KARNS CITY — Cole Terwilliger has been mired in such a deep slump that A-C Valley boys basketball coach Jim Marron replaced him in the starting five.

“He's been struggling on offense and we've been counting on him this season,” Marron said. “We took him out of the starting lineup so he could maybe relax a little.”

It worked.

Terwilliger busted out of his funk in a big way against Karns City, hitting three big 3-pointers and hitting two clutch free throws in overtime to help the Falcons finish off a rally for a 79-74 overtime victory over the Gremlins Wednesday night.

“He picked a good night to break out of his slump,” Marron said of his 6-foot-1 senior forward. “He came through big time for us.”

Terwilliger scored all 15 of his points in the fourth quarter and overtime. He also was a force on the defensive end down the stretch.

“He had a couple of steals and a couple of rebounds for us,” Marron said. “Jeff Eaton was in foul trouble for us and Cole stepped in and played very well.”

A-C Valley (14-2) needed Terwilliger's fast finish largely because of a slow start.

Karns City (6-9) built a 22-11 lead after the first quarter on the strength of eight points in the period by Logan Moroney and seven from Andrew Johnston.

Every time A-C Valley appeared to be making a run at Karns City, the Gremlins hit a big shot to keep the Falcons at arms length.

“I don't know what they shot, but it seemed like they didn't miss,” Marron said.

Karns City hit 10 3-pointers in the game and shot 50 percent from behind the arc to help nurse the lead.

Moroney was particularly effective on both ends of the floor with a double-double that included 18 points and 14 rebounds.

He made two free throws with 32 seconds remaining in regulation to force overtime and also frustrated A-C Valley senior Ryan Bartley in the first quarter, holding the Butler County scoring leader to zero points through the first eight minutes.

Bartley, though, did finish with a game-high 29 points.

“Not only did Logan produce on the offensive end, but he guarded their best player,” said Karns City coach Chris Bellis. “He didn't shut him down, but he wore him down.”

Karns City also may have been worn down by A-C Valley.

The Falcons weren't able to push the pace for much of the game, but trailing by eight heading into the fourth quarter, that changed.

A-C Valley's pressure was able to fluster the Gremlins at times.

“I thought we made more mental mistakes than physical ones (in the fourth quarter and overtime),” Bellis said. “We didn't make very good decisions. I thought we did a good job controlling the pace in the first quarter, but slowly but surely, they made it their pace.

“They have a lot more experience than us,” Bellis added. “They kept their composure a little bit better than us down the stretch.”

Johnston led Karns City with 20 points. Josh Wallace added 14 and Tyler Kepple 13.

“Andrew is a leader. He likes to have the basketball in his hands,” Bellis said. “He shoots it well and when he wants to be aggressive on the defensive end, he's a pretty good player.”

Brody Irwin scored seven of his 14 points in overtime for A-C Valley, including 4-for-4 from the free throw line in the extra frame.

A-C Valley was 12-of-14 from the line.

“Free throw shooting can win or lose you basketball games,” Marron said.

“(Karns City's) a good team,” Marron added. “They are very physical. They shoot well. They are well coached. I'm happy with a win on the road like this.”

A-C VALLEY 79

Brody Irwin 4-14 4-5 14, Landon Delisio 2-3 1-1 5, Ryan Bartley 12-28 5-6 29, Jeff Eaton 5-8 0-0 11, Kevin Kaufman 2-4 0-0 4, Eric Orton 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Terwilliger 5-8 2-2 15, Chase Longo 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 30-65 12-14 79.

KARNS CITY 74

Andrew Johnston 8-11 2-3 20, David Olszak 2-5 2-3 6, Tyler Kepple 4-10 2-2 13, Nathan Weckerly 1-4 0-0 3, Josh Wallace 5-11 0-0 14, Logan Moroney 6-18 6-8 18. Totals: 26-59 12-16 75.

A-C Valley 11 21 13 20 14—79

Karns City22 14 17 12 9—75

3-point goals: A-C Valley 7 (Irwin 3, Eaton, Terwilliger 3). Karns City10 (Johnston 2, Kepple 3, Weckerly, Wallace 4

JV: Karns City 48-26

Friday: Keystone at Karns City; A-C Valley at West Forest