CHERRY TWP — Sink free throws, deny second shots.

Karns City executed on both ends during the fourth quarter Wednesday night in securing a 47-45 boys basketball victory at Moniteau.

The host Warriors took a 33-30 advantage into the final eight minutes of a game that saw neither team ever possess a double-digit lead. KC (5-2) had a 16-8 edge late in the first quarter.

“Rebounding is an area we need to work on, but our defensive rebounding was big in that fourth quarter,” Gremlins coach Chris Bellis said. “We limited them to one shot on virtually every trip down the floor.”

Moniteau (1-7) did not score in the fourth period until Denny Pry canned a lay-up with 3:30 remaining. By then, KC had used a 9-0 run to build a 39-33 lead.

But the Warriors did not go away quietly.

Cody Skiver's second trey of the night cut the Gremlin lead to 43-42 with 38.6 seconds to play. KC's Andrew Johnston sank one of two free throws with 32 seconds left before Moniteau's Andrew Armagost missed a pair of free throws with 24 seconds to go.

The Warriors were 1 of 9 at the line on the night.

“We're shooting less than 50 percent from the line on the year,” Moniteau coach Randy Armagost said. “It's hard to understand. In practice, we hit eight of 10, nine of 10 ... In games, we're not doing it.”

Sophomore Dave Olszak did it for Karns City.

He sank one of two free throws with 18.7 seconds left for a 45-42 lead. After Skiver's 3-point shot from the left baseline missed the target, Olszak sank two free throws with 9.3 seconds on the clock to finally ice the victory.

Andrew Armagost hit a trey at the buzzer to account for the final two-point margin.

“I had all the confidence in the world in David in that situation,” Bellis said. “He's problably hitting 60 perrcent of his free throws on the year, but he can rise to the occasion.”

The Warriors had 20 field goals to KC's 13, but the Gremlins sank 17 of 25 free throws on the night.

“This happens to us all the time,” Coach Armagost said. “We get mugged down low and the refs don't call it.

“Nobody plays a post game anymore. It's all run and shoot. We try to play a post game ... Maybe the officials just aren't used to seeing it.”

Johnston and Tyler Kepple paced Karns City with 12 points each. Logan Maroney had seven of 27 Gremlin rebounds and KC had 11 turnovers.

Andrew Armagost scored 14 points for Mioniteau and had five rebounds. Pry contributed 10 points and 10 boards while James Bair had eight of 36 Warrior rebounds. Moniteau had 13 turnovers.

“I was pleased with the way our kids kept their composure throughout this game,” Bellis said. “We locked them down through much of the fourth quarter to get this win.

“We've had glimpses where we've played pretty well. We have to fight through the stretches where we don't play well and we did that tonight.”

The loss was Moniteau's fourth straight.

“We started 1-9 a few years ago, bounced back to get over .500 and make the playoffs,” Coach Armagost said. “I like coaching this team because these kids play good defense and they scrap after the ball. This group is capable of turning this around.”

KARNS CITY 47

Andrew Johnston 3-6 5-6 12, Tyler Kepple 3-7 3-4 12, Nathan Weckerly 1-1 1-2 3, Josh Wallace 2-10 1-3 5, Logan Maroney 3-5 1-1 7, Dave Olszak 1-6 6-8 8, Ryan Pfeifer 0-0 0-0 0, Christian Turner 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-35 17-25 47.

MONITEAU 45

Dustin Geagan 1-2 0-0 2, Zach Timblin 1-3 0-0 2, Cody Skiver 3-11 0-0 8, Drew Yeckel 0-3 0-0 0, James Bair 4-8 0-1 8, Andrew Armagost 6-14 0-6 14, Denny Pry 5-7 0-0 10, Colton Cumberland 0-2 1-2 1. Totals: 20-50 1-9 45.

Karns City 18 2 10 17—47

Moniteau13 7 13 12—45

3-point goals: Johnston, Kepple 3; Skiver 2, Armagost 2

JV: Karns City, 46-26 (KC: Dave Markel 16, Dave Olszak 11; M: Mark Kimmel 9)

Friday: Redbank Valley at Karns City, West Forest at Moniteau