Faded finish
KARNS CITY — Chris Bellis didn't see much he was particularly fond of out of his Karns City boys basketball team Wednesday night.
Still, the Gremlins had a chance to win on their home floor, leading Keystone 42-39 with three minutes remaining.
But the Panthers went on an 11-3 run to end the game to sink Karns City, 50-45.
“We have to improve in all areas,” Bellis said. “It's early yet, but that was a big game and we needed to come out and play with a little more urgency.”
Karns City (2-2) scored the first basket, but Keystone went on a 7-0 run and led by seven at the end of the first quarter.
The Panthers' lead swelled to nine late in the second quarter before the Gremlins trimmed it to 26-21 at the half.
Turnovers plagued Karns City early. The carelessness with the basketball was a problem late in the game as well.
“I didn't think we came out with enough energy to start the game,” Bellis said. “We need to come out with some emotion and we'd didn't. We didn't take care of the basketball very well throughout the whole game.”
Karns City did rally to take its first lead since the opening minute on a layup by Noah Pollock late in the third quarter and took its three-point lead on a pair of free throws by Chandler Turner with three minutes remaining in the game.
But the wheels came off as Keystone scored 10 straight points over the next minute to take command.
“We never really panicked or anything like that, we just couldn't turn the corner,” Bellis said. “I don't think you can narrow it down to one part of the game. We didn't handle the ball very well, we didn't shoot very well. I don't think we rebounded very well.”
Ian McElroy paced Karns City with 14 points and Turner added 10.
The Gremlins shot just 32 percent from the floor and eight of their 16 field goals were 3-pointers.
That helped offset a defense that limited Keystone to just a 35-percent night from the field.
Austin Ion led the Panthers with 17 points.
Still, Bellis said his team needs to play better defensively.
“I think giving 50 points is too many points,” Bellis said. “We don't score enough points to give up that many points. We try to keep them under 12 points a quarter and we didn't have enough quarters in that area.”Bellis' message to his team going forward is simple.“We need to come into practice with some focus and realize we need to improve,” Bellis said. “We need to work.”KEYSTONE 50Austin Ion 5-14 7-11 17, Dalton Jones 0-4 0-0 0, Tanner Wilson 1-8 0-1 2, Corey Rapp 5-9 2-2 12, Nate Wingard 6-10 1-1 14, Connor Exley 0-0 0-0 0, Ian Henry 0-2 2-2 2, Luke Hurrelbrink 0-1 0-0 0, Isaak Jones 0-1 0-0 0, LaVan Brooks 1-2 0-0 3. Totals: 18-51 12-17 50.KARNS CITY 45Noah Pollock 2-7 0-0 5, Ian McElroy 5-14 0-0 14, Jacob Friel 2-4 0-0 4, Eric Dodd 0-7 0-0 0, Chandler Turner 3-6 4-4 10, Jimmy Thompson 1-1 1-1 3, Noah Kepple 2-8 0-0 6, Nolan Riley 1-3 0-2 3. Totals: 16-50 5-7 45.Keystone 17 9 8 16 — 50Karns City10 11 12 12 — 453-point goals: Keystone 2 (Wingard, Brooks); Karns City 8 (Pollock, McElroy 4, Kepple 2, Riley)Saturday: Union at Karns City
