ST. MARYS — A chance at three in a row.

That is what the Coudersport boys basketball team, the two-time defending District 9 Class 2A champion, gave itself when it used a hot start that included a 30-point first quarter to beat Karns City, a two-time champion in its own right in Class 3A before moving down to 2A this year, 83-67 in the District semifinals at St. Marys High School Friday night.

“It’s impressive,” Coudersport head coach Brian Furman said of his team getting to a District 9 title game for the fourth straight year (the Falcons lost in the 1A finals in 2016 before winning in 2A in 2017 and 2018). “These kids work hard and it shows.”

The first quarter was where the game was won. After allowing Karns City an early 4-3 advantage, the Falcons rode some hot outside shooting to a 30-10 lead by the end of the quarter.

“We wanted to come out hard because the other night against Brockway (in the quarterfinals) we didn’t come out hard and it was a close game,” sophomore point guard Hayden Keck, who had 24 points and hit one of six Coudersport 3-pointers in the first quarter, said. “We wanted to come out hard and put them away quick.”

Owen Chambers, Coudersport’s senior 2,000-point scorer, continued his assault on the District 9 record book in the first quarter, scoring 13 of his game-high 29 points. That gives Chambers 749 points on the year (31.2 ppg) and leaves him 67 points shy of the District 9 career record of 2,255 points set by Johnsonburg’s Calvin Grumley in a career that ended in 2017. His 2,188 career points are third all-time in D9 history.

But Chambers was hardly a one-man show for the Falcons, and, in fact, despite scoring the 29 points he was held for long stretches without scoring by a Karns City defense that rotated a couple of different players to shadow him, including Luke Garing and Chase Beighley. Chambers was held to just three points in the second quarter and two in the fourth but did get free for 11 in the third quarter.

The attention being given to Chambers freed up Keck, who scored 10 points in the second quarter and was one of four Falcons in double digits with Dillon Keglovits adding 12 points and Kolby VanWhy 10.

“The other guys can score,” Furman said. “They can shoot the ball a little bit. They pick their spots, and tonight they came through.

“(Hayden) is a playmaker. He finishes well around the rim and he will knock down the three when he has it.”

Despite the hot start, and the fact the Coudersport lead grew to as many as 22 in the second quarter, the Falcons never could completely shake Karns City.

The Gremlins got hot themselves and used a 13-3 run in the second quarter to get back within 11, 46-35, at halftime with Beighley and Ethan McElroy each hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the quarter for Karns City.

“Not really,” Furman responded when asked if he was surprised that Karns City made a comeback. “I had seen a couple of other games and they had done that. They had gone into a 1-2-2 press and caused some turnovers and got right back in the game. So, I knew they were capable of that.”  

The Gremlins kept the pressure on in the third quarter and got the deficit into single digits a couple of times in the quarter, the latest at 55-46 on a 3-pointer by Austin Fahlor, who had a team-high 23 points while hitting five 3-pointers, with 4:41 to play in the quarter.

But foul trouble started catching up to Karns City with 6-foot-4 center Nathan Waltman picking up his fourth in the quarter and Fahlor also in foul trouble with three.

“That (Waltman being in foul trouble) was real important,” Furman said. “He is a real good player, and he gives us some matchup problems. What was happening is we were collapsing down on him and his teammates were knocking down threes.”  

With Waltman on the bench, Coudersport was able to get the lead back to 14, 67-53, going to the fourth quarter and then kept it in double digits the rest of the way.

“It means a lot,” Keck said of getting back to the title game. “All the hard work we put into the season, all the practices, we go for winning the league each year and once we do that we go to D9 and want to go as a far as we can.”

The Falcons will play Ridgway in the District 9 title game for the second consecutive season. They beat the Elkers, 66-46, for the title last year. Ridgway handed Coudersport its only loss of the year, 57-56, Jan. 4, in Coudersport.  A date, time and place for that game will be announced soon.

Karns City’s season isn’t over yet, as District 9 takes three teams to the PIAA Playoffs in Class 2A. The Gremlins will play KSAC South rival Keystone in the consolation game at a date, time and place to be announced.

AT ST. MARYS

KARNS CITY (67)

Josh Wimer 0 0-0 0, Austin Fahlor 9 0-0 23, Erik Pfeifer 0 0-0 0, Chase Beighley 6 3-7 18, Ethan McElroy 3 6-6 15, Luke Garing 1 1-2 3, Nathan Waltman 4 0-1 8. Totals 23 10-16 67.

COUDERSPORT (83)

Daniel Frame 2 0-0 5, Owen Chambers 9 7-9 29, Hayden Keck 10 1-2 24, Kolby VanWhy 3 2-5 10, Derek Easton 0 0-0 0, Dillon Keglovits 5 1-2 12, Travis Gleason 1 1-2 3. Totals 30 12-20 83.

Karns City    10 36 53 67

Coudersport 30  46 67 83

Three-point goals: Karns City 11 (Fahlor 5, Beighley 3, McElroy 3), Coudersport 11 (Chambers 4, Keck 3, VanWhy 2, Keglovits, Frame).