CHERRY TWP - Karns City boys basketball coach Steve Andreassi doesn't know why his team seems to start out slow against Moniteau.

On Wednesday, it took only a few minutes to right itself.

Trailing 12-9 five minutes into the game, the Gremlins scored the next 12 points and 25 of 29 over the next eight minutes to cruise to a 77-58 victory over the Warriors.

"I thought we had a great team effort after the slow start," said Andreassi. "We always seem to start slow when we come to Moniteau. We knew we'd be in for a good game.

"We played good team defense. Everybody was doing their job," he added.

With the Warriors' Tyler Grossman sitting out with a hamstring injury, the matchup against the Gremlins' Tyler Callihan never materialized.

The two were among the top scorers in the county last year. Callihan finished the game with 30 points, with 17 coming in the 25-4 run.

"That's where they won the game," said Moniteau coach Randy Armagost. "Up until the four-minute mark of the second quarter, that's when he took over."

Moniteau (0-5) used a 6-0 spurt to take an early 10-6 lead before the Gremlins' Ryan Earley drained a 3-pointer with 3:36 left in the first quarter.

Matt Buczkowski followed with a basket to give the Warriors a three-point lead with 3:03 left in the frame.

The next eight minutes belonged to the Gremlins.

Callihan's six points highlighted a 12-0 run that carried into the second quarter.

Greg Madru and Matt Schandelmeier sandwiched buckets around another Callihan score to make it 23-16, but an 11-0 run - nine more coming from Callihan - allowed the Gremlins to take a 34-16 advantage with 3:08 left before halftime.

The Gremlins led by as many as 28 points at 66-38 before the Warriors went on a 9-0 run. Moniteau couldn't pull any closer than 15 points the rest of the way.

Andreassi continues to see improvement, but that doesn't mean he or the team is satisfied.

"I'm still asking for more," said Andreassi. "Our starters haven't given up more than 40 points. Do we need to improve? Definitely, but in every game, everyone has been stepping up.

"As a team, we're a far cry better than we were in the first game of the year. We still need to get better," Andreassi added.

Josh Behrens added 10 points for the Gremlins while Moniteau received 19 from Buczkowski - 13 in the second half - and 10 from Zack Thompson.

"At the beginning of the season, I thought (Buczkowski) could score 20 points a night," said Armagost. "He just has to believe he can. Zack is a young man who hasn't played in a year or two, and (Greg) Madru, our only senior, came out and had some nice shots."

The Warriors have struggled offensively this season, especially without the services of Grossman, but they did score 40 second-half points.

"There was only one quarter we didn't score (six in the second quarter). We were taking some shots and making a few," Armagost said.

"Our guys keep going and never quit. We have to get better, though," he added.

The game did not count in the KSAC standings.

KARNS CITY 77

Tyler Callihan 11 7-11 30, Nathan Knox 1 0-0 2, Mark Ferguson 2 2-2 6, Ryan Earley 3 1-2 8, Josh Behrens 5 0-2 10, David Black 2 4-6 8, Steve Black 0 2-4 2, Matt Allen 0 0-0 0, Blake Armstrong 0 2-2 2, Charlie Zaludek 2 3-4 7, Josh Fiscus 1 0-0 2. Totals: 27 21-35 77.

MONITEAU 58

Adam Cousins 1 3-6 5, Matt Schandelmeier 4 0-2 8, Zack Thompson 5 0-2 10, Matt Buczkowski 7 3-6 19, Garth Kohlmeyer 2 1-2 6, Greg Madru 3 0-2 7, Nick Morrow 1 0-0 3, David Rumbaugh 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 7-20 58.

3-point goals: Calluihan, Earley; Buczkowski 2, Kohlmeyer, Madru, Morrow

JV: Karns City, 45-26

Friday: Keystone at Karns City; Moniteau at Rocky Grove