House in Order
KARNS CITY — Tuesday night's 15-point loss at Keystone did not sit well with Moniteau's boys basketball team.
“We hadn't been playing as a team,” said Warriors' coach Mike Jewart. “The guys were playing for themselves and not for each other. The Keystone game was a perfect example of that.”
The Warriors talked about what needed to change, then went out and made it happen against arch-rival Karns City.
Junior point guard Ethan McDeavitt scored a game-high 22 points and added five assists as Moniteau snapped the Gremlins' four-game winning streak with a 57-45 road victory Thursday night.
“Karns City is a great team, but we really weren't focused on them,” said Jewart. “We were focused on what we needed to improve on. This was by far the best game we've played this season.”
Before the Warriors (4-2) could take and protect a lead, they first had to withstand a barrage of points from the Gremlins in the first quarter.
KC made seven field goals in the period, which included a 9-0 run, and the hosts led 20-14 after eight minutes.
From that point on, Moniteau's defense made things more difficult on KC's standout sophomores — point guard Chase Beighley and forward Nathan Waltman.
Noah McLean did not start the game for the Warriors, but was inserted to slow down Waltman, who scored six points in the first quarter. The latter tallied just six points the rest of the game.
“Noah played a physical game and his effort helped our guards out, too,” said Jewart.
In the backcourt, McDeavitt rose to the challenge against Beighley, Karns City's leading scorer. The latter put up nine points in the first quarter, but was held to six the rest of the night, including no field goals in the second and third periods.
“Ethan was unbelievable. He was all over the place,” added Jewart. “He took his lumps last year as a sophomore, but went up against one of the best point guards in the district tonight and did a great job.”
The Gremlins shot just 21 percent (8-of-37) from the floor over the final three periods.
“We talked about it in the huddle after the first quarter,” said McDeavitt. “We locked things down, got in their face and tried not to allow open 3s.”
KC's last lead came with 3:59 left in the second quarter when Ethan McElroy's trey put the Gremlins ahead 23-22.
Moniteau closed the first half on an 8-2 run and never looked back.“In the first quarter, we were able to get to the basket,” said KC coach Chris Bellis. “But Moniteau played a real physical game and we just couldn't get shots to fall. We got down and played from behind most of the game. We probably gambled a few times to try and get steals and left them with open looks.”Austin Fahlor's conventional 3-point play with 1:27 remaining in the third sliced the Warriors' lead to 38-33, but Moniteau again closed with a spurt, this one a 7-1 run, to lead 45-34 after three quarters.Baskets in the final quarter from Jared Lominski, McLean and McDeavitt kept the Gremlins (4-2) at bay.Gage Neal added 12 points for the Warriors, Lominski scored 10 and McLean paced the team with eight rebounds.“We are still in good shape, still in the running in the KSAC-South,” Bellis said. “We can't let one game get us down, but we have to address some things.”MONITEAU 57Jared Lominski 5 0-0 10, Noah McLean 1 1-3 3, Bobby Mathews 3 1-2 7, Gage Neal 4 1-3 12, Ethan McDeavitt 7 7-10 22, Kyle Pry 1 0-0 3, Nate Tack 0 0-0 0, Tyler McFadden 0 0-1 0. Totals: 21 10-18 57.KARNS CITY 45Josh Wimer 2 0-0 5, Austin Fahlor 2 3-4 8, Erik Pfeifer 1 0-0 2, Chase Beighley 4 6-7 15, Ethan McElroy 1 0-0 3, Nathan Waltman 5 2-6 12. Totals: 15 11-17 45.Moniteau 14 16 15 12 — 57Karns City20 5 9 11 — 453-point goals: Moniteau 5 (Neal 3, McDeavitt, Pry); Karns City 4 (Wimer, Fahlor, Beighley, McElroy).JV: Moniteau 49-45 (2OT)Thursday: Karns City at West Shamokin Tournament; Moniteau at Mercer Tournament
