Karns City senior point guard David Olszak (1) has picked up the scoring slack for his team and has spearheaded the Gremlins' turnaround from a 1-5 start.

KARNS CITY — David Olszak doesn’t shy away from the tremendous responsibility he has for the Karns City boys basketball team.

He welcomes it.

Olszak is the point guard, leading scorer and unquestioned leader for the Gremlins, who are trying to salvage a season from a poor start.

“I like it. I enjoy it,” said Olszak, who is averaging 19.1 points per game this season. “It’s a lot of fun. I have guys around me who are confident in me and I’m confident in them. So, it makes it easy.”

Last year as a junior, Olszak didn’t even crack double-digits in scoring average. Players like Tyler Kepple and Logan Moroney did the heavy lifting in the offense.

Olszak was a passer and averaged three assists and five rebounds per game.

With Kepple gone to graduation and Moroney deciding not to come out for the team this season, Olszak was counted on to provide more of a scoring punch.

He has obliged while still maintaining his assists, rebounds and defense.

“We ask him to do a lot,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “We ask him to handle the ball a lot. We ask him to distribute the ball. We ask him to score. We ask him to defend. It’s important that he plays well for us, and he has.”

Perhaps more important are the things Olszak has done that don’t show up in the box score, Bellis said.

Against Clarion Monday, Bellis gave Olszak the keys to the Gremlins’ attack, letting him devise the offensive game plan against the Bobcats.

The result was a 75-point outburst for Karns City.

“He’s assumed that leadership role we need,” Bellis said. “And I think our players are responding well to that.”

Olszak, who is also a standout soccer player and broke the school record for wins as a goalkeeper this fall as well as a star on the track and field team, said leadership comes with experience.

Olszak has been a starter on the basketball team since his sophomore season.

“I’ve been here for four years,” Olszak said. “When you are around that long, you figure out what it takes and you can communicate to other guys what it takes.”

Olszak is hoping he and his teammates have figured out what it takes to win this season.

Karns City started the campaign 1-5, but have since won five of its last six games.

“I knew from the start I could trust them,” Olszak said. “It was just a matter of time. It took a little while, and we were kind of rushing things. I knew once the season progressed, we’d be able to knock shots down.

“I don’t think we ever panicked,” Olszak added. “We started out kind of the same way last year. I think we knew we’d get on a roll and we’re starting to get on a roll right now. We just have to keep it up.”

And Olszak intends to spearhead that charge.

“(Coach Bellis) is confident in us. We’re a close group and I think we’re a smart group,” Olszak said. “We want to play hard for each other.”