CHERRY TWP — As halftime speeches go, this one must have been a dandy.

Trailing by six at halftime and looking bad in doing it, Moniteau boys basketball coach Randy Armagost spoke of pride, conference championships and rivalries during his halftime address.

It worked.

The Warriors stormed out in the second half, hitting their first seven shots and outscoring Karns City by 20 points in the final two periods for a 65-51 win.

"Basically, I challenged the kids," Armagost said. "I told them I don't care if this is for a league championship. I don't care what the records are. This is for pride."

It didn't hurt that the Warriors were sharing the floor with a rival with the chance to clinch at least a tie for the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference title.

Moniteau (20-3, 11-1) did just that with the victory. Keystone, which has two conference losses, beat Cranberry 68-34.

Moniteau looked much more inspired in the second half, particularly Matt Buczkowski.

The forward scored 18 of his 20 points and had 10 rebounds in the final 16 minutes.

His points and grit inside were the perfect compliment to Tyler Grossman, who scored 28 points.

Grossman, forced into playing point guard for the bulk of the first half because of an ankle injury to Tyler Armagost, was 13-of-16 from the free throw line.

But early in the game, he was forcing shots and getting nothing to show for it.

"He's a ballplayer, but sometimes when the ball is in his hands, the offense just doesn't get moving," Randy Armagost said.

In the second half, Adam Cousins got the Moniteau offense moving.

The guard, who plays predominantly on the junior varsity team, entered the game late in the second quarter and never left the floor.

Cousins scored five points, but he hounded Karns City on defense, forcing turnovers and poor passes from the Gremlins.

"I went to Adam, the fourth person I went to, and he gave us that spark," Armagost said. "He did a heck of a job. I tell you what, he earned himself more playing time."

Playing time was in abundance for many of the seldom-used Warriors.

That's because Moniteau was in foul trouble from the start.

Matt Schandelmeier blocked three shots in the first two minutes, but also picked up three fouls very early in the game.

He finished with one point.

Buczkowski was also struggling with mounting fouls.

That opened the door for Karns City (9-13, 8-4), which built a 22-12 lead late in the second quarter.

Moniteau made a push to cut the deficit to six at the half, but it showed no signs the second half outburst was in store.

"I think the only reason is they are a good team," said Karns City coach Steve Andreassi. "Unfortunately, the two times we've played them this year, it's been the same story. The first half, first two and a half quarters we've been right there."

Steve Black scored 15 points for the Gremlins, who shot miserably in the second half.

Karns City was just 8-of-31 from the field in the final two quarters.

Moniteau can't quite celebrate yet. It has seven days off before its final game of the season against Cranberry Feb. 10. A win and the Warriors will enjoy the title alone.

"(If we beat Cranberry), it's our first championship in 30 years," Armagost said.

KARNS CITY 51

Mike Senopole 2-8 3-4 8, Steve Black 4-16 6-8 15, Mark Ferguson 2-10 2-2 7, Cameron Turner 4-8 0-0 8, Mike McConnell 0-1 0-0 0, Matt McConnell 0-2 0-0 0, Kevin Beck 4-7 0-0 8, Charlie Zaludek 2-3 1-2 5, Jeremy Bowser 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 18-59 12-16 51

MONITEAU 65

Tyler Grossman 7-19 13-16 28, Zack Thompson 1-4 1-2 3, Matt Schandelmeier 0-3 1-2 1, Matt Buczkowski 8-14 4-6 20, Garth Kohlmeyer 1-3 2-4 4, Chris Switzer 0-1 0-0 0, Clay Campbell 0-0 0-0 0, Barry Jones 1-4 0-2 2, Nick Morrow 0-1 0-0 0, Adam Cousins 1-3 3-6 5, Aaron Randall 1-1 0-0 2. Totals: 20-52 24-38 65

3-point goals:

Senopole, Black, Ferguson, Grossman

JV:

Moniteau 50-36

Tuesday:

Abraxas at Karns City

Feb. 10:

Cranberry at Moniteau