BUFFALO TWP — Last year was a tough season for Freeport, and one wrought with adversity.

The Yellowjackets started out well, then lost their last seven games to finish 8-12 overall and a very disappointing 2-10 in Section 1-AAA.

Freeport (5-1) is off to another fast start this season, including a 61-50 home win over Karns City Wednesday night.

Unlike last season, though, Yellowjackets’ coach Mike Beale doesn’t see another nosedive in his team’s future.

“We really have seemed to be jelling the last couple of weeks here,” Beale said. “This group has played a lot together. We played a lot of games and went through a lot of hard times last season. They seem to be reaping the benefits of that so far this season.”

Freeport jumped out to a 38-17 lead at the half against Karns City (1-1) thanks to 19 points in the first 16 minutes from Josh Beale.

The 6-foot-3 junior forward made 10 of his 11 free throw attempts, hit two 3-pointers and finished with 30 points to lead the Yellowjackets, who were playing without starting guard Kris Keppel, who sat out with a balky ankle.

Kevin Lynch filled in well for the Yellowjackets in his stead.

“We have all the confidence in the world in Kevin,” Mike Beale said. “We moved him up last year as a freshman and he’s a great ball handler, and he has a nice shot. We call him a spark plug because we usually bring him off the bench and he’ll spark us.”

Mason Eddinger also scored 13 points and pulled down nine rebounds for Freeport.

Karns City, playing only its second game of the season, came out strong to start the third quarter, trimming the lead to 13.

The Gremlins got as close as 10 late in the fourth quarter.

“We made a couple of runs at them,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “I just talked at halftime about not laying down and coming out and seeing how we are going to react to a little bit of adversity. I thought our kids responded pretty well. It was just disappointing we got ourselves into that situation to begin with.”

David Olszak scored 12 points and Brendan Waltman added 10 points for the Gremlins.

Bellis said playing against Josh Beale was a good test for his team as it prepares for Friday’s game against Venango Catholic and the Vikings’ 6-11 center Devin Zaggar.

“For us to come in and play a quality big man tonight was valuable,” Bellis said.

The game was valuable for Freeport as well, Mike Beale said.

It may be an indicator of a lot smoother road ahead than last season.

“It’s a long season,” the coach said. “We’re trying to take it one game at a time, as every coach out there says. ... But they’re just a very close-knit group. When you coach a group like this, it’s fun. They play for one another. There’s no selfishness. They share the ball. And they care about each other, which is fun.”

KARNS CITY 50

Holden Martin 2-3 0-0 5, Ethan Conto 3-9 0-0 9, David Olszak 4-12 3-5 12, Christian Turner 2-4 0-0 5, Jake Wiles 1-2 0-0 3, Colton Hawk 0-0 0-0 0, Reese Barger 0-1 0-0 0, Brendan Waltman 2-4 2-2 10, Chandler Turner 0-0 0-0 0, Dalton Callihan 3-8 0-1 6, Ben Ealy 1-1 1-2 3, Jimmy Thompson 0-1 0-0 0, Dom Callihan 0-0 0-0 0, Noah Pollock 0-1 0-0 0, Marcus Lantz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 18-47 6-12 50.

FREEPORT 61

Chad Hildebrand 0-1 0-0 0, Mason Eddinger 4-14 2-3 13, Kevin Lynch 2-5 0-0 5, Marshall McDonald 1-2 0-2 2, Brandon Hochbein 1-2 0-1 2, Denny Wusyscik 0-0 0-0 0, Dylan Hochbein 0-3 0-0 0, Codey Digiacobbe 2-5 0-0 4, Ben Beale 0-2 0-0 0, Nick Robertson 0-2 1-2 1, Derek Jones 1-3 0-0 2, Josh Beale 9-19 10-11 30. Totals: 22-59 13-21 61.

Karns City 10 7 19 14 — 50

Freeport19 19 11 12 — 61

3-point goals: Karns City 8 (Martin, Conto 3, Olszak, Wiles, Waltman 2); Freeport 4 (Eddinger, Lynch, J. Beale 2)

Friday: Karns City at Venango Catholic; Freeport at East Allegheny