CLARION — Karns City had to go to Plan B — and Austin Fahlor delivered the goods.

The junior guard sank a trey from the right corner as time expired, handing the Gremlins a 34-31 win over Brookville in the District 9 Class 3A boys basketball title game Friday night at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

Brookville (14-10) had overcome a 31-25 deficit to knot the game, holding KC scoreless for five minutes and 47 seconds before Fahlor's winning bucket.

The game-tying shot was a lay-up by Aaron Park with 56 seconds remaining.

“We knew they had fouls to give and they would use them at that point,” Karns City coach Chris Bellis said.

The Raiders committed a non-shooting foul with three seconds left. They committed another — their sixth of the half — with 0.4 of a second left on the clock.

“Yeah, if they fouled after that, we go to the line,” Bellis said. “But it didn't matter in the end, since we took a jump shot.”

Not by design.

“The ball wasn't supposed to come to me,” Fahlor said. “I was shocked when it did ... I'm still in shock.”

The Gremlins' final play was designed to go inside to Nathan Waltman for a quick catch-andf-shoot while in the air.

That option was denied.

“Their defense took it away,” Bellis said. “It was a heads-up play by Jacob Friel inbounding the ball to recognize that.

“And Austin did a good job maneuvering himself to get open.”

Friel spotted him and fired the pass in Fahlor's direction.

“I just threw up a prayer,” Fahlor admitted.

Swish.

The Gremlins (17-7) immediately started celebrating their second straight District 9 title and berth in next weekend's state tournament.

Brookville coach Dalton Park immediately went to the scorer's table.

“I was just looking for a clarification of the rule,” Park said. “With three-tenth's of a second left, you can barely tip a shot in while in the air off the inbounds.

“With four-tenth's, I thought you could catch the ball and shoot if you're in the air, not while you're on the ground.”

Park said he accepted the ruling that the ball left Fahlor's hands in time.

“Great shot. You gotta give it to that kid. He should remember that one for the rest of his life,” Park said.

Neither team ever led by more than seven points. The lead changed hands six times and the game was tied on three occasions.

Nolan Riley led KC with 12 points. Fahlor had 11 points and five rebounds, Waltman seven points and five boards.

Trenton Gilhousen paced Brookville with 12 points. Karns City had a 26-18 edge in rebounding.

“We've gort a bunch of scrappy kids who can do different things,” Bellis said. “They did a great job of taking our leading scorer away. But we found another way.”

Freshman Chase Beighley leads the Gremlins with 13 points per game. He was held scoreless on three field goal attempts Friday night.

“We would have liked to have pushed the pace of this game more, do more running,” Park said of his Brookville team. “But Karns City plays physical defense and that affected us.

“They definitely threw us off our game offensively.”

The Gremlins will face Mercyhurst Prep in the PIAA Class 3A tourney March 10 at a site and time to be determined.

BROOKVILLE 31

Nick Keth 0-2 0-0 0, Bryan Dworek 3-9 1-2 7, Trenton Gilhousen 5-11 0-0 12, Aaron Park 2-7 0-1 4, Jack Krug 3-5 0-0 6, A.J. Lachnicht 0-1 2-6 2, Brady Caylor 0-1 0-0 0, Logan Byerly 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-36 3-9 31.

KARNS CITY 34

Austin Fahlor 5-12 0-0 11, Chase Beighley 0-3 0-0 0, Logan Pistorius 1-2 0-0 2, Nolan Riley 6-8 0-0 12, Jacob Friel 1-5 0-0 2, Ethan McElroy 0-1 0-0 0, Nathan Waltman 3-3 1-4 7. Totals: 16-34 1-4 34.

Brookville 3 12 8 8 — 31

Karns City8 6 13 7 — 34

3-point goals: Gilhousen 2; Fahlor

March 10: Karns City vs. Mercyhurst Prep in PIAA Class 3A tournament, site and time TBA