KARNS CITY — It was shaping up to be one of those games.

Shots weren’t falling. Deficit swelling.

The Karns City boys basketball team began its game with North Clarion about as cold as a team can be, shooting 1-for-13 from the floor and trailing 15-4.

But panic never set in.

Instead, the Gremlins got hot — scorching, red hot — from the floor in the second quarter and erased that double-digit deficit. Karns City had to make another rally later in the game to secure a 66-62 home win over the Wolves.

“I was real happy with the way we played defense in the second quarter,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “Our defense feeds our offense, so I was more happy with the fact we were getting stops and limiting them to one shot. I thought that was more important. It definitely increased our overall energy.”

Karns City needed all the energy it could get after a woeful start.

The Gremlins missed their first eight shots in falling behind big, but Noah Kepple hit three of Karns City’s six 3-pointers in the second quarter and scored 11 points in the frame to put the Gremlins up 31-26 at the half.

“At halftime I walked by Chris and said, ‘You could have made 3-pointers from the bench that quarter,’” said North Clarion coach Andy Bish. “Every time I turned around, a 3 was going in.”

Karns City (9-3) hit three more 3-pointers in the third quarter and built a 12-point lead, but North Clarion whittled away.

The Wolves (6-4) pushed ahead 60-57 with 2:25 remaining in the fourth quarter before the Gremlins launched one final run to end the game.

Eric Dodd’s short jumper off a pass from point guard Noah Pollock with 1:45 left gave Karns City the lead back for good at 61-60.

Pollock shined for the Gremlins with 20 points, key assists and three big free throws down the stretch.

He also was a court leader, calming his team — and his coach. He told Bellis during an exchange with an official to be careful to not get a technical.

“It’s good he and I are comfortable enough with each other that we can talk like that to each other,” Bellis said. “He really stepped up and showed some leadership. He hit some big shots and made his free throws.”

Kepple ended up with 19 for Karns City.

The game had a playoff vibe to it, which was key for both teams, Bish said.

“We knew Karns City is one of the best teams in the southern division (of the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference),” Bish said. “We’re a young team. We only have one senior, so any time we play a game like this is experience for us going forward.”

Even though the Wolves lost, Bish was happy with the performance.

“I’m just really proud of our guys,” he said.

So is Bellis. Karns City has won seven of its last eight and faces a tough test Friday at Clarion-Limestone.

“The silver lining in letting them get back into the game was our guys were tested,” Bellis said. “We’ve lost to good quality teams and the three that we lost were by four to Purchase Line, five to Keystone and (five) to Northgate and we competed in all of them. We’ve been in a lot of situations at this point and our guys are battle-tested.”

NORTH CLARION 62

Chase Schmader 4-8 1-2 10, Nathan Banner 10-22 2-5 23, Keevan Weaver 0-7 2-2 2, Zander Hargenrader 8-10 2-6 19, Sam Minich 2-5 1-2 6, Jesse Schmader 0-0 0-0 0, Logan Minich 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Meyers 1-2 0-0 2, Matson Higgins 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 25-55 8-17 62.

KARNS CITY 66

Noah Pollock 6-13 3-4 20, Ian McElroy 1-4 2-4 4, Jacob Friel 4-7 1-5 9, Noah Kepple 7-14 0-0 19, Chandler Turner 1-6 0-0 2, Jimmy Thompson 0-2 2-5 2, Nolan Riley 1-2 0-0 2, Austin Fahlor 1-1 0-0 3. Totals: 23-49 8-18 66.

North Clarion 18 8 16 20 — 62

Karns City9 22 18 17 — 66

3-point goals: North Clarion 4 (C. Schmader, Banner, Hargenrader, S. Minich); Karns City 12 (Pollock 5, Kepple 5, Dodd, Fahlor)

Friday: Karns City at Clarion-Limestone