CLARION — On the verge of reaching Saturday’s KSAC championship game, Karns City was unable to get one last field goal — twice.

With his team trailing 48-47, Gremlins’ sophomore point guard Taite Beighley attempted a 3-pointer from the top of the key with under five seconds remaining in Friday’s semifinal against North Clarion.

The shot was off and was knocked out of bounds by the Gremlins, but they soon received a reprieve.

Beighley’s pressure forced a turnover when the Wolves tried to inbound the ball, which bounced out of play. With 1.3 seconds left, KC had a second chance.

From the baseline, Braden Grossman inbounded to Beighley, who led KC with 20 points in the game, but his 3-point attempt from the corner rimmed out and the Wolves celebrated their one-point victory at Clarion University’s Tippin Gymnasium.

Beighley appeared to be fouled while releasing his last-second shot.

“He fell pretty hard on the court. If a player flops, he’s not going to fall as hard as Taite did,” said KC coach Zach Kepple. “But we’re not going to make excuses. Officials aren’t going to make that call that late in the game.”

For much of the final quarter, the Gremlins (17-6) had momentum and the lead. Cole Sherwin’s trey gave them a 43-39 edge with 5:08 remaining.

Beighley’s two free throws resulted in a 45-42 lead with 3:37 on the clock and he drained another attempt for a 3-point cushion at 47-44 with 1:09 remaining.

It would be the final point of the game for the Gremlins, however.

North Clarion’s Collin Schmader’s basket cut his team’s deficit to one point with 40 seconds to go.

As the Gremlins worked to bring the ball up the court, Luke Cramer was whistled for a charge, his fifth foul of the game. It was the third time in the fourth period that Karns City was called for the same infraction.

Schmader’s fade-away jumper just right of the foul line gave the Wolves the lead for good with 15 second left.

North Clarion’s star guard has been a thorn in the side of opponents all season. He scored a game-high 28 points Friday, including all 11 of the Wolves’ points in the final period.

“That’s Collin,” North Clarion coach Ewing Moussa said of Schmader’s latest effort. “When he’s going, everything can go for us. But what shows on the court is the least impressive thing about him. He works so hard and is always the last one out of the gym.”

Schmader led a 53-36 win over the Gremlins in late January with 22 points.

“He’s very versatile, can hit the 3, drive inside, pull up and hit the fade-away,” Kepple said. “We threw a bunch of different guys at him tonight and he hit some tough shots with hands in his face.”

The Gremlins rebounded from a 33-25 deficit with five minutes left in the third quarter. Micah Rupp’s steal and dunk gave them their first lead of the second half, 38-37 with 7:05 left in the game.

Moussa was pleased with his team’s play against a bigger team, yet he’s used to it.

“Eyes don’t lie,” he said. “We’re undersized and I don’t think we’ll play a team this year smaller than we are.”

Sherwin added 11 points in the loss and Cramer scored 10.

“We played much better against their zone tonight, moved the ball better,” Kepple said. “A lot of our guys had good efforts, but there’s definitely some things we need to clean up before the playoffs.”

The Gremlins, the No. 3 seed in the District 9 Class 2A tournament, will host No. 6 Coudersport at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

KARNS CITY 47

Cole Sherwin 4 0-0 11, Taite Beighley 5 8-11 20, Luke Cramer 4 1-3 10, Micah Rupp 2 0-0 4, Luke Garing 1 0-0 2, Braden Grossman 0 0-0 0, Jacob Callihan 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 9-14 47.

NORTH CLARION 48

Aiden Hartle 4 4-4 12, Josh Daum 3 0-0 7, Collin Schmader 12 2-2 28, Zeelan Hargenrader 0 1-2 1, Ethan Carll 0 0-0 0, Cole Byers 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 7-8 48.

Karns City 9 13 11 14 — 47

North Clarion 12 16 9 11 — 48

3-point goals: Karns City 6 (Sherwin 3, Beighley 2, Cramer); North Clarion 3 (Schmader 2, Daum).

Wednesday: Coudersport at Karns City, District 9 Class 2A quarterfinal, 7 p.m.