CLARION — For the better part of three quarters, the Ridgway Elkers kept pace with a quicker, stronger and better shooting Farrell squad.

But over the final eight minutes — with their season on the line — the Steelers’ physical play was just too much for the District 9 champions to overcome.

The result: a score that looked a lot more lopsided than it really was, as District 10 runner-up Farrell outscored Ridgway 20-7 in the fourth quarter to clinch a 51-33 victory in Wednesday’s PIAA Class AA Sweet 16 game and advance to Saturday’s quarterfinals.

With Farrell (18-8) coming off a 69-64 win last weekend over Coudersport in a game that featured 14 made 3-pointers, Wednesday’s contest proved to be a much more physical contest that was spent inside the 3-point arc.

The teams knocked down just two 3-pointers each, and battled in the paint for loose balls and rebounds that led to a good deal of chippiness from both sides.

From the opening tip, Ridgway (20-8) head coach Tony Allegretto knew that such a physical style of play wasn’t going to bode well for his Elkers — especially with how the three guys in stripes were officiating the game.

“We battled, but it seemed like we were behind the eight-ball right from the start with how the game was being called,” Allegretto said. “If it’s going to be that physical, we’re at a disadvantage. They are a lot more physical than us. They can play that way a lot better than us and therefore we were put at a disadvantage right away with the way that was being called.

“They’re crushed. We came in here expecting to win, we didn’t come in here to lose.”

The Elkers were able to match that physicality early, trading buckets with Farrell for the first eight minutes and scoring the last four points of the first quarter to force an 11-11 tie.

Ridgway couldn’t carry that momentum into the second period, however, as Farrell went on a 10-3 run over the next 4:02 and suddenly had a 21-14 lead.

And though the Elkers eventually cut the lead to a one-possession game in the third quarter, it was an advantage the Steelers wouldn’t relinquish for the remainder of the game.

“I thought we had to handle the press better and if they’re going to allow it to be as physical as it was, it was going to be in (Farrell’s) favor, and it was,” Allegretto said. “We battled. I don’t know when the lead got out to 12 or so, but that’s going to be tough for us to make threes. We’re not a 3-point shooting team. Farrell did a great job, but I thought my kids battled and I’m proud of them.”

To Allegretto’s point, there certainly was no quit in his Elkers with a second straight quarterfinal appearance on the line. After Farrell scored the first two points coming out of the half to push their lead to 26-17, Ridgway went on a 7-0 run to cut it to a two-point, 26-24, game.

And as he had been all game, Zack Zameroski carried the offense during that period with five points. He had a team-high 14 and was the only Elker to score in every quarter.

Farrell ended the quarter on a 5-2 run and took a 31-26 lead into the fourth. But with how tough the Elkers have played this postseason, with a couple of comebacks already under their belt, it was still anyone’s game heading into the fourth.

Farrell, however, quickly squashed any hopes of another Elker rally.

The Steelers scored the first eight points of the quarter and held Ridgway at bay on the other end. By the time Dan Park hit the Elkers’ second 3-pointer of the game with 2:38 to play, Ridgway was already down by 15.

Brian Hilton’s third dunk of the game just a few seconds earlier put the dagger in the Elkers for the game and the season.

Eric Hopson also exploded for 10 of his game-high 19 in the fourth quarter to power a Steeler offense that went 6-for-7 from the charity stripe down the stretch to help seal the win.

Facing a double-digit deficit late, the Elkers needed to hit some shots from deep, an area the team has struggled with all season long.

“We’re not a 3-point shooting team, but we knew — just like the Coudersport (D9 semifinal) game — that we’re going to have to hit some at some point,” Allegretto said of his team’s 2-for-10 performance. “We made two, I think, but we had some open shots and they didn’t fall for us. Dan finally made one and we just couldn’t reel them back in.

“It was just a game that wasn’t our style and we have trouble playing that way. So that’s the way it was.”

Farrell went just 2-for-13 from three on the other end, but shot 17-for-37 from inside the perimeter and used its size to convert on plenty of second-chance opportunities.

The Elkers committed 15 turnovers in the game, and in addition to Hopson, struggled to stop Farrell’s secondary scorers that included Hilton (11 points) and Ben King (10).

Despite how it ended, Allegretto insists that his team was more than up for the challenge of an athletic Farrell team.

“We don’t fear anybody,” he said. “We travel a lot and we do a lot of playing in the summertime, so we see teams as good as them, as athletic as them. That’s a really good team. They’ve got shooting, they’ve got size and (coach Bob Stewart) does a really great job. Hopefully they continue to go on.”

The Steelers advance to Saturday’s quarterfinal matchup against District 7 Class AA champion Our Lady of the Sacred Heart at a site and time to be determined.

The Elkers, which would have advanced to the quarterfinals against OLSH for a second straight season with a win, will instead have to be satisfied with yet another strong season that went all the way into mid-March.

The loss also marked the final games for Zameroski, Matt Dush and Drew Young — three seniors who have been a part of a whole lot of winning in their Elker careers.

“Well, we had a rough stretch in the middle (of the season) there, but we wanted to keep our streak of 20-win seasons (going), and it’s now 10,” said Allegretto, who just finished his 16th season coaching Ridgway. “Not a lot of teams in Pennsylvania — especially public schools — have 10 seasons of 20 or more wins. We battled, and we had some upsets here at the end and we started playing Ridgway basketball and these kids really wanted that and they got their 20th win.”

AT CLARION

Ridgway (33)

Zack Zameroski 5 4-6 14, Dush 1 3-4 5, Park 2 4-5 9, Allegretto 1 0-0 3, Miller 1 0-0 2. Totals: 10 11-15 33

Farrell (51)

Eric Hopson 7 4-5 19, Brian Hilton 5 1-2 11, Ben King 4 1-2 10, Wade 3 1-1 7, Harley 0 1-2 1. Totals: 19 8-12 51

Ridgway 11 17 26 33

Farrell    11 24 31 51

Three-point goals: Ridgway 2 (Allegretto, Park), Farrell 2 (Hopson, King); Total fouls: Ridgway 14, Farrell 15; fouled out: none