KARNS CITY — The Karns City boys basketball team had 10 practices and no scrimmages to get ready for its season-opener Saturday against Deer Lakes at home.

Due to another PIAA quarterfinal run in football, the Gremlins had to scramble to get ready.

In the first quarter, Karns City struggled on offense and defense. Once the Gremlins found their legs, they took the lead midway through the second quarter and never let go in a 59-52 home win over the Lancers.

Karns City senior Dalton Callihan, a 6-foo-4 senior who also plays football, finished with 17 points and 15 rebounds.

In the first quarter, Callihan shot 33 percent (2-of-6) from the floor. Karns City shot 31 percent (4-of-13) as a team.

“All you can do is practice as hard as you can in the time we had,” Callihan said. “I didn’t really play my 10th grade year and played last year. You have to go as hard as you can in the time you have to get the work in.”

Deer Lakes (2-3) took advantage of Karns City’s rust. The Lancers’ motion offense found several cutters to the basket for easy buckets.

Deer Lakes’ Sam Ventura scored eight of his 20 points in the first quarter.

“I think since we didn’t have any scrimmages, we weren’t ready for the speed of the game,” Gremlins coach Chris Bellis said. “We got cut back-door a few times. We addressed it at quarter and kids made a good adjustment.”

A layup by Dan Duddy pushed Deer Lakes lead to 14-10 with seven minutes left in the second quarter. Karns City (1-0) responded with a 7-0 run.

The Gremlins went ahead for good during the middle of the run with 5:31 left in the second quarter.

Colton Hawk found Reese Barger on a fast break, who made the layup and ensuing free throw to put Karns City ahead 15-14.

The Gremlins pushed the lead to 20-16 at halftime.

Karns City scored the first six points after halftime and extended the lead to a game-high 14, 33-19, by the midpoint of the third quarter.

“We had to wake up, you don’t get that speed in practice,” said Karns City senior guard David Olszak, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We’re glad it didn’t take us longer to adjust. Once we adjusted, we were fine.”

Karns City was aggressive on offense and made 32 trips to the free-throw line. Olszak made 16 free throws.

“Since we don’t have many practices under our belt, we just tried to keep everything simple,” Olszak said. “We didn’t get too much into detail, we just had to play hard.”

The Lancers continued to chip away at the lead. With 39 seconds remaining, Ventura banked in a 3-pointer that cut the lead to 55-50.

Olszak was fouled on the next possession and made two free throws to help put away the game.

Considering the amount of time Karns City had to prepare, Bellis is happy with where his team is at.

“We need to improve defensively and take care of the ball better down the stretch,” Bellis said. “We talked at halftime of how important the first three minutes of the second half were and I thought our guys came out and took care of things.”

DEER LAKES 52

Jake Spirnock 2 0-0 4, Jake Roberts 2 3-3 8, Sam Ventura 5 7-14 20, Zack Butler 1 4-6 7, Cory Pampena 0 0-0 0, Dan Duddy 1 0-2 2, Scott Kelly 2 0-0 4, Noah Darsie 1 2-2 4. Totals: 14 19-32 52.

KARNS CITY 59

David Olszak 4 16-19 25, Ethan Conto 1 0-0 3, Christian Turner 1 2-2 4, Brendan Waltman 1 0-0 2, Dalton Callihan 5 5-10 17, Holden Martin 1 0-0 3, Chandler Turner 1 0-0 2, Colton Hawk 0 0-1 0, Reese Barger 1 1-1 3. Totals: 15 23-32 59.

Deer Lakes 12 4 12 24 — 52

Karns City10 10 17 22 — 59

3-point goals: Deer Lakes 3 (Roberts, Ventura, Butler); Karns City 3 (Martin, Olszak, Conto)

Wednesday: Karns City at Freeport