KARNS CITY - Last year, Tyler Callihan helped carry the Karns City boys basketball team to the District 9 playoffs.

This year, Gremlins coach Steve Andreassi hopes to take some of the burden off of him.

"We have guys who have improved," said Andreassi. "There will be times where we have to go to Tyler, but I hope it will be less and less.

"We have to keep working hard and get where we need to be.

"We always depend on Tyler during the game but Tyler has confidence and his teammates have confidence. Our goal is to have Tyler score a little less and his other numbers may go up. He may still get the same number of shots," Andreassi added.

Callihan was the Butler County Player of the Year last season, averaging 23.4 points, eight rebounds and five assists per game. He also connected on 72 3-pointers and shot 82.1 percent from the free-throw line.

The team's No. 2 scorer was David Slagle, who averaged 7.3 points a game.

"We can start as many as seven or eight who could score," said Andreassi. "We can be more balanced and feel confident in those seven or eight guys. They can play and not miss a beat.

"We will play some up-tempo offense and defense. You can do that if you're playing that many guys," he added.

Senior forwards David Black and Nathan Knox each averaged about five points a game a year ago and junior guard Mark Ferguson averaged three points per contest.

Senior swingman Ryan Earley saw action in more than half the Gremlins games and will make a big contribution this year.

"Inside, we hope to put a lot of pressure with Nathan Knox and Josh Behrens.

"With Ryan, David, Steve (Black) and Mark, these are guys who should be in the rotation, offensively and defensively."

Another strong addition will be 6-foot-2 senior Josh Fiscus, who hasn't played varsity basketball but his size should be a plus. Fiscus was among the area's top running backs.

The Gremlins finished last season with a 12-14 record, but that mark was deceiving. The Gremlins won 11 of their 16 KSAC games, losing to a handful of WPIAL teams on a tough non-conference schedule."We had some highs and lows last year," said Andreassi. "We played some tough teams and took some shots."That benefits us during playoff time. We'll continue with that philosophy. We still have a tough schedule."With Callihan and a slew of returning players, expectations will run high."Definitely there's more pressure. We're expected to do better things," said Andreassi. "We feel this year, we'll have more of a bulls-eye. We anticipate people looking at us as the team to beat."Our goals, though, never change. We want to win the league and the district championships. We expect nothing less," Andreassi added.

2004-05 Boys ScheduleDec. 3-4-at Ford City Tournament; Dec. 7-at East Forest, 6 p.m.; Dec. 13-A-C VALLEY, 6 p.m.; Dec. 15-at Moniteau, 6 p.m.; Dec. 17-KEYSTONE, 6 p.m.; Dec. 21-at Cranberry, 6 p.m.; Dec. 23-at Rocky Grove, 6 p.m.; Dec. 28-29-at Hampton TournamentJan. 4-WEST FOREST, 6 p.m.; Jan. 7-at Clarion-Limestone, 6:30 p.m.; Jan. 12-at North Clarion, 6 p.m.; Jan. 14-CLARION, 6 p.m.; Jan. 18-at Venango Catholic, 6 p.m.; Jan. 21-REDBANK VALLEY, 6 p.m.; Jan. 26-at Union, 6 p.m.; Jan. 28-CRANBERRY, 6 p.m.; Jan. 31-UNION, 6 p.m.Feb. 4-MONITEAU, 6 p.m.; Feb. 7-DUBOIS CENTRAL, 6 p.m.; Feb. 11-at Keystone, 6:30 p.m.