CLAYSBURG — Claysburg-Kimmel experienced back-to-back nights of a raucous, playoff-style environment at the Inter-County Conference championships.

The Bulldogs were able to overcome their own emotional shortcomings to win Friday night against Williamsburg in semifinal action.

However, in Saturday night’s title contest against McConnellsburg, C-K had the complete opposite result as a bad second half in every sense proved to be far too much to overcome in a 59-42 loss.

“I’m proud of our kids because for the first time in school history we played in the ICC championship,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said. “We played here and we battled. For three quarters it was a great experience for us.”

The Bulldogs fell to 19-5, and the loss snapped their 12-game winning streak; while the Spartans improved to 23-1.

Claysburg had itself a 12-point lead at the break as McConnellsburg lived and died by the 3-point shot in the opening half of play.

“We went in at halftime and we were 4-for-20 from 3 (-point range) and 2-for-7 from 2 (-point range),” McConnellsburg coach Josh Lowery said. “Clearly you see the problem with that.”

The tide and momentum changed rather quickly as the Bulldogs couldn’t overcome the full-court pressure put on by the Spartans.

McConnellsburg forced 12 Claysburg-Kimmel turnovers in the third quarter alone, while holding it to just five points.

“That hurts, that really hurts,” Harris said of the turnovers. “We told them the press was coming, not to panic and just get to where we’re supposed to go. Then we panicked and guys were getting to where they were supposed to. That falls on me; that’s my fault.”

The Bulldogs’ turnovers not only led to points on the opposite end but it caused some friction amongst some of the team members who wanted to play the blame game with one another.

The more C-K fell apart, the more the miscues compounded and the Spartans took full advantage with 19 points in the third frame.

A Christian Treon 3-pointer at 4:36 stopped the bleeding initially and put Claysburg back up 10 at 35-25.

“We came out (of halftime) and just tried to tighten up our defense,” Lowery said. “It didn’t feel like it was giving us nothing, so then we went into a 1-2-2 trap and that’s when we started turning it.”

However, McConnellsburg reeled off five straight on a 5-for-6 showing from the free throw line to cut the C-K lead in half.

A fading shot toward the baseline from the Bulldogs’ Brayden Haney made it 37-30 with a little over two minutes left.

The Spartans closed out the third on a 7-0 burst as a steal and layup by Shaffer Earley tied it at 37-37.

“They (McConnellsburg) started working the ball and getting it more inside,” Harris said. “That’s what well coached teams do. … We got in foul trouble because they got more aggressive taking the ball to the basket.”

In addition to turning the ball over a lot in the third, Claysburg was also outrebounded by an 11-3 margin.

Hoyt Glenn, who led all scorers with 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds, got a steal off the opening inbound of the fourth and cruised in for a dunk to put McConnellsburg up 39-37.

The fourth quarter edge didn’t last long as Christian Treon delivered three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point attempt.

But Glenn made a baseline jumper at 6:13 to put the Spartans ahead for good.

Including the Glenn shot, McConnellsburg put together a 20-2 run to end the game.

Haney earned his fifth foul after having the ball stolen from him. After sitting on the bench, he continued to talk and was tagged with a technical foul.

Brayden Ramsey, who collected 13 McConnellsburg points, made one of the foul shots and then both of the technical free throws to set the final margin.

“I always tell them (McConnellsburg) that it isn’t how the game starts but it’s how we finish,” Lowery said.

The Spartans shot out to a 10-3 advantage after making three shots from 3-point range, but the Bulldogs were able to rally back to cut the deficit to 14-10 after the opening quarter.

Christian Treon buried a trey to start the second stanza before Cory Walter, who ripped down a game-high 11 rebounds, scored inside to put his team ahead at 15-14.

The Bulldogs turned the Spartans over five times in the opening four minutes, which they used to begin the frame with the first 11 points to take a 21-14 edge when Gavin Treon made a shot in transition that he got fouled on.

Upon making the acrobatic side hook shot, the sophomore was hit with a technical foul for taunting. Glenn made 1-of-2 from the line to end the McConnellsburg scoreless draught.

A Karson Washabaugh triple for the Spartans closed the gap to three (21-18) before Claysburg-Kimmel got a layup from Walter to kickstart an 11-2 run to end the first half.

“McConnellsburg is 23-1 and we are the only team that has battled them as far as in the ICC,” Harris said of his team that also lost by a 63-52 final on Dec. 4. “So, I’m really proud of our guys.”

MCCONNELLSBURG (59): Fletcher 5 1-1 13, Glenn 6 3-5 17, Hann 2 0-0 4, Earley 3 0-0 7, Ramsey 2 7-10 13, Washabaugh 1 0-0 3, Sipes 0 2-2 2, Lang 0 0-0 0, Marpoe 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 13-18 59.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (42): Haney 5 1-1 13, Kulick 0 0-0 0, G. Treon 4 1-1 10, Cole Walter 1 1-1 3, Cory Walter 2 0-1 4, C. Treon 3 3-3 12, Knisely 0 0-0 0, Bass 0 0-0 0, Mock 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 6-7 41.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

McConnellsburg 14 6 17 22 — 59

Claysburg-Kimmel 10 22 5 5 — 42

3-point field goals: McConnellsburg 8 (Fletcher 2, Glenn 2, Ramsey 2, Earley, Washabaugh); Claysburg-Kimmel 6 (C. Treon 3, Haney 2, G. Treon).

Records: McConnellsburg (23-1); Claysburg-Kimmel (19-5).