KARNS CITY — Brody Pollock was hot early.

The Union defense was hot throughout.

Pollock, a senior on the Union boys basketball team, scored 11 of his game-high 19 points in the first quarter and the Golden Knights' hounding defense did the rest in a 53-36 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference South win at Karns City Wednesday night.

“He's the horse. He always has been,” said Union coach Karen Davis. “I don't expect anything less from him.”

Pollock's big first quarter merely kept Union even with Karns City, which came out firing.

Ethan Williams hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the first quarter as the Gremlins jumped out to an 8-2 lead.

Pollock, who scored the first 11 points for Union, helped his team take a slim 14-12 lead at the end of one.

Pollock spent much of the second quarter on the bench with foul trouble.

It didn't matter much as the Golden Knights (16-2, 6-0) held the Gremlins to a mere four points in the frame and closed the first half with nine straight points to stake a 25-16 halftime lead.

Karns City (6-12, 2-5) had topped 60 points in its last three games, but had trouble turning the numbers on the scoreboard against Union.

“I thought all night long we defended them well and I thought if we held Union to 53 points, we'd be in the game,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “We just didn't knock down shots.

“That hasn't been a problem for us lately,” Bellis added. “But Union pressures a little more than most teams.”

That pressure was enough to cause problems for the Karns City shooters.

The Gremlins shot 26 percent from the floor and struggled even more from 3-point range where they were 3 of 23.

Tyler Kepple and Tucker Preston, Karns City's two leading scorers, were held to seven points combined.

The shooting woes allowed Union some breathing room on a night when it wasn't at its best.

“It's tough coming down here and playing,” Davis said. “It always has been — even when I coached the girls. It's good to leave with a win. I'll take it.”

Taylor Smith added 14 points for Union, which never trailed by fewer than nine points in the second half.

Mikey Harris had another strong game on defense for Union with 11 rebounds.

Harris, who had a double-double against Moniteau Monday, is back in the starting lineup because of a knee injury suffered by Brody Shick.

“Mike did a great job,” Davis said. “Another big night and that makes a difference, especially here,” Davis said, pointing to the eight ticks by Harris' name in the defensive rebounding column. “That keeps them from getting second and third shots. That's huge.”

UNION 53Taylor Smith 5-13 3-6 14, Brody Pollock 9-14 0-0 19, Dylan Shirey 0-3 0-0 0, Kaden McGregor 3-6 3-6 9, Wanya Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Austin Davis 2-6 0-0 4, Mikey Harris 3-7 1-6 7.

Totals: 22-49 7-18 53.

KARNS CITY 36Andrew Johnston 0-2 1-2 1, Brandyn Bowser 3-17 0-2 7, Tyler Kepple 3-9 0-0 6, Brady Ellenberger 5-11 0-0 10, Tucker Preston 0-5 2-2 2, Dan Filges 0-0 0-0 0, Kyle Barger 1-4 0-0 2, Ethan Williams 3-9 0-0 8, David Olszak 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 15-57 3-6 36.

Union 14 11 15 13—53Karns City 12 4 10 10—363-point goals: Union 2 (Smith, Pollock); Karns City 3 (Bowser, Williams 2).

JV Score: Karns City 51-50

Friday: Karns City at Clarion-Limestone;

Monday: Moniteau at Union