CHERRY TWP —Mike Jewart sat, head in his hands, trying to figure out what has happened to his Moniteau boys basketball team.

Few answers were forthcoming.

“I'm at a loss right now,” Jewart said, shaking his head after watching his Warriors squander an opportunity at home against Punxsutawney in a 59-52 loss Friday night.

“I'm not sure what's going on,” Jewart added. “We have guys who panic at times when the ball gets into their hands, and I'm not sure why.”

Punxsutawney used a trap and press to confound Moniteau, especially in the second half.

The Warriors committed 30 turnovers in the game.

The pressure bothered Moniteau — a guard-heavy team — immensely

“To be honest with you, I don't understand why,” Jewart said.

Things started out OK for the Warriors.

Moniteau led 19-12 midway through the second quarter as Punxsutawney went ice cold from the floor in the second quarter.

The Chucks missed 11 consecutive shots at one point and went scoreless for nearly eight minutes.

Punxsutawney coach Jake Perrin had a foreboding feeling about traveling to Moniteau for this game Friday night.

“I said to the coaches today, 'I don't have a good feeling about this,'” Perrin said. “The whole pregame was, 'Don't start slow' and that's what we did. It was a long bus ride up here and the gym was a little cold. I had a feeling about it.”

Moniteau (4-11) was unable to seize on that slow start enough to put the game out of reach.

Instead, it was the Chucks who claimed control in the third quarter.

Punxsutawney (4-8) took the lead for good at 26-25 with five minutes remaining in the third quarter and swelled that lead to as many as 10 at several points in the second half.

Every time the Warriors were able to creep back to within five, the Chucks answered.

“One of the things that helped us was to get the tempo up,” Perrin said.

Kyle Pry scored 12 points to lead Moniteau.

Pry is coming back from an ankle injury and looked as if he was shaking some of the rust off in the second half.

Some rare good news for the Warriors Friday night.

“He's looking better every practice, every game,” Jewart said. “The aspect we need from him more is getting to the rim.”

Jewart had thought his team had turned somewhat of a corner after taking Keystone to the brink last week.

This week, however, has featured another regression, Jewart said.

Now the task is simple: reverse that troublesome trend Monday before the playoffs begin.

“Even when we lost to Keystone, I liked where we were at,” Jewart said. “Then you take a look at last night and tonight ...

“The school was nice enough to let us go to the playoffs,” Jewart added. “Unless we have a wholesale change in attitude, we won't be there long.”

PUNXSUTAWNEY 59

Andrew Young 6-11 3-4 15, Gabe Kengersky 3-9 1-3 7, Nick Humble 0-8 4-6 4, Ethan Presloid 6-12 6-8 18, Noah Weaver 1-8 3-4 5, Graham Loff 1-2 0-0 2, Kyle Nesbitt 0-1 0-0 0, Ryen Heighley 3-4 0-0 7 Totals: 20-55 17-25 59.

MONITEAU 52

Tanner Williams 3-4 1-2 7, Mason Mershimer 2-5 2-2 6, Chason Delasora-Rugg 3-6 0-0 9, Kyle Pry 3-13 3-4 12, Brady Thompson 1-1 2-2 5, Chance Diaz 2-2 0-0 5, Quinton Scriven 1-4 0-0 3, Ryan Jewart 2-4 1-2 7, Nathan Kelly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-39 9-12 52.

Punxsutawney 12 8 15 24 — 59

Moniteau11 12 6 23 — 52

3-point goals: Punxsutawney 2 (Heighley 2); Moniteau 8 (Delasora-Rugg 3, Pry, Diaz, Jewart 2, Thompson, Scriven)

Monday: A-C Valley at Moniteau