Strong finish
CHERRY TWP — Moniteau managed the only run of the game — and made it count.
The Warriors found themselves tied with rival Karns City through three quarters Monday night in a boys basketball game that endured five ties and 13 lead changes up to that point.
But Moniteau used a 12-2 run to begin the fourth period, then held off a late KC rally to post a 64-59 KSAC-South victory at Moniteau High School.
The Warriors won an 84-56 decision at Karns City a month ago.
“We never seemed to get our feet going tonight,” Warriors coach Randy Armagost said. “We hadn't been in the gym since Friday and it was Senior Night. ... We didn't have the same intensity we had at their place.”
But they had enough.
Consecutive layups by senior guard Kyle Armagost — the second off of a steal — gave the Warriors (15-6, 7-2) a 47-43 advantage 42 seconds into the final period. Joey Deal stuck back an offensive rebound and Andrew Armagost converted a layup off a steal.
An Ethan Pry layup and two Andrew Armagost free throws completed the spurt that gave Moniteau a 55-45 edge with 3:56 left.
Karns City (7-15, 3-7) had 23 turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter.
“We have to do a better job on that,” KC coach Chris Bellis said. “Turnovers hurt us all year.
“They switched to a 1-2-2 half-court trap in the final couple of minutes when we were trying to come back. They weren't trapping all that hard, but we had trouble with it.”
The Gremlins made one final push, however, fueled by senior Tucker Preston. He scored nine of his team's first 11 points in the last eight minutes, including a trey that cut the gap to 57-54 with 2:30 remaining.
A Kyle Armagost layup stemmed the tide with 2:05 to play. A free throw by Joey Deal with 1:02 left and two more by Andrew Armagost with 51.5 seconds to play finally put the stubborn Gremlins away.“They shot the ball a lot better against us tonight than they did the last time,” Coach Armagost said. “Overall, they played a better game.“We had a couple of turnovers late that helped them get back in it and we missed too many free throws.”Moniteau sank just 12 of 23 free throws, including 7 of 15 in the fourth quarter.Kyle Armagost paced the Warriors with 26 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five steals. He pulled within 56 points of Tyler Grossman's career scoring record of 1,647 points at Moniteau. The Warriors have at least two more games to play.Andrew Armagost added 13 points and four steals while Pry had 12 points and Deal seven rebounds.Sophomore guard Tyler Kepple paced KC with 20 points — including four treys — and seven rebounds. Preston added 18 points.The Gremlins completed their fifth straight losing season.“It's taking a while, but little by little, we're close to getting this turned around,” Bellis said. “For a non-playoff team to hang right with one of the best teams in the district on their floor ... that shows we're getting there.”Coach Armagost wasn't surprised the game was close.“Even if one team is 2-20 and the other 20-2, when two neighboring rivals meet up, you figure it's going to be a ballgame,” he said.<B>KARNS CITY 59</B>Brandyn Bowser 2-7 2-3 6, Tyler Kepple 8-13 0-0 20, Brady Ellenberger 2-3 2-2 6, Tucker Preston 6-10 4-6 18, Dan Filges 0-0 2-2 2, Kyle Barger 1-1 2-2 4, Ethan Williams 1-8 0-0 3. <B>Totals:</B> 20-42 12-15 59.<B>MONITEAU 64</B>Kyle Armagost 11-25 4-9 26, Andrew Armagost 3-5 7-10 13, Ethan Pry 6-8 0-0 12, Joey Deal 1-2 1-2 3, Jonathan Loos 2-4 0-2 4, Brayden McCorry 0-1 0-0 0, Joe Holfelder 3-4 0-0 6, Colt Cumberland 0-1 0-0 0. <B>Totals:</B> 26-50 12-23 64.<B>Karns City 17 9 17 16—59Moniteau 17 12 14 21—643-point goals:</B> Karns City 7 (Kepple 4, Preston 2, Williams); Moniteau 0.<B>Junior varsity: </B>Moniteau, 56-51 (M: Dustin Geagan 13, Drew Yeckel 11, Colt Cumberland 10; KC: David Olszak 15, Andrew Johnston 14, Logan Moroney 14)<B>Wednesday:</B> Moniteau at A-C Valley
