CLARION, Pa. – Brooklynn Taylor had a choice.
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She could either drive to the hoop and tie the game or take a 3-pointer and win the KSAC semifinal against Karns City.
She laughed when she said the choice didn’t really matter because if she missed her head coach, Steve Andreassi was going to yell.
So she elected to take the 3-pointer, and the end result was nothing but net at the horn from the right corner giving the Lady Gremlins a 37-36 win over the She-Wolves Thursday night at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym.
“I saw the lane and I saw the shot,” Taylor said. “I was like, Steve is going to yell at us either way, so I just took the shot.”
North Clarion (16-7) had taken a 36-34 lead on a Lily Homan backdoor layup with 6.7 seconds left.
Watch Homan’s shot
But out of a timeout, the She-Wolves decided not to pressure the basketball, which surprised Taylor and Karns City, and the junior was able to get all the way up the court and hit the shot from the corner to win the game.
“Coming in after they made that backdoor, Steve wrote up a play where actually Nai (Naomi Vensky) would get the ball, and we would go up. We thought they were going to try to press. But, instead, they didn’t press, which we were kind of surprised. So we rolled the ball up. I saw (Homan) coming up to try to get the rolling ball, so I grabbed it probably a little too soon. I got around her and (Akeela Greenawalt) stepped up and got around her.”
Watch Taylor’s full postgame interview
Karns City (16-7) looked like it was in complete control of the game when it went on a 12-0 run in the third quarter to take a 30-19 lead late in the quarter.
But five straight points from Homan before the end of the quarter stopped the bleeding for North Clarion and got the She-Wolves within six, 30-24, going to the fourth quarter.
The run quickly became a 10-0 spurt on a Homan basket and a 3-pointer from Greenawalt to make it a one-point game, 30-29.
Karns City made it 32-29, but an offensive rebound and putback by Ava Best made it a one-point game again, 32-31, before an Ainsley Hartle triple gave North Clarion a 34-32 lead with just over three minutes to play.
Savanna Prescott then tied the game at 34 with two free throws with 1:42 left, the second coming after she had missed a free throw but North Clarion’s Brooke Steinman was called for a lane violation giving her a second chance.
The score remained that way until Homan scored on the backdoor cut out of a timeout to give North Clarion one last lead.
Venesky led Karns City with 12 points with Taylor adding 11 and Prescott eight.
Homan had 14 for North Clarion with Hartle adding 10 and Greenawalt eight.
Karns City will face Redbank Valley in the championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Tippin Gym.
REDBANK VALLEY 45, CLARION 31
CLARION, Pa. – Starting the game on an 11-0 run, Redbank Valley never looked back on its way to a 45-31 win over Clarion in the KSAC semifinals at PennWest Clarion’s Tippin Gym.
The Lady Bulldogs (18-5) got the lead to as many as 21, 43-22, midway through the fourth quarter.
Mylee Harmon led Redbank Valley with a game-high 22 points with Addy Bond adding 12 tallies.
Marley Kline had 16 for Clarion (13-10).
Redbank Valley will face Karns City in the championship game at 6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 17, at Tippin Gym.
