CHERRY TWP — Karns City appeared to be on its way to an easy victory.

The Gremlins led 13-0 midway through the first quarter against rival Moniteau Friday night, but the one-win Warriors forced KC to scratch and claw and it was up for the challenge.

The Gremlins hit a lull, scoring just 15 points in a span of 20 minutes between the first and third quarters, but they never surrendered the lead in a 44-37 victory.

“We knew it was going to be tough tonight; it always is against Moniteau,” said KC guard Taite Beighley, who had seven points and six rebounds in the win. “They're our biggest rival.”

Without its starting point guard Chason Delarosa-Rugg, Moniteau (1-6) also struggled to score for much of the night. But a 9-2 run, which included a 3-pointer from Kyle Pry and three combined baskets from David Dessicino and Nathan Kelly, pulled the Warriors to within 25-24 with 2:10 left in the third quarter.

“I didn't know we had it in us,” said Moniteau coach Mike Jewart of his team's rally. “The last few games, we've been smacked in the mouth and just backed down. You never want to lose, but I can live with this one. We played hard and things started to click for us.

“I've never been as happy after losing a game.”

Moniteau's surge had put the Gremlins on their heels, but junior forward Micah Rupp and Cole Sherwin helped KC regain control of the game.

The former's basket late in the third halted Moniteau's spurt. He added two more makes early in the fourth before Kyle Pry's trey brought the Warriors to within 32-27 with five minutes left.

Sherwin stepped to the fore, first with a jumper and then a 3-pointer that pushed the lead back to 10 points, 37-27 with 3:30 left.

Moniteau would not get its deficit to less than six the rest of the way.

“Without Chason (out with the flu), scoring is a lot tougher for us,” Jewart said. “We tried to rush things and turnovers hurt us.”

The win, KC's fourth straight, improves the Gremlins to 8-1.

“Moniteau is a gritty team and they hit some big shots,” said Gremlins' coach Zach Kepple. “It was a hostile environment tonight. It's always big to win a rivalry game.”

Rupp and Sherwin both scored 15 points for the Gremlins, who travel to Clarion Tuesday.

Ryan Jewart scored 14 points to lead the Warriors, who should have Delarosa-Rugg back for Tuesday's game at Union.

Karns City graduated the school's all-time leading scorer and point guard Chase Beighley last spring. His younger brother, Taite, is now playing the position.

“A lot of the teams we play are using a box-and-1 on him because he's a good facilitator,” Kepple said. “That's affected our scoring in some games.

“Defensively, we've been pretty good with the trap, but need to get better in man-to-man.”

KARNS CITY 44

Cole Sherwin 5 2-7 15, Taite Beighley 3 1-6 7, Luke Cramer 1 0-0 3, Micah Rupp 6 3-5 15, Luke Garing 1 2-2 4, Braden Grossman 0 0-0 0, Jacob Callihan 0 0-0 0, Hobie Bartoe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 8-20 44.

MONITEAU 37

Aydan Jackson 0 1-1 1, David Dessicino 5 1-3 11, Nathan Kelly 2 0-1 4, Ryan Jewart 5 0-0 14, Kyle Pry 2 0-0 6, Colton Thomas 0 1-2 1, Hunter Magerko 0 0-0 0, Connor Alfreno 0 0-0 0, Connor Ealy 0 0-0 0. Totals: 14 3-7 37.

Karns City 15 6 7 16 — 44

Moniteau 5 8 11 13 — 37

3-point goals: Karns City 4 (Sherwin 3, Cramer); Moniteau 6 (Jewart 4, Pry 2).

Tuesday: Karns City at Clarion; Moniteau at Union