KARNS CITY, Pa. (EYT/D9) — The Clarion boys basketball team had a clear plan against Karns City.
Smother the Gremlins’ guards with a trapping zone. Make them give up the basketball. Force them to miss shots.
The plan worked.
Clarion’s hounding defense limited Karns City to just 11 first-half points and 31 in the game as the Bobcats went on the road for a 38-31 victory on Tuesday night.
“We were trying to put pressure on their ball handlers,” said Clarion coach Scott Fox. “We were hoping to prevent them from getting the ball to the inside guys and we were hoping to force them to miss (3-pointers).”
Success. And success.
Karns City was 0 for 19 from 3-point range in an uncharacteristic poor shooting night up and down the Gremlin roster.
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
Clarion held KC’s leading scorer Taite Beighley, a junior guard, to just six points and Hobie Bartoe, another quick guard who can shoot, to one point.
“We don’t expect that shooting from them,” Fox said. “It worked out to our advantage that they weren’t able to hit tonight.”
Especially in the first half, which was a slog for both offenses.
Both teams forced the other to misfire trip after trip down the court with tough, aggressive defense as Clarion went into the locker room up 12-11.
It was the lowest scoring first half for either team, by far, this season.
“I looked up at the scoreboard at one point and saw 12-11,” Fox said, grinning. “I was like, ‘Is it the first quarter?’ It was almost halftime.”
Clarion (8-3) scored more points in the first four minutes of the third quarter than it did the entire first half.
Dawson Smail got hot. So, too, did Devon Lauer.
(Clarion’s Dawson Smail was named the Hager Paving Incorporated Player of the Game)
The duo combined to score 17 of the Bobcats’ 18 points in the frame.
Smail hit a pair of 3-pointers early in the third. Lauer also drained one during a 16-6 run that put Clarion ahead for good.
Smail finished with a game-high 18 points.
“We had a slow start, but the defense really kept us in the game,” Smail said. “We hit a couple of 3s and got some big steals that led to fast breaks (in the third quarter). Fast breaks and 3-pointers are huge momentum builders and game changers.”
Clarion led 30-25 after three quarters and pulled away in the fourth, building a 10-point lead at one point.
Again, the defense led the way, forcing turnovers and missed shots in droves.
Karns City was just 22% from the floor.
“Their zone is very good,” said Gremlin coach Zach Kepple. “Their zone is really hard to penetrate through and we just didn’t knock down jump shots. They move well in that zone and we knew that coming in. We watched film on it. We practiced it.”
Karns City (6-2) may have had too much time to practice.
The Gremlins (6-2) hadn’t played a game since Dec. 20 — a span of 13 days.
At times it showed with uneven play and unforced errors.
“Realistically, when you have a break of not playing a game since before Christmas to now, you’re gonna have these mistakes,” Kepple said. “They were mistakes that we shouldn’t have made.”
Meanwhile, Clarion played games on back-to-back nights at the Punxsutawney tournament last week, splitting with Marion Center and Cameron County.
Clarion learned a lot, Fox said, from the one-point loss to Cameron County in the tourney title game after an impressive win over Marion Center.
“We’ve had injuries and sickness and we haven’t been consistent lately,” said Fox, who was missing forward Gabe Simko last week and was without Bryce Brinkley against Karns City. “We stepped up tonight, played good defense and we were aggressive. We came out of the Cameron County game and we didn’t feel like we were aggressive the entire game.”
Lauer added 13 points and Simko seven for Clarion.
Micah Rupp paced Karns City with 13 points, nine rebounds and four steals. He also blocked two shots.
Smail, though, was the key for the Bobcats with a number of steals and rebounds. He also handled the ball most of the time as the point man of the offense.
“He can read an offense,” Fox said. “He’s so athletic, he can get to places they don’t expect him to be. And another thing he does well is rebounds for his size. He’s one of our better rebounders.”
Clarion will host Moniteau on Thursday while Karns City has another long layoff. The Gremlins don’t play again until Monday at DuBois.
Fox said he is pleased with how his team played after that tough loss to Cameron County last week.
“I’m proud of the kids,” Fox said. “To come in here and hold that team to that many points — that’s a great job.”
Clarion Area High School sports coverage on Explore and D9Sports.com is brought to you by Redbank Chevrolet and DuBrook.
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