CHERRY TWP — Perception is everything.

The Karns City girls basketball team could look at the first quarter of Tuesday's game against Moniteau two ways.

The Gremlins could decide that they trailed by four points or they could realize that they had been shut out for the first eight minutes.

Thanks to a 13-point second quarter, Karns City bounced back, then used a 10-0 run to close out the third quarter en route to a 32-24 non-conference victory.

"We were doing everything we wanted to on the offensive end," said Gremlins coach Dave Kerschbaumer. "The shots just were not falling.

"I actually said that's one of the best quarters of the year. If we weren't playing defense, we'd be down a lot more," Kerschbaumer added.

"We couldn't do anything," said Moniteau coach Mark Yeager. "Other people were getting the shots, but they couldn't knock them down."

A pair of free throws by Moniteau's Amy Gladd with 2:49 left in the first quarter and a basket by Alyssa Deal with 53 seconds left accounted for all the offense in the first quarter.

When Melissa Collier scored for the Gremlins with 6:39 before halftime, it snapped a 9-minute, 21 second-drought.

Deal countered with another basket, but Karns City (4-1) scored 11 of the next 15 points in a 2:42 span to take a 13-10 lead with 2:54 left before the half.

Collier scored two more baskets following a 3-pointer by Haley Callihan to start the spurt, that basket set up by a Collier steal.

"(Collier) and Tausha Bowser get equal playing time," said Kerschbaumer, "but (Collier) does something coming off the bench. She gives us that offensive push."

Moniteau (2-3) trailed 13-12 at halftime, but when Deal and Sara Vinca scored consecutive baskets to open the third quarter, the Warriors enjoyed a 16-13 lead with 6:31 remaining.

Two minutes later, however, the Gremlins began to take control of the game.

Callihan scored the first two baskets of the 10-0 run and added the capper to give Karns City a 23-16 lead.

"That's when our confidence level grew," said Kerschbaumer.

After Deal scored to open the fourth quarter, the Gremlins received a free throw from Collier, a trey from Bowser and two more free throws from Collier to take a 29-18 advantage.

Moniteau made one final push, scoring the next six points on baskets by Deal, Amy Gladd and Baronetski, to trim the deficit to five points, 29-24, with 1:10 left.

Karns City iced the game with three free throws inside the final minute.

"I thought we had turned the corner last week against Cranberry," said Yeager. "We scored 22 points in one quarter (in a 59-44 win).

"Every game will be a battle until we get a little more consistency in scoring. We can't count on two players scoring, Deal and Baronetski," Yeager added.

Deal finished with 12 points to lead Moniteau, while Karns City received 11 from Collier, nine from Callihan and eight from Bowser.

"I think we boxed out well and got a couple of easy looks in transition," said Kerschbaumer. "The key this year is our defense will lead to offense."

Notes:

The Gremlins have gone 12 quarters without allowing an opponent more than eight points in one frame.

KARNS CITY 32

Tausha Bowser 3 1-2 8, Allyson Kepple 1 0-1 2, Haley Callihan 4 0-0 9, Ashley Fuhrer 0 0-0 0, Brianna Markle 1 0-0 2, Melissa Collier 3 5-6 11, Kailyn Weibel 0 0-0 0, Mallory Craig 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 6-9 32.

MONITEAU 24

Kristin Baronetski 2 0-0 4, Jodie Davis 0 0-0 0, Alyssa Deal 5 2-2 12, Amy Gladd 1 2-2 4, Sara Vinca 2 0-0 4, Amanda Gladd 0 0-0 0, Sam Kristufek 0 0-0 0, Kenzie Timblin 0 0-0 0. Totals: 10 4-4 24.

3-point goals:

Bowser, Callihan

JV:

Moniteau, 34-32

Thursday:

Keystone at Karns City

Friday:

Moniteau at Rocky Grove