KARNS CITY - Change can be a good thing, but the Karns City boys basketball team didn't want any more of it in the second half Friday.

After a first half that saw 14 lead changes, the Gremlins took the 15th to open the third quarter and made it stand as they went on to post a 66-51 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference victory.

Neither team scored more than five consecutive points until the Gremlins closed out the third quarter with two free throws apiece by Tyler Callihan and Steve Black, then opened the fourth with Callihan connecting on a three-point play and adding another basket.

That started a 15-1 run that helped the Gremlins open a 56-39 lead.

"I don't think either team shot the ball well, but give (Redbank) credit for playing physical the whole game," said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi.

"They took us out of our game with their style of play. If either team scores more than five points, then it's a different game," he added.

"The big difference between the third quarter and the first half was second shots," said Bulldogs coach Tom McClaine. "We did well defensively, but didn't get the second looks."

Another factor for the Gremlins (15-4, 9-0) was their free throw shooting in the third quarter, when they connected on 11 of 12 and were 16 of 17 after starting the game 0-for-3.

"It seems like we go into games like this and shoot foul shots well," said Andreassi. "And, in other games, maybe they don't mean as much and we have to be focused."

With the Bulldogs (8-9, 5-4) holding a 26-25 lead at halftime, the Gremlins came out and notched a three-point play from Mark Ferguson and added a Nathan Knox bucket in the first 35 seconds to take a 30-26 lead.

A 3-pointer by Callihan and a three-point play by Knox helped the Gremlins take a 36-29 lead, but the Bulldogs trimmed the deficit back down to three.

Trailing 41-34, Redbank's Nick Johnston drained a 3-pointer and was fouled on the play. He sank the free throw to make it 41-38.

That's when the Gremlins went on their run to break open the game. Callihan scored 11 of his game-high 29 points in that span.

That type of spurt was missing from the Gremlins in the first half.

"We were getting frustrated and started losing our heads, and I did as well," said Andreassi. It came to a point where instead of playing and coaching basketball, we were letting everything get into our heads.

"I give our players credit for turning it around," he added.

Steve Black and Knox each chipped in with 13 points for the Gremlins. Brandon Johnston had 12 points for the Bulldogs, followed by Nick Johnston (11) and Ryan Toth (10).

REDBANK VALLEY 51

Nick Johnston 4 1-3 11, Josh Riggle 0 0-0 0, Brady Shumaker 2 3-5 8, Ryan Toth 3 4-4 10, Brandon Johnston 4 4-5 12, Skyler Smith 2 0-0 4, Brandon Doverspike 1 2-4 4, Josh Dubia 0 0-0 0, Mike Goth 0 0-0 0, Zach Wanninger 0 0-0 0, Joe Monteleone 1 0-0 2. Totals: 17 14-21 51.

KARNS CITY 66

David Black 0 0-0 0, Tyler Callihan 10 8-9 29, Nathan Knox 5 3-4 13, Mark Ferguson 4 1-3 9, Ryan Earley 1 0-2 2, Steve Black 3 6-6 13, John Geibel 0 0-0 0, Josh Fiscus 0 0-0 0. Totals: 23 18-24 66.

3-point goals: N. Johnston 2, Shumaker; S. Back, Callihan

JV: Redbank, 51-44

Wednesday: Karns City at Union