RIMERSBURG — Union had the quickness. Clarion had the height.

Quickness won.

The Union boys basketball team used its agility and foul trouble neutralized Clarion's height as the Golden Knights dispatched the Bobcats from the District 9 Class A playoffs with a 67-55 home win Wednesday night.

Fouls kept Clarion's 6-foot-4 senior forward Sheldon Miles and 6-5 junior Bryce Straffin bottled up for most of the game. They combined for just 10 points.

“Once we got them in foul trouble, it helped us out,” said Union coach Karen Davis. “We need to use our quickness, what we're good at: stealing the ball, anticipating passes — especially against big teams.”

Clarion coach Todd Smith questioned some of the calls on his big men.

“We had an advantage, and that advantage was taken away from us,” Smith said. “We knew they could put five kids on the floor with quickness, and we were going to offset that with our inside presence. It got taken away from us. It's a real shame.”

Even with the height largely neutralized, Clarion (12-11) tested Union.

After the Golden Knights stormed out to a 15-6 lead late in the first quarter, the Bobcats closed the final two minutes of the period with 11 straight points to take a two-point lead.

But Union (18-6) settled down and led again by nine at the half.

Brody Pollock led the charge in the second quarter with eight of his game-high 25 points.

Sophomore point guard Roland Shannonhouse kept the Bobcats in the game in the third quarter.

Shannonhouse, who joined Clarion in midseason, scored 13 of his 24 points in the third quarter.

He helped cut the lead to five, but the Bobcats couldn't get closer.

They had Trent Corle to thank for that.

The Union senior forward dominated in the final quarter to keep the lead in double digits and finished with 20 points.

“Oh, man, he played a great second half,” Davis said. “He calmed them down out there, started telling them what I wanted to do. He started doing what I told him to do and things started happening.”

For Union, this playoff win is bigger than most. Getting deep into the playoffs has been a problem for the Knights in previous seasons.

Last year, Union lost in the first round to Ridgway. The year before that it dropped a second-round game to Keystone, and three years ago, it was blown out at home by Johnsonburg.

The Golden Knights will get another crack at Johnsonburg Friday in the second round. That game will be played at Union High following the Union girls' playoff game against Port Allegany, which tips off at 6 p.m.

“This is a good win for us,” Davis said. “We've just not been able to get over that first-game hump. This is great. It's all about heart and getting the job done at this point. They did a good job tonight.”

CLARION 55Camron Kirkland 4-8 1-2 9, Mike Beveridge 3-14 0-0 6, Sheldon Miles 1-1 0-0 2, Antonio Troese 2-5 0-2 6, Roland Shannonhouse 8-20 4-7 24, Bryce Straffin 4-8 0-2 8, Ellis Painter 0-0 0-0 0, Brandon Heeter 0-0 1-2 1, Richard Diamond 0-0 0-0 0, Tanner Klein 0-0 0-0 0, Cody Hearst 0-0 0-0 0, Devin Harvey 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 22-56 6-15 55.

UNION 67Taylor Smith 4-8 1-2 9, Brody Pollock 7-15 7-7 25, Shawn Booth 2-4 1-2 6, Trent Corle 9-15 2-6 20, Aaron Graham 0-0 0-0 0, Derek Shirey 1-1 0-0 2, Austin Davis 2-7 1-2 5, Mike Harris 0-0 0-0 0, Kaden McGregor 0-0 0-0 0, Brody Shick 0-0 0-0 0.

Totals: 25-50 12-19 67.

Clarion 17 8 17 13—55Union 15 19 17 16—673-point goals: Clarion 6 (Troese 2, Shannonhouse 3); Union 5 (Pollock 4, Booth).