KARNS CITY — Chase Beighley lay crumpled on the baseline, clutching at his right ankle.

The point guard on the Karns City boys basketball team didn't have anything else to give.

For four-plus quarters and 35-plus minutes, Beighley did everything he could to help the Gremlins beat visiting Clarion-Limestone (13-2).

He had scored 34 points and ran the show, splitting double teams and willing his team to a triumph.

But he, like the rest of the Gremlins, simply ran out of gas in a 76-69 overtime loss Wednesday night.

“They're one of the best teams in the league in the other division,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “We came out and matched their intensity — we were more intense I thought the whole first half and even in the beginning of the third quarter, but when they made a run we weren't able to sustain it.”

Karns City (10-6) was already playing without Nathan Waltman, its big force in the middle, and went just six deep in a grueling, physical, fast-paced game that turned into a war of attrition.

“They had us outmanned and I thought we matched them every step of the way,” Bellis said. “We went to overtime with them. You can't be unhappy about that.”

Karns City fell behind 10-5 early and struggled on the boards, but once the Gremlins settled, they surged ahead by nine at the half and led by as many as 13 on two occasions in the third quarter.

Beighley had a lot to do with that, scoring 29 of his 34 points in the first three quarters.

But Clarion-Limestone coach Joe Ferguson called a timeout late in the third and decided to do something drastic.

The Lions' coach had seen enough and put two players on Beighley at all times.

“When we started doubling him all the time, that's when we made a run,” Ferguson said. “He controls their team. Once we were able to get him out of his rhythm, that helped. He's one of the toughest guys we've run into.”

Ferguson said he doesn't like putting that much attention on one player and it almost cost him.

Ethan McElroy, who scored 14, got hot and hit a pair of big 3-pointers in the third quarter as Karns City still maintained a five-point lead.

“It's extremely scary to double a guy,” Ferguson said. “They have some nice outside shooters.”

Karns City had its own problems with Clarion-Limestone's Deion Deas, who scored 14 of his team-leading 30 points in the first quarter.

But it was Hayden Callen who came up big for the Lions in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Callen scored 10 of his 21 points down the stretch.

“They're two of the better players in the league,” Ferguson said. “The bottom line is you have to get your role players to do their thing and that was part of the problem (early).”

Not so much late.

Curvin Goheen had some big rebounds and chipped in some valuable points in the fourth quarter and overtime.

Karns City also got 10 points from Caiden Corbett and seven off the bench from Eric Booher.

But the Gremlins didn't have enough bench to sustain its momentum.

“We're not real deep and I think that played a role late in the game,” Bellis said.

Now the concern for Karns City is with Beighley, who had trouble leaving the court but left the locker room on his own.

“I don't know,” Bellis said. “I haven't talked to him yet. He played well. He played hard.”

CLARION-LIMESTONE 76

Deion Deas 11-14 2-2 30, Mitch Knepp 0-5 0-1 0, Jordan Hesdon 4-5 1-3 9, Curvin Goheen 4-8 2-8 9, Hayden Callen 6-18 7-8 21, Kaden Park 1-1 0-1 2, Braden Rankin 0-3 3-4 3, Bryson Huwar 0-1 1-2 1, Ryan Hummel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-55 16-29 76.

KARNS CITY 69

Caiden Corbett 4-10 0-0 10, Micah Rupp 1-4 0-0 2, Chase Beighley 11-20 8-14 34, Ethan McElroy 5-13 0-0 14, Luke Garing 0-1 2-4 2, Eric Booher 2-7 2-2 7, Cole Sherwin 0-0 0-2 0. Totals: 23-56 12-22 69.

C-L 19 9 20 17 11 — 76

Karns City15 22 16 12 4 — 69

3-point goals: Clarion-Limestone 8 (Deas 6, Callen 2); Karns City 11 (Corbett 2, Beighley 4, McElroy 4, Booher)

Friday: Redbank Valley at Karns City