Knights challenge Gremlins

By Derek Pyda Eagle Staff Writer

January 06, 2011 Last Updated: January 06, 2011 02:15 PM High School

Bellis

Summit secures 72-56 win at Karns City

KARNS CITY — The Karns City boys basketball team scheduled Summit Academy in hopes of bolstering its nonconference schedule.

The Knights provided the challenge the host Gremlins sought.

Summit forced the action for much of the night as the Knights posted a 72-56 win Wednesday.

The Gremlins trailed 19-10 after the first quarter and 35-21 at halftime.

“We needed to be the aggressors tonight and were unable to do that in the first half,” said KC coach Chris Bellis. “I was pleased that we came out and competed in the second half.”

Despite the victory, Knights coach Art McCray saw lapses in his team's performance, as the Knights (5-4) committed 28 turnovers.

“We got the win, but our guys assumed this would be easy,” he said. “We knew Karns City would play under control and would be willing to take charges. I think we had four or five charges called against us in the first half alone.”

One bright spot for the Gremlins (3-3) was the team's 14 3-point goals.

KC is a perimeter shooting team to begin with, and, with Summit's defense not allowing much inside, the Gremlins relied almost exclusively on their outside offense, attempting 40 3-pointers.

During a stretch of the second period, KC tried seven straight 3-pointers.

Brad Fuhrer led the Gremlins with five trifectas, Tyler Kepple made four, Tucker Preston and Josh Wallace each drained two and Jake Henry added one.

“I'm confident in a lot of our guys shooting from the outside,” Bellis said. “If they have the ball and get their feet set, there's a good chance that ball is going down.”

The Gremlins struggled from the field in the second quarter and the Knights closed the first half on a 12-5 run.KC's missed 3-pointers created long rebounds, most of which were tracked down by the Knights, who held a 26-11 edge on the boards at the break.“I liked the fact that we scrapped for rebounds tonight and we stayed patient inside,” said McCray.KC enters Friday's game with rival Moniteau with three wins. The Gremlins had four victories all of last season.“We're better than last year,” said Bellis.SUMMIT ACADEMY 72Malik Anderson 2 0-0 5, David Murray 8 0-0 16, Derek Banks 4 0-0 8, Arley Townsend 5 0-2 10, Ron Smith 5 2-4 12, Tevin Allison 1 0-1 2, Rainford Miles 1 0-0 2, Hassan Boston 2 3-6 7, Dale Johnson 4 0-4 8, Richard Lacey 1 0-0 2, Louis Santiago 0 0-0 0, Ja'Donte Richardson 0 0-0 0, Nathaniel Penbrook 0 0-0 0, Rashan Robinson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 33 5-17 72.KARNS CITY 56Brad Fuhrer 5 0-0 15, Brandyn Bowser 1 2-4 4, Jake Henry 2 2-3 7, Tucker Preston 5 0-0 12, Josh Wallace 2 0-0 6, Tyler Kepple 4 0-0 12, Tom Stoughton 0 0-0 0, Brady Ellenberger 0 0-0 0, Ethan Williams 0 0-0 0, Dylan Hipple 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 4-7 56.Summit Academy 19 16 25 12—72Karns City 10 11 13 22—563-point goals: Summit Academy 1 (Anderson); Karns City 14 (Fuhrer 5, T. Kepple 4, Preston 2, Wallace 2, Henry).Friday: Karns City at Moniteau; Mohawk at Summit Academy