Three times this season, the Union boys basketball team came up short against Clarion-Limestone.

The last loss for the Golden Knights against the Lions was particularly ugly.

A 25-point defeat.

Union faced Clarion-Limestone again Friday in the District 9 Class A quarterfinals at Clarion High School.

The Golden Knights were unfazed by their past failures as Cole Morris recorded a triple-double and Union upset the Lions, 66-59.

“The kids get over that stuff faster than the adults,” said Union coach Jeff Hepler. “We were 0-3 against them, but the kids never stopped believing they could win. They never stopped believing.”

Morris never stopped playing.

The senior guard scored 25 points to go with 10 rebounds and 10 assists for the Golden Knights while playing all 32 minutes.

“He had trouble breathing at the end of the game,” Hepler said. “He was exhausted.

“Cole is our emotional leader,” Hepler added. “He’s a coach on the floor. He has a very high basketball IQ — a very high sports IQ.”

Morris was so gassed because Union decided to scrap a strategy that didn’t work the last time against C-L and play its brand of basketball.

That meant running.

“We decided, ‘Hey, if we’re going to lose, let’s lose playing our game,’” Hepler said.

Lucas Bowser added 18 points and 11 rebounds and Hank Murphy pitched in 10 points and 13 boards for the Golden Knights.

Union was beat badly on the glass in the last meeting, but won that battle Friday.

“Our big guys did a great job rebounding,” Hepler said.

Union will play undefeated Elk County Catholic Wednesday in the semifinals as a site and time to be determined.

UNION 66

Hank Murphy 5 0-2 10, Sutton Varner 3 0-0 6, Cole Morris 7 6-10 25, Gavin Hawk 1 2-2 5, Lucas Bowser 6 4-7 18, Dana Logue 0 0-0 0, Jesse George 0 0-0 0, Kolby Montgomery 0 2-2 2. Totals: 22 14-23 66.

CLARION-LIMESTONE 59

Julian Laugand 0 0-0 0, Noah Rankin 8 2-5 9, Devin Beers 2 0-1 4, Bailey Wrhen 0 0-0 0, Ian Callen 10 0-0 20, Taylor Smith 2 0-0 5, Christian Smith 2 0-0 6, Dan Callen 2 0-0 5. Totals: 26 2-7 59.

Union 16 12 20 18 — 66

C-L10 18 17 14 — 59

3-point goals: Union 8 (Morris 5, Bowser 2, Hawk); Clarion-Limestone 4 (Rankin, T. Smith. C. Smith 2)

Wednesday: Union vs. Elk County Catholic in District 9 Class A semifinal, site and time to be determined.

Strong Vincent 54, Grove City 41 — Brendan Record scored 14 points but the Eagles couldn’t hold on to a halftime lead in a loss in the District 10 Class AAA playoffs.

Kaiden Young added 11 points for the Eagles, who led 22-19 at the half. But a four-point third quarter doomed Grove City (17-7).

GROVE CITY 41

Kaiden Young 5 0-2 11, Kameron Patterson 3 0-0 9, Marcus Cintron 0 0-0 0, Andrew Mason 0 2-2 2, Martin Beatty 1 2-2 4, Brayden Martin 0 0-0 0, Brendan Record 4 4-6 14, Qadir Muhammad 0 1-2 1, Kyle Barger 0 0-1 0. Totals: 13 9-17 41.

STRONG VINCENT 54

Simeal Wofford 3 2-3 9, David Morris 3 10-13 15, Jordan Darby 0 0-2 0, Tahjmere Jones 0 4-4 4, Bryon Williams 5 1-8 11, Jerome Henderson 3 3-4 9, Zerek Cosgrove 0 0-0 0, Michael Stone 1 0-1 2, Darryl Freeman 1 0-0 2. Totals: 16 20-35 54.

Grove City 12 10 4 15 — 41

Strong Vincent9 10 17 18 — 54

3-point goals: Grove City 6 (Young, Patterson 3, Record 2); Strong Vincent 2 (Wofford, Morris)

Girls Basketball

Union got off to a fast start. North Clarion had the fast finish.

The Damsel jumped out on North Clarion 12-4 in the first quarter, but couldn’t hold on in a 51-45 loss in the District 9 Class A playoffs.

Lexey Shick scored 20 points to lead Union. Kali Flick added 11 points.

Tori Obenrader paced North Clarion with 20 points.

UNION 45

Shaley Shick 2 3-4 8, Hannah Atzeni 0 0-0 0, Kali Flick 5 0-2 11, Frankee Remmick 1 0-0 2, Lexey Shick 7 3-4 20, Hailey Schrecengost 2 0-0 4, Bryn Davis 0 0-0 0, Rainne Chains 0 0-0 0. Totals: 17 6-10 45.

NORTH CLARION 51

Taylor Gatesman 1 3-6 5, Abbie Scmader 7 2-4 16, Cassie Wagner 1 3-6 5, Tori Obenrader 8 4-6 20, Michael Higgins 0 2-3 2, Sarah Schettler 0 0-0 0, Ally Carll 0 0-0 0, Erika Sherman 1 0-0 3. Totals: 18 14-25 51.

Union 12 10 7 16 — 45

North Clarion4 17 16 14 — 51

3-point goals: Union 5 (L. Shick 3, S. Shick, Flick); North Clarion 1 (Sherman)