KC girls hold Moniteau scoreless for nearly 8 minutes in key victory
KARNS CITY — Steve Andreassi believed beating Moniteau on Friday would come down to how well his Karns City girls basketball team played defense against the Warriors.
After watching the Gremlins earn a 43-33 victory on their home floor, he reflected on the performance.
“Help, help and help,” he said of the team effort it took to hand the Warriors their third loss of the season. “We knew they wanted to get Catherine (Kelly) to the basket. We told our girls: ”Don’t let her get there. Force her to kick it out.’
“Moniteau has some good outside shooters and they hit some treys later in the game, but (Kelly) is averaging 20 points per game and we knew we had to focus on her.“
After a first quarter that included just three points from both teams, the Warriors (10-3) scored the first five points of the second period to take an 8-3 lead. Soon after, Karns City began a 17-0 run that extended into the second half.
Brooklynn Taylor drained a trey to begin the onslaught, sank another basket and took a charge with 4:07 left in the first half.
Moments later, Chloe Fritch drained a 3-pointer that gave KC the lead for good at 11-8.
“Brooklynn taking that charge, it just seemed to swing the energy our way,” said Andreassi. “Defense set the tempo for us tonight. Offense was just a matter of confidence.”
Fritch, who led the Gremlins (8-3) with 13 points, agreed.
“We didn’t want to get too amped up while trying to score,” she said. “That’s when mistakes happen. We knew the shots would start to fall.”
Six of KC’s final seven attempts from the field hit their mark. Meanwhile, the Warriors were reeling. It did not help them that their star forward, senior Kendall Sankey, had left the game in the first quarter with an injury to her right knee.
Sankey was averaging a double-double in points and rebounds entering the game.
“Everything they (Gremlins) put up was going in and we couldn’t seem to do anything right,” said Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster of KC’s run.
Kelly ended the scoreless drought for Moniteau with a 3-point play 93 seconds into the second half, cutting KC’s lead to 20-11. The Warriors improved in the final two quarters, but with Sankey on the bench, they struggled on the glass.
Abbey Jewart hit a trey for Moniteau, cutting its deficit to 33-24 early in the fourth quarter. Emily Matz’s free throw made it 39-31 with 1:52 remaining, but baskets in the period from Naomi Venesky, Hanna Dailey and Savanna Prescott never let the Warriors threaten KC’s edge.
Dailey added 12 points in the win, which avenged a 42-38 loss to Moniteau last month.
Kelly paced the Warriors with 15 points.
Sankey’s right knee was wrapped after she left the game, though she was able to put weight on it during the second half after returning to the bench. The Warriors were already without senior forward Davina Pry, who is out for the season with a knee injury of her own.
“It doesn’t look too serious, but we’ll have to wait and see,” Arblaster said of Sankey. “We will definitely struggle without her.”
MONITEAU 33
Abbey Jewart 3 0-0 8, Catherine Kelly 4 7-9 15, Allie Pry 3 1-2 9, Emily Matz 0 1-2 1, Kendall Sankey 0 0-0 0, Sophia Fleeger 0 0-0 0, Cheyenne Curl 0 0-0 0, Sydney Bayless 0 0-0 0, Sayge Brunst 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 9-13 33.
KARNS CITY 43
Naomi Venesky 3 0-0 6, Chloe Fritch 3 6-10 13, Hanna Dailey 5 0-0 12, Savanna Prescott 2 1-3 5, Brooklynn Taylor 3 0-2 7, Phoebe Brandon 0 0-0 0, Hannah Buchanan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 7-15 43.
Moniteau 3 5 9 16 — 33
Karns City 3 15 13 12 — 43
3-point goals: Moniteau 4 (Jewart 2, Pry 2); Karns City 4 (Dailey 2, Taylor Fritch).
Tuesday: Redbank Valley at Karns City
Thursday: Union/A-C Valley at Moniteau
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