank Valley at 8 p.m. The winners play Saturday at 8 p.m.
Karns City is the lone Butler County-area boys team to make the District 9 playoffs and will compete in Class 3A. The Gremlins are led by senior Shane Peters, a Penn State-New Kensington commit who is averaging a double-double this season.
Moniteau (6-14, 3-6) boys and A-C Valley (4-17, 1-9) missed the playoffs. Union (10-12, 4-6) boys is awaiting a school board vote to determine whether it will compete. All records are as of Tuesday afternoon.
Moniteau’s girls, who were tasked with replacing all-time leading scorer Catherine Kelley heading into the season, will be joined by KC (18-2, 7-1), both of which compete in Class 3A. Union/A-C Valley (4-16, 1-7) fell short.
The D9 tournament is likely to begin Feb. 21, with brackets likely to be announced later this week.
District 10 has not announced its brackets yet; the playoffs will begin Feb. 18. The WPIAL announced its brackets Monday, with the tournament set to begin Thursday.
