CLARION — There was a point during the second half of its District 9 Class AA semifinal against Smethport when the Moniteau boys basketball team's focus shifted to one simple goal: survive.

And the Warriors did.

After letting a 10-point halftime lead melt away, the Warriors trailed the Hubbers 41-39 with 3:30 left in the game.

A pair of baskets by Jordan Smith handed the lead back to Moniteau.

Kyle Armagost and Zach Sloan combined to hit three free throws, pushing the Warriors' lead to three points with under 40 seconds to play.

Smethport's last possession landed the ball in Jory Okerlund's hands. With time running out, the senior forward put up an off-balance 3-pointer that missed the mark before the Warriors celebrated a 46-43 victory at Clarion University's Tippin Gymnasium.

The win sends Moniteau (15-8) to the district finals for the first time in five seasons. The Warriors will face Brookville, a 49-41 winner over Brockway, next Friday at the same venue.

Smethport coach Dan Zeigler couldn't help but focus on a first half that saw his team commit 14 turnovers and shoot 23 percent from the field.

“You have to play 32 minutes and we played 16,” he said. “Give credit to Moniteau, they fought hard the entire game.”

But the Warriors did not play a flawless game, either. The team's triumph came in the wake of 19 turnovers and a poor 6-of-15 performance from the free throw line.

“We played aggressive and hard, but we did not play all that well,” said Warriors coach Randy Armagost. “Luckily, we kept it together enough to win.”

Kyle Armagost hit a 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer to give Moniteau a 23-13 edge at intermission.

But the Hubbers (18-6) dominated the third quarter, outscoring the Warriors 21-11, which tied the score at 34-all with eight minutes to play.

A key for Moniteau was the defense applied to Smethport sophomore forward Zach Smith, who did manage to score 18 points.

“He's their best player and we tried to deny him the ball as much as we could,” said Coach Armagost. “A lot of his points came on rebounds. We had Kyle guarding him most of the night.

“I thought another key for us was the play of (junior guard) Jonathan Loos,” he added. “He came in off the bench, scored a big basket for us in the third quarter and didn't turn the ball over.”

Sloan was Moniteau's top performer with 18 points and 10 rebounds while Kyle Armagost added 17 points and six rebounds.

MONITEAU 46Kyle Armagost 6 3-9 17, Zach Sloan 8 2-2 18, Andrew Armagost 1 0-2 2, Heath Lominski 1 1-2 3, Jordan Smith 2 0-0 4, Jonathan Loos 1 0-0 2, Ethan Pry 0 0-0 0, Dalton Shuler 0 0-0 0, Mitch Hunter 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 19 6-15 46.

SMETHPORT 43Jory Okerlund 1 2-3 4, Clay Schuler 1 3-4 5, Kevin Lord 3 2-2 8, Zach Smith 6 5-6 18, Alex Myers 3 2-3 8, Steven Alfieri 0 0-1 0, Kyle Nolte 0 0-0 0.

Totals: 14 14-19 43.

Moniteau 10 13 11 12—46Smethport 5 8 21 9—433-point goals: Moniteau 2 (K. Armagost 2); Smethport 1 (Smith).

Next: Moniteau vs. Brookville, District 9 Class AA Championship at Clarion University, March 4th at 7:30 p.m.