KNOX — The Union defense was firing on all cylinders in Friday's District 9 Class A boys basketball quarterfinal at Keystone.

The offense, however, sputtered at the worst possible time.

When Zac Smith scored with 2:22 remaining in regulation, the Golden Knights held a 37-33 lead against the Keystone Shortway Athletic Conference champions on their home floor.

Union, however, could muster just two free throws over the final 6:21, including a four-minute overtime period, as the Panthers pulled out the 43-39 victory.

"I kept telling the kids defense, defense, defense, will win the game," said Union coach Karen Davis. "All year we needed to pick it up. Hopefully, this shows the younger kids what you can do.

"We just beat ourselves down at the line,"Davis added.

Brock Witkowski came up with a huge three-point play with 2:03 remaining to pull the Panthers (22-2) to within one point.

Union's Brody Pollock, a freshman guard filling in for senior Travis Anthony, who had fouled out, missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 34 seconds left.

Pollock got another chance at the line with 13.7 seconds left, when he made one of two free throws.

Following a Keystone timeout, the Panthers' Dan Reed inbounded the ball to Witkowski, who dribbled to the basket and scored with five seconds left in regulation to send the game to overtime

Witkowski came up big in the fourth quarter, getting nine of his game-high 13 points.

"That (game-tying) shot was big," said Keystone coach Greg Heath. "He really struggled up to that point. He's our go-to guy and that's what you want your go-to guy to do."

In overtime, Ben Black scored with 2:22 remaining to give the Panthers a lead they would not lose.

Union's Logan Mortimer missed a pair of free throws with 2:07 left, then Keystone doubled its lead when Brian Long scored with 1:20 to go.

Scott Booth sank one of two free throws to pull Union (15-9) to 42-39 14 seconds later.

Union had a chance to tie the game when Mortimer and Pollock each misfired on 3-point attempts before Witkowski corralled the rebound and was fouled with 14.5 seconds left.

Witkowski missed the front end of the 1-and-1, but Black got the rebound, was fouled and he missed on the 1-and-1.

Mortimer attempted another 3-pointer but missed and Black had another rebound. He sank one free throw to make it a four-point game to close out the scoring.

"This was our worst offensive game all year," said Heath. "Our movement wasn't good. We missed so many shots near the basket, layups, putbacks. It was good that we were playing great defense."

Heath also credited the Knights for their defensive play, limiting an offense that averages nearly 60 points per game.

"Karen did a great job defensively," said Heath. "They took away a lot of things we like, our cuts on the back screens."

On the flip side, the Panthers tightened up on defense as well, shutting down the Union offense and limiting leading scorer Scott Booth to 12 points.

"We started pressing their passing lanes," said Heath. "That was more effective. Our defense was as good as it had to be."

To Union's credit, it kept the Panthers from taking control of the game early. After Union took a 5-2 lead, Keystone went on a 12-0 run in a 3:09 span to take a 14-5 lead.

Not to be outdone, Union bounced back by scoring 12 of the next 13 points — including six by Mortimer — and 16 of 19 to take a 21-17 lead with 1:40 before halftime.

Union took its biggest lead, 33-25 when Anthony opened the third quarter with a pair of free throws, but a pair of scores by Witkowski and a 3-pointer by Reed pulled the Panthers to 33-32 with 4:52 left in the period.

Shortly thereafter, Anthony, one of Union's top rebounders who had missed some time earlier in the game due to a wrist injury, fouled out.

"He's a long-armed defender," said Davis. "He rebounds. He's a big rebounder for us. he's a big presence. That's a senior and when you put a sub in and he's a freshman, you don't have that experience."

Davis said the Panthers' comeback in regulation translated into a stronger opponent in overtime.

"There's always a carry-over," said Davis. "When you're winning by so many and they come back ... they got that surge and we didn't have it."

Notes: Booth's 12 points led Union while Zac Smith added 10. Reed added 11 points for the Panthers.

UNION 39Zac Smith 4 2-2 10, Travis Anthony 1 2-2 5, Logan Mortimer 2 3-6 7, Neil Scott 2 0-2 4, Scott Booth 4 3-6 12, Brody Pollock 0 1-3 1, Austin Davis 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 13 11-21 39.

KEYSTONE43Ben Marchand 1 2-2 4, Brian Long 3 0-0 6, Ben Black 2 3-7 7, Brock Witkowski 6 1-2 13, Dan Reed 5 0-2 11, Jake Knight 0 0-0 0, Chandler Clark 1 0-0 2, Brett Zuck 0 0-0 0, Lexan Montana 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 18 6-13 43.

Union 9 12 10 7 1—39Keystone 14 5 6 13 5—433-point goals: Anthony, Booth; Reed