KNOX — Shortly before his team's KSAC championship game against North Clarion Friday night, A-C Valley girls basketball coach Dave Sherman reminded his players of last year's disappointment.

“I pulled out the (runner-up) medal,” Sherman said, referring to the Falcons' loss to North Clarion in the conference title game. “I said, 'I don't like the color of this one.'”

The Falcons then went out and achieved the desired result — and medal — by defeating the Wolves 38-35 in front of a packed house at Keystone High School.

There were some tense moments, though, for A-C Valley and its fans. Leading 27-20 at halftime, the Falcons' offense went into a second-half slumber, scoring just 11 points over the final two quarters and only three points in the third period.

“I had a feeling he'd go man against us at some point,” Sherman said of North Clarion coach Terry Dreihaup. “I saw them play it against Moniteau and once they switched to it tonight, we didn't have continuity offensively.”

But the Falcons (19-3) found just enough offense to stay ahead of the two-time defending conference and district champs.

“We'd come so far,” said A-C Valley forward Kylee Eaton, who scored nine points and added 12 rebounds. “We were ahead, but knew we still had to play hard to close things out.”

The Wolves got as close as 30-28 early in the fourth quarter. When A-C Valley sophomore forward Andrea Meals sank a basket with 2:25 left in the game — just her team's second field goal of the second half — the Falcons' lead was 33-28. Olivia Boocks and Cami McNany then combined to hit five free throws in the final minute to hold off the Wolves (16-6).

“It wasn't pretty, but I'll take it,” said Sherman. “We knew they (Wolves) weren't going to roll over for us.”

A-C Valley's defense deserves much credit for the win. While their offense was struggling, the Falcons never surrendered a big run at the other end of the floor. In fact, North Clarion's last lead of the game came at 11-9 late in the first quarter.

“We've played good defense all season,” said Sherman. “There have been a lot of games where we've given up point totals in the 30s. Tonight, we went to a trap in the second half and I think that rattled them a bit.”

The Wolves shot just 31 percent (12-of-38) from the floor and the Falcons forced them into a number of lost possessions.

“We had a lull,” said Dreihaup. “It was like there was a cover on the hoop. Turnovers were also a problem for us and we had just three attempts from the free throw line the whole game.”

While the second half was dominated by defense, an impressive display of shooting from the outside highlighted the first.

The Falcons' first five made baskets were treys. North Clarion made seven shots over the first two quarters, six of them coming from beyond the arc.

“I like to play the inside game,” Dreihaup said, “but if the outside shots are falling, I'll take every one of them.”

Leading the parade of treys was Boocks, who drained five of them in the game, including four in the first half. She ended the night with 18 points and earned the game's MVP honor.

Boocks led the Falcons in 3-point shooting during the regular season, making 29.

“I usually don't shoot that many 3s,” admitted Boocks, “but they were leaving me wide open and I was feeling it.”

That's because in the teams' meeting Jan. 18 — a 56-38 win for A-C Valley — Eaton did a number inside against the Wolves and scored 15 points.

Gabby Carll paced North Clarion with 15 points, all coming on 3-pointers.

Following the game, the conference championship plaque was handed to the Falcons, along with the medals, the right color this time.

“It's a testament to all the time the girls put in,” said Sherman.

NORTH CLARION 35

Haley Sherman 0 1-2 1, Mackenzie Bauer 1 0-0 3, Gabby Schmader 2 0-0 5, Gabby Carll 5 0-1 15, Abby Gatesman 4 0-0 11, Cierah Manross 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 1-3 35.

A-C VALLEY 38

Cami McNany 2 3-4 9, Andrea Meals 1 0-0 2, Olivia Boocks 5 3-6 18, Kylee Eaton 4 1-2 9, Rachel Cullen 0 0-0 0, Emily Wetzel 0 0-0 0. Totals: 12 7-12 38.

North Clarion 11 9 5 10 — 35

A-C Valley12 15 3 8 — 38

3-point goals: North Clarion 10 (Carll 5, Gatesman 3, Schmader, Bauer); A-C Valley 7 (Boocks 5, McNany 2).

Next: District 9 Class A playoffs, TBD