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KC pulls away

Chase Beighley for Karns City looks to get past Kyle Pry for Moniteaus defense at Karns City.
Gremlins oust rival Warriors with late run

KARNS CITY — A 12-point lead had dwindled down to just two points for Karns City's boys basketball team.

Rival Moniteau, which struggled from the floor for much of the game, began making shots and getting stops at the other end of the floor.

“They changed their defense up, went to a trap,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “We got into a hurry and started to miss shots.”

Clinging to a 47-45 lead with just under five minutes remaining in the game, the Gremlins made an adjustment of their own on defense, switching to man-to-man for the first time in the game.

It sparked the host Gremlins to an 18-9 run and ultimately, a 64-54 KSAC-South victory Thursday night.

“We made that defensive adjustment and got comfortable,” said Bellis. “We also did well at the free throw line in the fourth quarter (16 of 20). We're normally not a great free throw shooting team, but late in the game we had five guys on the floor who wanted the ball and they stepped to the line with confidence.”

Junior guard Chase Beighley made nine of his 10 attempts from the stripe in the final period and finished with a game-high 22 points.

The Warriors (4-2) struggled to a 7-of-31 effort from the field in the first half, after which they trailed 25-21. They rebounded during their 13-3 run that cut their deficit to two points, the last five points coming on a 3-pointer from Mason Mershimer and a bucket from Ethan McDeavitt. But Moniteau missed a number of layups and shots in the paint down the stretch.

“Karns City is a good team and they earned this win,” said Moniteau coach Mike Jewart. “We have to finish on those drives. We need to be stronger. But we had kids going to the basket and getting hit in the head as they were going up with the ball ... and no call. We couldn't get a call to save our lives.

“Ten seconds came off the clock (with the ball not in play),” added Jewart of a sequence late in the fourth quarter. “How three officials miss that, I don't know.”

Jewart also conceded that his defense needed to be better. After a 4-0 start, the Warriors have dropped two straight, including a 59-47 setback against Keystone on Tuesday.

“We had too many lapses tonight, got out of position just like we did against Keystone,” he said. “We have a scoring group and a defensive group and are trying to finesse the two together. That's the nice thing about the break coming up, we can work on defense.”

The Warriors featured three players scoring in double figures. Kyle Pry led the way with 13 points, Ethan McDeavitt had 12 points and eight rebounds and Gage Neal contributed 10 points.

The Gremlins (4-2) alternated with wins and losses for the first five games of the season. Thursday's win was their second straight as they try to fill the void left by the injured Nathan Waltman, a 6-foot-5 junior forward who scored over 14 points per game last year. He is not expected back until sometime in January.

“Nathan takes up so much space,” said senior Ethan McElroy, who scored 14 points. “Without him in there, everybody else is being guarded much more tightly.

“We have everyone from freshmen to seniors in the starting lineup,” McElroy added. “We just need more time to play together.”

Freshman forward Micah Rupp is helping to pick up the slack in scoring with Waltman out. The former scored 14 Thursday, including 11 in the second half.

MONITEAU 54

Ethan McDeavitt 5 0-1 12, Gage Neal 4 2-2 10, Nate Tack 1 1-2 3, Kyle Pry 5 0-1 13, Mason Mershimer 2 0-2 5, Quinton Scriven 2 3-4 7, Cory McKinley 2 0-2 4, Tanner Williams 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 6-14 54.

KARNS CITY 64

Caiden Corbett 2 1-3 6, Gage Cowoski 1 0-0 3, Micah Rupp 6 1-2 14, Chase Beighley 6 10-12 22, Ethan McElroy 4 5-5 14, Luke Garing 1 3-4 5, Daunte Young 0 0-0 0, Eric Booher 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 20-26 64.

Moniteau 10 11 13 20 — 54

Karns City16 9 19 20 — 64

3-point goals: Moniteau 6 (Pry 3, McDeavitt 2, Mershimer); Karns City 4 (McElroy, Rupp, Cowoski, Corbett)

Saturday: Slippery Rock at Moniteau

Thursday: Karns City at West Shamokin Holiday Tournament

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