CHERRY TWP — When the Warriors and Gremlins tangle in any sport — football, baseball, basketball (and probably even badminton) — a physical battle is always expected.

And that's just what happened Wednesday night between the Moniteau and Karns City boys basketball teams.

The Warriors and Gremlins bludgeoned each other for 32 minutes.

The teams combined to shoot just 29 percent.

Both teams had to manage foul trouble.

And both teams went on runs, only to watch the opponent close the gap.

When the carnage was over, Karns City had escaped Moniteau with a 42-32 win, thrusting the Gremlins back into the KSAC-South race and preventing the Warriors from taking a huge step toward achieving a South title.

“It was just kind of a typical brawl that we have over here when it's scrappy all the way out,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “It makes it really hard to play offense.”

Offense was almost a dirty word.

Each team, though, showed flashes of it.

Karns City (12-7, 5-3) did in the first quarter, going on a 10-0 run and leading 15-4. The Gremlins held Moniteau without a point for more than six minutes.

Most of the second quarter belonged to the Warriors (12-8, 5-3), who went on a 14-0 run to take an 18-15 lead.

Karns City rallied to take a 23-20 lead at the break in a game that looked like it would be decided by whoever had the last huge swing.

Instead, it was decided by a trio of reserves.

With Chase Beighley, who scored 10 of his game-high 14 points in the first quarter, Nathan Waltman, Erik Pfeifer and Austin Fahlor in various degrees of foul trouble, Bellis had to lean heavily on senior Josh Wimer.

Wimer played more minutes than any other Gremlin while coming off the bench.

Bellis also had to get big minutes from freshmen Ty Belles and Luke Garing.

“We had pretty good players in foul trouble and it's really difficult to play through that,” Bellis said. “I really thought the guys who stepped in for them played well. Probably things that don't show up in the box score.”

With Karns City largely crippled — but with the lead — Moniteau had an opportunity to turn the tide of the game, but couldn't take advantage.

The Warriors were blanked in the third quarter in falling behind by 12 points.

Moniteau missed all 14 of its 3-point shots and was just 9 of 42 in the game.

“We couldn't make a shot to save our life,” said Moniteau coach Mike Jewart. “There was a lid on the basket. Karns City played hard. They played tough D. We were expecting it. I wasn't expecting us not to make shots and we had opportunities.”

Moniteau had its own foul trouble to deal with as Ethan McDeavitt fouled out.

Still, the Warriors were able to close the Karns City gap to 34-29 with just less than four minutes remaining in the game.

They also got a boon when Karns City post player Nathan Waltman, who scored 12 points, fouled out.

Again, Moniteau couldn't capitalize.

“We've been in a funk lately where we aren't sharing the ball,” Jewart said. “A lot of that has to do with practice time — we've only had three practices in three weeks.

“Waltman is a beast,” Jewart added. “We got him in foul trouble. We wanted to attack him. But once we got him out, we couldn't take advantage. It is what it is. It was a tough game.”

Gage Neal led Moniteau with 10 points.

Karns City had a chance to salt the game away earlier than it did in the fourth quarter, but missed six consecutive free throws at one point before hitting six of its last eight.

“We had a couple of guys knock them down,” Bellis said. “I think sometimes when the mood and tempo of the game is as heightened as it was, it's hard to slow you adrenalin back down and make your free throws.”

It was an emotional game for many reasons.

First, Karns City wanted to avenge a double-overtime loss on its home floor earlier in the season.

Second, the game had significance in the standings. Now both Moniteau and Karns City are one game and a half behind Keystone for first place.

Third, it was Karns City vs. Moniteau.

And that's really all that is needed.

“Any team, you have to be able to manage the adversity and have mental toughness,” Jewart said. “That's something we didn't do a very good job with tonight.”

KARNS CITY 42

Josh Wimer 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Fahlor 1-5 3-5 5, Erik Pfeifer 1-1 2-4 4, Chase Beighley 4-7 5-9 14, Ethan McElroy 2-6 1-2 7, Nathan Waltman 5-14 2-4 12, Ty Belles 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-35 13-24 42.

MONITEAU 32

Jared Lominski 3-7 3-7 9, Tyler McFadden 1-3 0-0 2, Bobby Matthews 1-3 0-0 2, Gage Neal 3-16 4-4 10, Noah McLean 0-2 3-6 3, Nate Tack 0-3 0-0 0, Ethan McDeavitt 1-6 2-2 4, Dean Hershey 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Pry 0-1 2-2 2, Zack Smith 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 9-42 14-21 32.

Karns City 15 8 9 10 — 42

Moniteau4 16 0 12 — 32

3-point goals: Karns City 3 (Beighley, McElroy 2)

JV: Moniteau 42-23

Friday: A-C Valley at Karns City; Moniteau at Redbank Valley