KARNS CITY — Karns City was out of sorts in the first half of Saturday's District 9 Class 2A boys basketball championship game.

Head coach Chris Bellis referred to it as “playing with jitters.”

Senior guard Chase Beighley said his team was “frantic.”

Those were the symptoms caused by Coudersport knocking the host Gremlins on their heels. The former's lead reached 31-17 early in the second period and was still double digits early in the third quarter before KC rallied for a 67-65 victory.

KC turned the tables on the Falcons in the second half.

A 14-point edge in the third period gave the Gremlins the lead and they owned a 67-64 cushion when Coudersport's Hayden Keck stepped to the free throw line with 1.2 seconds remaining.

Keck had been fouled while attempting a 3-pointer and he had a chance to tie the game with three free throws. He made the first and missed the second before intentionally misfiring on the third. His teammates were unable to control the rebound in time to get off another shot and the Gremlins celebrated their victory, their first district title in three years.

“We changed things up on defense (from zone to man-to-man), but I think the biggest difference between the first and second half was that Coudersport made a lot of shots early,” Bellis said. “We knew they liked to run, penetrate and kick out.”

“It was a heck of a game,” said Coudersport coach Scott Easton. “We send our best player to the line at the end with a chance to tie the game. Nine times out of 10, he makes all three.”

Another aspect of the game that Karns City struggled with early was rebounding. The Gremlins are used to controlling the boards, led by 6-foot-5 forward Nathan Waltman. But the Falcons grabbed 11 of the game's first 16 rebounds and held a 19-13 advantage on the glass at halftime.

This began to change in the third quarter when the Gremlins tallied 10 boards to just three for the Falcons (14-6), who led 42-31 with six minutes left in the period. That's when the Gremlins made their move, reeling off a 20-4 run to lead by five points by the end of the quarter.

“We had been playing the game they wanted us to play,” said Beighley. “There was no panic, we just had to start playing our game.”

Luke Cramer and Waltman got it started with back-to-back buckets. Micah Rupp followed with a basket of his own and a block of a shot from Coudersport's Derek Easton, which led to Beighley's 3-pointer.

When Luke Garing turned his steal into an easy two points, the game was tied at 44 with 2:37 left in the period.

“Early on, it's like we were trying to win the game with one play,” said Bellis. “In the second half, we just started to chip away at their lead.”

Another trey from Beighley preceded baskets from both Waltman and Cramer for a 51-46 KC lead with one quarter left to play.

The Falcons continued to battle, though. Christian Furman's trey with 11 seconds left cut KC's lead to 65-64. Beighley drained a pair of free throws with seven seconds left at the other end, setting the stage for Keck's trip to the line.

Scott Easton said KC's ability to turn the tide in rebounding played a crucial role in the game's outcome.

“We're a physical team, but they are so much bigger than us,” he said. “We just couldn't rebound in the second half. They were getting two or three shots every possession and we'd get just one.”

The Falcons received 19 points from Keck, 17 from Brandt Kightlinger and 15 from Easton.

Waltman backed up his game-high 22 points with 14 rebounds. He averaged a double-double this season, but posting one in a district championship game carries more weight.

“Doing it in front of the crowd, our fans, it couldn't have happened a better way,” he said.

Beighley scored 19 points and dished out five assists while Cramer continued his strong freshman campaign with 13 points.

Karns City (22-2) will open the state playoffs hosting District 5 champion Conemaugh Township at 6 p.m. Wednesday.

COUDERSPORT 65Hayden Keck 8 3-5 19, Derek Easton 5 2-2 15, Dalton Keglovits 3 0-0 8, Christian Furman 2 0-2 5, Brandt Kightlinger 7 1-2 17, Garrett Kellert 0 1-2 1. Totals: 25 7-13 65.

KARNS CITY 67Cole Sherwin 1 0-0 3, Micah Rupp 4 0-3 8, Chase Beighley 6 4-6 19, Luke Cramer 6 0-0 13, Luke Garing 1 0-0 2, Nathan Waltman 9 4-6 22, Eric Booher 0 0-0 0, Taite Beighley 0 0-0 0. Totals: 27 8-15 67.Coudersport 22 14 10 19 — 65Karns City12 15 24 16 — 673-point goals: Coudersport 8 (Easton 3, Keglovits 2, Kightlinger 2, Furman); Karns City 5 (C. Beighley 3, Sherwin, Cramer).Wednesday: Conemaugh Township at Karns City, PIAA Class 2A playoff, 6 p.m.