KARNS CITY — Karns City coach Dave Kerschbaumer was expecting a Moniteau comeback.

He also expected his team to withstand it.

The Gremlins girls basketball team enjoyed a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter before Moniteau scored eight consecutive points to pull within one.

Karns City, however, used free throws down the stretch to pull out a 53-47 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference victory Friday.

Both teams are 10-2 in the conference, two games behind undefeated Union. Karns City improved to 13-8 overall; Moniteau fell to 13-9.

"We knew they would make a run at us," said Kerschbaumer. "I just told the kids to keep doing what you're doing, and I simplified it for them.

"I thought (Moniteau guard Alyssa) Deal would get off and make a couple of 3s, but Tausha (Bowser) played her well," Kerschbaumer added.

"We missed so many easy shots underneath in the paint," said Moniteau coach Mark Yeager. "We made silly mistakes and had so many turnovers."

The Gremlins used an 8-0 run late in the first half to complete a 12-2 run.

Four points apiece from Bowser, Allyson Kepple and Haley Callihan helped turn that 21-19 lead into a 33-21 advantage with 1:53 left before the break.

Moniteau got baskets from Kristin Baronetski and Amanda Gladd to trim the deficit to seven at halftime.

Karns City enjoyed its comfortable lead until 6:30 left in the fourth quarter, when the Warriors mounted their comeback push.

Sara Vinca had a pair of free throws and added a basket 22 seconds later before Amy Gladd sank free throws with 3:29 left. Twelve seconds later, Baronetski added a putback to make it 43-42.

"I was pleased with our effort," said Yeager. "We pressed the whole game."

The Gremlins, however, worked themselves to the free-throw line, where Callihan and Melissa Collier each made one free throw, then Collier followed with a score off a Kepple assist to give Karns City a 47-42 lead with 2:04 left.

Moniteau's Kenzie Timblin made it a three-point game with two free throws, but Kepple sandwiched four free throws around a Callihan free throw for a 52-44 lead with 15.1 seconds left to ice the game.

"Everyone who went in did the job," said Kerschbaumer. "I told them that the second half would be won on the defensive end, then we'd have to win it at the free-throw line."

Callihan led all scorers with 14 points while Kepple added 11 points. Moniteau received 13 points from Amanda Gladd and 10 from Alyssa Deal.

Notes:

Brianna Markle scored the Gremlins' first eight points of the game, including a pair of 3-pointers. … By halftime, both teams had scored one more point than they did for the entire game in the Dec. 13 meeting.

MONITEAU 47

Kristin Baronetski 4 1-2 9, Alyssa Deal 3 3-4 10, Amy Gladd 1 2-2 4, Amanda Gladd 5 0-0 13, Maura McCaslin 1 0-0 2, Jodie davis 0 0-0 0, Kenzie Timblin 1 2-4 4, Sara Vinca 1 3-4 5. Totals: 16 11-15 47.

KARNS CITY 53

Tausha Bowser 3 1-2 7, Allyson Kepple 2 6-6 11, Haley Callihan 4 6-10 14, Ashley Fuhrer 2 0-0 4, Brianna Markle 3 0-0 8, Melissa Collier 1 6-8 8, Kailyn Weibel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 20-28 53.

3-point goals:

Amanda Gladd 3, Deal; Markle 2, Kepple

Thursday:

Moniteau at Cranberry; Karns City at Keystone