CLARION — Confidence can go a long way in determining what level of success a team attains.

Karns City's boys basketball team has no shortage of it as it prepares for the District 9 playoffs. The Gremlins have won seven consecutive games, the latest coming Saturday night when they dethroned defending KSAC champion Clarion-Limestone with a 64-48 decision at Clarion University.

It is the Gremlins' first conference championship in 22 years. They fell to C-L in last year’s final.

"We're excited. There's a lot of good (Class 2A) teams in the district and the playoffs will be a tough road, but our guys are playing really well right now," said KC coach Zach Kepple.

Karns City controlled the game early. It led 17-7 after one quarter and continued to add to the advantage. Luke Cramer's trey put the Gremlins up 28-10 with 3:46 left in the first half before the Lions closed the gap to 34-21 at halftime.

Taite Beighley, recently named the conference's MVP, drained three treys in the first two quarters and ended with a game-high 21 points.

KC won the regular-season meeting against the Lions, 67-53, in early January.

"We knew (Jack) Callen (senior forward) is a big scorer and rebounder for them," said KC's Shane Peters, who scored 11 points in the championship game. "We wanted to take him out of the game as much as we could."

Callen scored eight points, all in the first half, but the Lions were just eight of 27 from the field in that span. They did manage 10 points in the final three minutes of the second quarter, but followed it up with seven points and one field goal in the third as the Gremlin lead swelled to 49-28.

C-L reached the final by taking out top-seeded Redbank Valley on Friday.

"We were down in that game, too, but came back," said Lions coach Patrick Craig. "What hurt us tonight was the foul situation. We couldn't press the way we wanted to in the second half."

But the Lions (15-9) did rally. Beginning with Jase Ferguson's 3-point play nine seconds into the fourth quarter, they mounted a 13-1 run that trimmed KC's lead to 50-41. Eleven made free throws by the Gremlins (18-6), however, helped them ice the game. Jacob Callihan, who scored 17 points in the game, was 13 of 17 from the line.

"C-L is a very good team," said Kepple. "Even at halftime, we told our guys that they would make a run. We just had an amazing start to the game, a lot of energy, and played really well on defense for the first three quarters."

Jack Craig paced the Lions with 10 points.

Patrick Craig is a Karns City graduate.

"I know the coaches, a lot of the players and families," he said. "It's always fun to face Karns City. If the stars align, we might see them again (in the playoffs).

Karns City hosts Cranberry in a quarterfinal playoff on Friday.

CLARION-LIMESTONE 48

Jase Ferguson 4 1-1 9, Paul Craig 1 2-4 4, Ty Rankin 2 0-0 4, Jack Callen 2 2-4 8, Jack Craig 2 5-6 10, Kohen Kemmer 2 0-0 4, Jesse Siwiecki 3 0-0 6, Charlie Hepfl 1 0-0 2, Aron Milliron 0 1-2 1, Brendan Bracken 0 0-2 0. Totals: 17 11-19 48.

KARNS CITY 64

Hobie Bartoe 0 2-2 2, Taite Beighley 6 6-10 21, Luke Cramer 5 0-2 11, Cole Johnston 1 0-0 2, Jacob Callihan 2 13-17 17, Shane Peters 4 3-6 11, Griffin Booher 0 0-0 0, Jacob Jones 0 0-0 0, Carter Farren 0 0-0 0, Colton Christie 0 0-0 0, Brennan Harmon 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 24-37 64.

C-L 7 14 7 20 — 48

Karns City 17 17 15 15 — 64

3-point goals: Clarion-Limestone 3 (Callen 2, J.Craig); Karns City 4 (Beighley 3, Cramer).

Friday: District 9 playoffs-Cranberry at Karns City