KARNS CITY — Despite leading by five points at halftime, Karns City’s boys basketball team wasn’t very happy.

Less than three minutes into the fourth quarter, the Gremlins were all smiles.

Karns City (21-4) opened the second half with a 20-3 run — building a 39-17 lead with 5:05 remaining — before cruising to a 46-36 District 9 Class 2A playoff victory over Port Allegany Wednesday night in the KC gym.

“We came out lethargic at the start of this game,” Karns City coach Zach Kepple said. “We didn’t attack. We were too lazy offensively. We hit a couple of shots early in the second quarter and loosened up a little bit.”

Hobie Bartie and Taite Beighley sank treys on consecutive possessions early in the second period, giving the Gremlins a 13-7 lead with 6:05 left in the first half. But it took a Jacob Callihan layup in the final minute of the first half to give the Gremlins a 19-14 lead at the intermission.

“Our defense was the key to this win,” Kepple said. “Our goal every game is to hold the opposition to below 40 points. I like our chances when we do that.”

Junior guard Taite Beighley admitted the Gremlins “lacked energy” early in the game, leading to nine turnovers in the first half — mostly unforced — against the Gators’ zone.

“We had not seen this team before and it took us a while to figure out that zone,” Beighley said. “But we have to come out with more energy. At halftime, it was like ... This is the playoffs. Let’s get going.”

The Gremlins did exactly that at the start of the second half and ran away from Port Allegany (13-8).

Karns City had its lead up to 10 points before Port Allegany got off a field goal attempt in the third quarter.

“They forced us into playing man defensively and they got the ball to the basket against us,” Gators coach Kyle Babcock said. “That opened things up for them and we couldn’t get anything going offensively.”

Bartoe sank three layups and hit a trey during the Gremlins’ 20-3 run. Beighley canned a pair of layups, converting a three-point play after one of them. When Micah Rupp stuck back an offensive rebound, the run was complete and KC had its 22-point lead.

Game over.

“It took us a while to get them into the type of defense we wanted them to play,” Kepple said. “Once we started hitting some outside shots, we forced them out of that zone.”

The Gators made the final score a bit misleading by hitting five treys in the final four minutes — four of them courtesy of 6-foot-2 senior guard Drew Evens. He scored a game-high 20 points.

“We finally got hot late ... obviously too late,” Babcock said.

Beighley led the Gremlins with 18 points, three steals, three assists and three rebounds. Bartoe scored 13 points while Rupp had seven rebounds and six steals.

Karns City turned the ball over only twice in the third quarter. Port Allegany had 11 turnovers in the second half.

The Gremlins’ win will give them a fourth meeting with Clarion-Limestone (23-2) — a 61-37 winner over Kane — in the D-9 2A semifinal round next week. The Lions have defeated the Gremlins in two of the previous three meetings, including a six-point win in the KSAC Championship game last Saturday.

“They’re a good team. They play hard and I like playing against them,” Beighley said. “It should come down to the wire. It will be a fun game.”

PORT ALLEGANY 36

Isac Amell 0-0 0-0 0, Jarrod Funk 2-7 1-2 6, Blaine Moses 0-3 0-0 0, Braylon Button 1-6 1-2 3, Drew Evens 6-11 2-2 20, Noah Archer 2-4 0-0 5, Jett Ruding 1-5 0-0 2. Totals: 12-42 4-6 36.

KARNS CITY 46

Colson Ritzert 0-0 0-0 0, Hobie Bartoe 5-11 1-5 13, Taite Beighley 6-9 4-5 18, Braden Grossman 0-2 0-0 0, Micah Rupp 3-5 0-0 6, Jacob Callihan 2-3 0-0 4, Derrick Johns 0-0 0-1 0, Shane Peters 2-2 1-2 5. Totals: 18-31 6-11 46.

Port Allegany 4 10 3 19 — 36

Karns City 7 12 14 13 — 46

3-point goals: Port Allegany 8 (Funk, Evens 6, Archer), Karns City 4 (Bartoe 2, Beighley 2)

Wednesday: District 9 2A playoffs-Karns City vs. Clarion-Limestone, site and time TBA