Before we delve into spring, there’s one more tribute to be paid to the winter sports season around here.

Defense.

That’s as in the defense played by the Karns City girls and Knoch boys basketball teams this past season.

They didn’t just play defense. They thrived on it. They benefitted from it. They used it to win.

Those two teams won a combined 41 of 47 games played in 2013-14, primarily by not allowing the other team to score.

Karns City’s girls allowed fewer than 40 points in 19 games this season. The Gremlins won while scoring fewer than 50 points themselves seven times.

In games when KC did roll up a lot of points, a bulk of them came in transition, after its smothering defense forced turnovers in the backcourt or near midcourt to set up easy lay-ups the other way.

It all added up to a 25-2 record and a romp through the District 9 playoffs en route to the Class AA district crown.

Veteran coach Dave Kerschbaumer mentioned after his team’s lopsided win over Clarion-Limestone in the district title game that “we play six girls and they all run, run, run. They get after it on defense because they believe in it.

“That’s how we win.”

While Karns City only had one senior — Emily Schumacher — on its roster, Knoch’s boys were a senior-laden team with seven on the squad.

The Knights bought into the defensive philosophies of coach Ron McNabb and parlayed it into a co-section championship and a 16-5 record.

Of Knoch’s 16 wins, 12 occurred despite the team scoring fewer than 60 points. Only three opponents — Class AAAA power Hampton, Class AAA power Chartiers Valley and fellow section champion Mars — scored more than 50 points against the Knights all season.

Knoch allowed 40.6 points per game as a team. No WPIAL team allowed fewer. Class AA Brentwood was the only other WPIAL team to allow 45 points per game.

In high school basketball, it’s easy to become enamored with offense. Slamming home two points or draining 3-pointers can be a pretty glamorous thing to do inside a packed gym.

Hunkering down in a stubborn zone, playing aggressive man-to-man defense, standing in and taking a charge, executing a trap in full-court pressure — all of those things take effort and work.

But that work pays off.

Karns City and Knoch proved that. Frustrate and wear down your opponent defensively and your offensive game will suddenly become more effective.

It’s the nature of the game.

Karns City’s girls will be back in full force next year to do what they do again.

Knoch’s boys will have a lot of new faces on the floor. But McNabb’s style of play will be the same.

Defense wins.

If Austin Miller, Jordan Hickey, David Gallagher, Chris Kier, Connor Shinsky, Jim Larrimer and Stephen Oblich didn’t believe it before, they do now.

John Enrietto is sports editor of the Butler Eagle