CLARION — Karns City guards Ian McElroy and Eric Dodd found themselves on the periphery of scoring opportunities in last week’s District 9 Class AAA boys basketball semifinal victory.

In the championship game against Brookville Wednesday night, the Gremlins’ offense revolved around the senior duo.

Both players scored 16 points as the Gremlins overcame a slow start to defeat the Raiders 56-51 at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium.

It is Karns City’s first district crown in boys basketball since 2005.

McElroy is KC’s leading scorer this year at nearly 14 points per game, but he was far from 100 percent in last Thursday’s win over Moniteau, scoring just three points on free throws.

“He was fighting the flu bug and I give him credit just for playing that night,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis.

“I returned to practice yesterday and felt pretty good,” said McElroy. “I got back into the flow of the game tonight.”

Dodd is in his first year of varsity basketball.

“I played up until ninth grade and stopped,” he said. “This year, being a senior, I figured why not (come out).”

Dodd’s bucket with 3:46 left in the game gave the Gremlins a double-digit lead at 46-36. The Raiders answered with a 13-5 run and when Colton Singleton sank a shot with 23 seconds left, KC’s edge had dwindled to 51-49.

Noah Kepple and Jacob Friel combined to make five free throws in the closing seconds to ice the game.

“Hitting free throws and taking care of the ball for the most part were very important for us in the fourth quarter,” said Bellis.

Free throws had played a key role in Brookville’s semifinal win over Kane. The Raiders made 10-of-11 attempts in the final quarter.

Against Karns City, however, their effort at the line failed the Raiders. In the second half, Brookville was just 5-of-14.

“We also had some good looks down the stretch that we didn’t get to go,” said Raider coach Kevin Wolfe.

But the worst case of bad luck encountered by Brookville (12-12) came with 1:28 left in the opening quarter when freshman forward Aaron Park went down with a right ankle injury. He left the game and did not return. At the time of his injury, the Raiders held a 14-6 lead.

“Offensively, I thought we got off to a great start,” said Wolfe. “We were moving the ball and hitting shots.

“It (Park’s departure) was a big loss for us both offensively and defensively,” said Wolfe. “Aaron leads us in scoring, rebounding and assists. Did it affect the outcome of the game? We’ll never know.”

The Gremlins (17-7) spent the duration of the first half out-scoring Brookville 19-10 and the former held a slim 25-24 lead at halftime.

Turnovers held KC’s offense back in the third quarter, but thanks in part to three baskets from Dodd and a strong defensive effort, the Gremlins extended their lead to 37-31 with one quarter to play.

“It was just a matter of the whole team executing,” Dodd said of his performance. “We’ve all played together in so many sports over the years, we know each other’s strengths and tendencies.”

Bellis made sure that Dodd’s defensive position would increase his scoring chances. “When we played a zone defense tonight, we stuck Eric at the top,” said Bellis. “When we went man-to-man, we put him on their point guard. Eric is a fast and athletic kid and we wanted to get him out and running tonight. He was able to turn that into some baskets.”

Brookville’s Bryan Dworek led all scorers with 18 points. Noah Pollock scored 14 for Karns City, eight coming in the fourth quarter.

Karns City will open play in the state playoffs March 10 against the third-place team from District 10.

“Boys basketball gets overlooked at Karns City,” said McElroy. “I’ve been part of district titles on the boys soccer team. To win one in basketball, it’s awesome. We’ve been working hard.”

BROOKVILLE 51

Bryan Dworek 7 2-4 18, Ben Reitz 4 2-4 11, Aaron Park 2 0-0 5, Seth Ray 1 0-1 2, Colton Singleton 4 1-3 9, Jimmy Moore 2 2-6 6, Nick Keth 0 0-0 0, Alec Lachnicht 0 0-0 0, Trenton Gilhousen 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 7-18 51.

KARNS CITY 56

Noah Pollock 3 6-8 14, Noah Kepple 0 5-6 5, Ian McElroy 5 5-7 16, Nolan Riley 0 2-2 2, Eric Dodd 8 0-0 16, Chandler Turner 1 0-4 2, Jacob Friel 0 1-2 1. Totals: 17 19-29 56.

Brookville 14 10 7 20 — 51

Karns City11 14 12 19 — 56

3-point goals: Brookville 4 (Dworek 2, Reitz, Park); Karns City 3 (Pollock 2, McElroy).

March 10: PIAA Class AAA playoffs, TBD