Karns City girls get job done in 40-35 win over Moniteau
KARNS CITY — Following a 40-35 home win over archrival Moniteau Wednesday night, Karns City heads into the playoffs with success fresh on its mind. Their counterpart would be better fit just to push the girls basketball contest out of its collective memory.
The Warriors didn’t trail in the second half until the hosts’ Brooklynn Taylor knocked down a trey from the wing with 5:56 to go. The Gremlins (14-8) were playing mainly for pride with their postseason outlook set in stone.
“No effect on playoffs other than sheer momentum,” Gremlins coach Steve Andreassi said. “We had that team down by 12 in the fourth quarter to start the first time we played — right before Christmas — and we lost.
“That momentum factor is (that) you always remember your last game — and we played pretty good.”
Moniteau (17-5) exited the halftime break up by one and pushed its advantage to five with an 8-3 run over the six minutes that followed.
“We couldn’t seem to get the ball to fall in the hole,” Andreassi said. “We tried to get to the hoop, we missed some outside shots. Chloe (Fritch) and Brooklyn both have been hitting big threes all year and Chloe couldn’t get it to fall. Brooklynn did get a couple to fall there in the second half, which held us together.”
Taylor’s aforementioned three-pointer gave Karns City a momentary edge before the Warriors’ Davina Pry took it back. Taylor replied with another make from behind the arc — from about the same spot on the floor — 23 seconds later, permanently taking hold.
To go with that, 13 giveaways — eight of which came in the final 16 minutes — and a rough night at the charity stripe didn’t do the Warriors any favors.
“Once again, foul shots and turnovers kill us,” Moniteau coach Dee Arblaster said. “We hurt ourselves and that’s a four-point swing — two we didn’t, two they did. We’ve got to forget about it. We have a game on Friday and foul shots are mental and turnovers are lack of desire.”
Her crew will face off with North Clarion in the KSAC semifinals on Friday. She urged her players to watch the film from the last time they played the Wolves — a 40-25 home win on Jan. 20. That victory was part of an 11-game winning surge for the Warriors.
“I told them, ‘It’s one game,’” Arblaster said. “We have one game at a time and we’ve got to focus on what’s going on Friday.”
Fritch helped the Gremlins pull away by going 7-of-8 from the line in the last 2:17 of the matchup. Both she and Taylor totaled a dozen points on the night, while Allie Pry had 11 for Moniteau.
Karns City won’t play for nearly two weeks. They’re tentatively scheduled to play against Kane on Feb. 28 for the District 9 3A championship.
MONITEAU 35
Allie Pry 1 8-12 11, Catherine Kelly 4 0-0 8, Davina Pry 3 0-3 6, Autumn Stewart 1 2-4 4, Abigail Jewart 2 0-0 4, Kendall Sankey 1 0-0 2. Totals: 12 10-19 35.
KARNS CITY 40
Brooklynn Taylor 4 1-2 12, Chloe Fritch 2 7-8 12, Naomi Venesky 2 3-4 7, Savanna Prescott 2 0-2 4, Hanna Dailey 1 0-0 3, Emma Dailey 1 0-4 2. Totals: 12 11-20 40.
Moniteau 7 9 10 9 — 35
Karns City 8 7 8 17 — 40
3-point goals: Karns City 5 (Taylor 3, H. Dailey, Fritch); Moniteau 1 (A. Pry)
