PLUM — The opportunity was there.

Seton-LaSalle's 6-foot-4 senior center, Malik White went to the bench with his third personal foul and Summit Academy had whittled a 14-point deficit to eight with six minutes left in the first half.

But the Knights turned the ball over on three consecutive possessions, the top-seeded Rebels regained a double-digit lead and rolled to a 76-56 WPIAL Class AA boys basketball semifinal win Saturday at Plum High School.

“We missed a chance to grab momentum there,” Summit coach Adam Petrosky admitted. “But that's a tall, athletic team and that hurt us.

“(Summit point guard) Devin Montgomery has never been pressured like (Dale) Clancy pressured him today. That team is very, very good. By far, that's the best team we've faced this year.”

The Knights (16-6) never led in the contest, but got back within 51-40 when Dasonte White canned a layup with 7:30 to play. Seton-LaSalle went on an 8-0 run from there to end the competitive aspect of the game. Clancy sank a trey during that spurt and led the Rebels (23-1) with 19 points and six assists.

“We put four guys in double figures today and our goal is to have six guys average between 10 and 18 points per game,” Seton-LaSalle coach Mark Walsh said. “We feel like we have a lot of depth and that helped us today.”

White had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Rebels despite playing a little more than two quarters because of his foul trouble. Ryan Norkus had 12 points and eight boards while Cletus Helton came off the bench to score 12 points.

Seton-LaSalle had a 42-27 edge in rebounding. Both teams had 16 turnovers.

“They grabbed a bunch of offensive rebounds, getting second and third shots and putting them in,” Petrosky said. “When you work hard to make a defensive stop and that happens, it's demoralizing.”

Walsh agreed.

“I think we had eight or nine offensive boards and putbacks,” he said. “We figured rebounding would be an advantage for us in this game and we needed it.

“Summit Academy can shoot the ball. They're a good offensive team.”

Montgomery paced the Knights with 23 points — including five treys — five rebounds and three assists. White had 15 points, five boards and two assists, but sank only five of 21 shots.

Summit hit only nine of 28 shots from the field in the first half. The Knights missed eight of 12 free throws on the day.

“It was tough getting open looks against their defense,” Petrosky said.

The Knights will gain a berth in the PIAA Tournament if the Rebels defeat Beaver Falls in the semifinal round Wednesday.

SUMMIT ACADEMY 56

Devin Montgomery 8-17 2-7 23, Dasonte White 5-21 2-4 15, Shaquan Cole 1-1 0-0 2, Donte Tyson 4-11 0-0 8, Nick Carroll 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Lemuel McFadden 2-4 0-0 4, Micheon Anderson-Meade 2-5 0-0 4. Totals: 22-59 4-12 56.

SETON-LASALLE 76

Malik White 6-8 5-9 17, Christian DelGreco 1-3 0-0 3, Dale Clancy 5-12 6-7 19, Levi Masua 4-7 0-4 9, Ryan Norkus 5-11 2-4 12, Cletus Helton 5-8 0-0 12, Andrew Rodgers 1-2 0-0 2, David Boehme 0-2 0-0 2, Thomas Rizza 0-0 2-2 2, Adam Turzak 0-0 0-0 0, John Marzina 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 27-53 15-24 76.

Summit Academy 8 15 15 18 — 56

Seton-LaSalle22 15 13 26 — 76

3-point goals: Montgomery 5, White 3; DelGreco, Clancy 3, Masua, Helton 2