Karns City's Luke Cramer (with ball) gets around Moniteau's at Karns City High School. The Gremlins won their regular-season finale, 36-28. (Steven Dalton Photo)

KARNS CITY — For three quarters, Karns City trudged through a gritty divisional matchup with Moniteau, struggling to find its footing against its upset-minded visitors.

Luckily for the Gremlins, they righted themselves when they needed to most, blowing by the Warriors in the final frame en route to a 36-28 boys basketball victory.

Karns City (17-5) isn’t as concerned with Wednesday night’s performance as they are not repeating it in their next outing, a KSAC tournament semifinal clash with North Clarion Friday night.

“We’re not going to complain about a win against Moniteau,” Karns City coach Zach Kepple said. “But we definitely did not play very good basketball tonight. We’ve got to be better moving forward in the playoffs.”

At one point, Karns City had a trio of key players with three fouls each, including Micah Rupp and Luke Garing. Off the bench, Jacob Callihan and Braden Grossman did their part in keeping the Gremlins in the contest until they woke up in the fourth quarter.

Behind the efforts of five different scorers, the home team bucketed 14 of the game’s last 18 points and bailed itself out of an otherwise sloppy effort. Senior Cole Sherwin and sophomores Taite Beighley and Luke Cramer all led the final charge.

“They were running their stuff and we got undisciplined doing what we were doing,” Moniteau coach Mike Jewart said. “When you’re playing poor defense on one end, you can’t compound that by coming down and turning the ball over or taking a quick, bad shot. And that’s what we did.”

The Warriors (5-14) had a chance late, however. Down 32-28, senior Ryan Jewart missed the mark from behind the arc with a minute to go. Moniteau won the ensuing jump ball, but Rupp pickpocketed the visitors and assisted on a Beighley lay-in that put the game away for good.

Karns City shot 5-for-18 (27.7%) from the field in the first half. They’d be wise to get out to a firmer start against North Clarion, who the Gremlins bowed to on Jan. 25. Worth noting, starting guard Luke Cramer missed that game with an injury.

“These guys were hoping North Clarion was going to win to get another shot at them,” Kepple said. “We’re hoping we show up and we do what we’re supposed to do.”

MONITEAU 28

Chason Rugg 4 0-0 9, David Dessicino 3 0-2 6, Colton Thomas 3 0-0 6, Kyle Pry 1 1-2 4, Nathan Kelly 1 1-1 3. Totals: 12 2-5 28.

KARNS CITY 36

Taite Beighley 4 2-4 11, Luke Cramer 4 2-4 10, Jacob Callihan 1 3-4 5, Luke Garing 2 0-3 4, Cole Sherwin 1 2-3 4, Micah Rupp 1 0-0 2. Totals: 13 9-18 36.

Moniteau 6 5 13 4 — 28

Karns City 8 5 9 14 — 36

3-point goals: Moniteau 2 (Pry, Rugg); Karns City 1 (Beighley)