KARNS CITY — Happy to play at home, Karns City didn’t want to stay at home.

Jump-started by an impromptu pep talk from their coach, the Gremlins rallied from a nine-point second quarter deficit to defeat Keystone, 49-46, in overtime Friday night in their District 9 Class 2A PIAA boys basketball play-in game in the KC gym.

Karns City (19-7) picked up the third state-qualifying berth out of District 9 with the win, its third victory over the Panthers this season.

“It’s hard to beat any team three times in one year, let alone a program like Keystone,” KC coach Zach Kepple said. “I don’t think we’ve beaten those guys three times in a season.”

The third one didn’t come easily.

A 12-0 Keystone run to begin the second quarter gave the Panthers (12-12) a 21-12 lead midway through the period and prompted Kepple to pull all five of his starters for a few seconds.

“We were sluggish, just standing around, not making anything happen,” Kepple said. “I had to do something to get their attention. If they weren’t gonna play hard, I was going to put the younger guys in because I know they would play hard.

“I made that point pretty clear.”

And the Gremlins responded.

Keystone was unable to extend its lead to double-digits, Karns City finally getting even at 38 on a Luke Cramer free throw with 3:06 to play in regulation. A Cramer layup with 2:22 left handed KC its first lead since the opening quarter.

“We needed that wake-up call,” Cramer said of the starters’ second-quarter sit-down. “We weren’t doing anything. We turned the ball over five times or something like that ... We can’t be playing like that.”

A Tyler Albright layup with 35 seconds left in regulation pulled Keystone even at 44. The Gremlins had the last possession, called a pair of timeouts, but could not get off a shot before overtime.

Karns City took the lead for good when Luke Garing stuck back an offensive rebound with 2:33 left in overtime. Micah Rupp blocked a Bret Wingard shot — his career-high eighth blocked shot of the night — to give KC the ball back with less than a minute remaining. Two Cramer free throws gave the Gremlins a 48-44 lead with 23 seconds left.

Wingard stuck back an offensive rebound with eight seconds to play,. but the Pantherrs could get no closer. Taite Beighley’s free throw with six seconds on the clock accounted for the 49-46 final.

“I give my starters props because they responded in a positive way,” Kepple said. “I took a chance pulling them out. They could have folded their tents from that point, but they didn’t want their season to end.”

Especially Rupp.

The junior forward tallied 17 points, eight rebounds and five steals to go with his eight blocked shots. He played the game’s final minutes with four fouls.

“That was tough because I had to back off in the paint,” Rupp said of playing with four fouls. “I had to stay in the game. Once overtime arrived ... well, it’s win or go home. Time to play.”

“You never know when Micah is going to go off offensively,” Kepple said. “In the past, he’d get in foul trouble and would continue playing aggressively. Now he understands those situations much more.

“That blocked shot (in overtime) was a big play. We knew Bret was gonna get the ball. He’s their go-to guy and he had a great game tonight.”

Wingard scored 28 points, grabbed six rebounds and had three assists for Keystone. Albright had 11 points and three assists, Cole Henry seven rebounds.

Cramer had 13 points and five boards for the Gremlins. Beighley had four assists and Cole Sherwin sank two treys, including a buzzer-beater at the end of the third quarter to pull KC within four.

“We had to get tougher defensively and just wake up,” Cram,er said of KC’s victory. “We don’t want to go home just yet.”

KEYSTONE 46

Drew Slaughenhaupt 0-0 0-0 0, Bret Wingard 12-19 2-6 28, Tyler Albright 5-12 0-0 11, Ian Keth 0-2 0-0 0, Cole Henry 3-4 0-2 4, Zander McHenry 1-6 1-2 3. Totals: 20-43 3-9 46.

KARNS CITY 49

Cole Sherwin 2-8 0-0 6, Taite Beighley 2-7 1-2 6, Luke Cramer 4-13 5-6 13, Micah Rupp 8-12 1-2 17, Jacob Callihan 0-0 4-4 4, Luke Garing 1-4 1-2 3. Totals: 17-44 12-16 49.

Keystone 9 15 9 9 4 — 46

Karns City 12 8 9 7 — 49

3-point goals: Keystone 3 (Wingard 2, Albright), Karns City 3 (Sherwin 2, Beighley)

Next: Karns City in PIAA Class 2A Tournament, TBA