CLARION — Elk Catholic came into its PIAA Class A first-round game with a 27-0 record and, beside a handful of games, were largely untested in the regular season and district playoffs.

That all changed Friday night at Clarion University when the Crusaders found themselves down to Eden Catholic, the fifth-place team from District 7, 14-6 midway through the first quarter. But then like Elk Catholic does best, it turned up the defense when needed and got some clutch baskets to move on to the second round with a 52-41 victory.

“It was a really positive win,” Crusaders head coach Aaron Straub said. “This is the time of year where you’re not really going to evaluate this too much. You’re just going to look ahead. The old saying of survive and advance: that’s the mode you have to be in here because it’s a five-game tournament.”

Elk Catholic eliminates Eden Catholic for the second straight year in the first round of states. The Crusaders advance to Tuesday’s second round against District 6’s Williamsburg, which beat District 5’s Southern Fulton, 55-54, Friday night.

Straub and his team are hoping to rewrite a bit of last season’s script against Williamsburg, after the Crusaders entered the second round of states last year with an undefeated record before losing to Farrell.

“The team we’re going to play was not expected to make the state tournament,” Straub said. “They upset a team in their district semifinals (second-seeded Ferndale) and then must have played real well [Friday night].”

Eden Catholic entered the fourth quarter up a point, 39-38, after Drew Aiken weaved his way to halfcourt and launched a bank-shot, buzzer-beating 3-pointer to give the Warriors some momentum at the end of the third quarter.

Short-lived momentum, it turned out. Elk Catholic outscored the Warriors 16-2 in the final quarter as Eden Catholic’s offense lost its touch. The team scored its first points off a Seth Delposen layup four-and-a-half minutes into the stanza.

Senior leading scorer Nate DaCanal (seven points, five rebounds) got things going for Elk Catholic with a layup, then four quick points by Ryan Newton had the Crusaders in the driver’s seat. Newton, who had a game-high 17 points with nine rebounds and four blocks, then came up with a steal and layup attempt that was cleaned up by teammate Jared Braun (eight points).

Braun came up with multiple big rebounds in the fourth quarter to help spur on the Crusaders.

“Jared played a heck of a fourth quarter,” Straub said. “A lot of things he does aren’t flashy, but he’s always around the ball. He got that big tip-in and he grabbed some big defensive boards for us. Jared’s a good athlete and he finished tonight when we needed finishes.”

Eden Catholic’s dynamic backcourt of Chase Haring (10 points) and Aiken (12 points, seven rebounds, three assists) led the Warriors’ offense in the first half. That production, however, slowed after halftime, with the duo combining for just Aiken’s two-pointer in the third.

Typically a strictly man-to-man team, Straub switched up the defense to start the second quarter, going to a zone to help slow Haring and Aiken.

“We’re a man-to-man team,” Straub said, “but we just needed to play that zone to keep Aiken and Haring in front of us because they certainly got to the hoop and found each other. We’re just fortunate they didn’t make many shots in the fourth quarter. That’s what the game came down to.”

In the second quarter, Gabe Kraus (15 points) made two 3-pointers to help the Crusaders lead by as many as six in the quarter before Aiken answered with two of his own, including the half-courter.

“I’m proud of our effort,” Straub said. “We were prepared to play. We were ready to play.

AT CLARION UNIVERSITY

Eden Catholic (41)

Chase Haring 4 1-2 10, Drew Aiken 4 2-2 12, Clary 2 0-1 4, Kingman 1 2-2 4, Gross 1 0-0 3, Morges 1 0-0 2, Delposen 3 0-1 6. Totals: 16 5-8 41.

Elk Catholic (52)

Dippold 1 0-0 3, Stauffer 1 0-1 2, Gabe Kraus 4 3-5 15, Braun 3 2-2 8, Ryan Newton 5 4-5 17, DaCanal 3 1-3 7. Totals: 17 10-16 52.

Eden Catholic 14 28 39 41

Elk Catholic    11 29 36 52

Three-point goals: Eden Catholic 4 (Haring, Aiken 2, Gross); Elk Catholic 8 (Dippold, Kraus 4, Newton 3.