KARNS CITY — On the brink of erasing an 11-point first-half deficit against Moniteau Wednesday, Karns City was looking to make its move late in the third quarter.

The Warriors, however, put a stop to that idea, scoring 11 of the next 13 points to take a 43-32 lead with 6:15 remaining and went on to post a 52-41 Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference girls basketball victory.

"We got back to where we needed to be, but when we did, we ran out of gas," said Gremlins coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "We couldn't get back and it wasn't enough at the end."

When Karns City's Ashley Campbell converted a three-point play with 3:18 remaining in the third quarter, the Gremlins trailed 32-30.

That Moniteau had raced out to a 9-0 lead — seven points coming from Jenna McCorry — in the first 2:03 and led 21-10 midway through the second quarter — seemed almost a distant thought.

The Warriors (5-1, 3-0) were not about to let their momentum slip away. An Alex Guercio basket, followed by a score and two free throws by Maura McCaslin opened up a 38-30 lead.

A pair of free throws by Hannah Beck made it a six-point game, but scores by Chelsea Sellers and Kathleen Harding and a free throw by McCaslin opened up a 43-32 Warriors' advantage.

"These girls will never quit and never let up," said Moniteau coach Mark Yeager on his squad. "We may not execute at times, but if there's a loose ball, they'll be in there after it. These kids hustle all the time."

Karns City could not pull any closer than eight points the rest of the way.

"We've got to find a way to play 32 minutes a game," said Kerschbaumer. "We haven't done that all year. Once we do that, we'll be all right. The last game, we were down 12-1 and in the first game we were down 9-1. We're digging too big a hole for ourselves."

The Warriors were without Guercio for a good chunk of the first half as she picked up a pair of early fouls.

"We have to keep Guercio out of foul trouble," said Yeager. "She's our inside person. I'd tell the kids we have to work the ball inside and we'd do that for a few possessions, then we'd go back to shooting from outside."

Campbell led all scorers with 20 points while Moniteau received 19 from McCaslin, 11 from Harding and 10 from McCorry, the latter all coming in the first half. Hannah Beck added 10 points for Karns City (1-4, 0-2).

Despite Moniteau's quick start one-quarter of the way into the season, Yeager knows there's still work to be done.

"Our post defense and our post offense, we have to get better," said Yeager. "We've been beating teams because of our athleticism."

Not that he's complaining about Wednesday's conference win.

"I'll take a win down here anytime," said Yeager. "It was a little sloppy, but I'll take it."

MONITEAU 52Kathleen Harding 3 4-4 11, Chelsea Sellers 1 1-2 3, Maura McCaslin 6 7-10 19, Jenna McCorry 4 1-2 10, Alex Guercio 2 3-4 7, Chelsea Say 1 0-1 2, Katie Brehm 0 0-0 0, Jaryn Beatty 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 16-23 52.

KARNS CITY 41Taylor Kerschbaumer 0 0-2 0, Caitlin Davis 1 1-5 3, Hannah Beck 3 4-4 10, Ashley Campbell 5 9-12 20, Stephanie Stoughton 3 2-3 8, Jen Pickett 0 0-0 0, Corinne Conto 0 0-0 0, Madeline McKain 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 16-26 41.

Moniteau 15 12 13 12—52Karns City 8 13 11 9—413-point goals: Harding, McCorry; Campbell

JV: Moniteau, 25-24

Friday: Moniteau at West Forest

Monday: Karns City at RedbankValley