KARNS CITY — The new year brought with it a much more acceptable result for the Karns City boys basketball team.

After a pair of lackluster efforts against Deer Lakes and Keystone closed 2013, the Gremlins found a way to beat a gritty Moniteau squad 54-52 Friday at the Gremlins' gym.

“Our effort early on tonight was much improved,” said KC coach Chris Bellis of his team's 15-9 lead after one quarter. “We played a lot of kids and that allowed us to remain fresh.”

“We still have a lot of things we need to work on, but this is a nice confidence-booster for us,” said KC junior guard David Olszak, who scored a team-high 19 points.

The victory did not come without some tense moments late in the contest.

Olszak's two free throws with 16.7 seconds left in the game pushed the Gremlin lead to 54-48, but James Bair answered for the Warriors at the other end. Moniteau then stole the inbound pass and Cody Skiver put in two more points to cut KC's lead to just two points.

Just eight-tenths of a second remained, but before the Gremlins could inbound the ball, a Moniteau player called a timeout. Since the Warriors were out of timeouts, a technical foul was charged to the visitors.

Though Tyler Kepple missed both free throws, all that was needed was a clean inbound at mid-court, which the Gremlins executed without error.

“We competed tonight,” said first-year Moniteau coach Jerrod Markle. “We played hard and were aggressive and those are all positives I'm taking out of this game.”

“We still have to find a better way to close games out,” admitted Bellis. “There were some late turnovers and defensive lapses that hurt us tonight, but we hung in there and found a way to win.”

Karns City's early success was sparked by Olszak, who scored 15 points in the first half, including six points in the opening period.

“I was just able to make plays for myself and the rest of the team,” said Olszak. “My teammates were able to give me some good looks early on.”

“He's capable of this kind of game, he's one of our leading scorers,” said Bellis. “He wanted the ball and that's what we want out of him. He added five rebounds and led us in defensive rebounds with four. Those are very important.”

Led by Bair, who scored 11 points in the second period, Moniteau remained within range, trailing just 28-23 at halftime.

Bair ended the night with a game-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.

“He gets to the hoop and finishes strong,” Markle said of Bair. “It's no surprise that he put up the numbers he did tonight.”

The Warriors were held back by 21 turnovers, including six in the final quarter.

“We just have to take care of the basketball and make smarter plays,” said Markle.

Kepple added 15 points for Karns City (3-3) while Mark Kimmel scored 10 for the Warriors (1-7).

MONITEAU 52

Mark Kimmel 4 2-2 10, James Bair 11 4-10 27, Jake Fullerton 2 0-2 4, Cody Skiver 4 0-0 8, Aaron Marterella 1 1-2 3, Derek Boben 0 0-0 0, Zack Jewart 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 7-16 52.

KARNS CITY 54

David Olszak 7 4-5 19, Logan Moroney 3 0-0 6, Nathan Weckerly 1 0-0 2, Dan Filges 0 1-2 1, Tyler Kepple 5 4-7 15, David Markel 2 0-0 6, Holden Martin 1 0-0 3, Christian Turner 1 0-1 2, Brendan Waltman 0 0-2 0, Dakota Mohney 0 0-0 0, Ethan Conto 0 0-0 0, Dalton Callihan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 9-17 54.

Moniteau 9 14 13 16 — 52

Karns City15 13 13 13 — 54

3-point goals: Moniteau 1 (Bair); Karns City 5 (Markel 2, Martin, Kepple, Olszak).

JV: Karns City 40-26

Monday: Moniteau at West Forest; Karns City at Redbank Valley