NORTH HUNTINGDON — They slashed and cut their way to the rim at will.

The Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic boys basketball team made it look easy.

The Trojans shot 66 percent from the floor, including a scintillating 11-of-12 in a 27-point second quarter to run away with a 63-40 victory over Central Cambria Saturday in the PIAA 3A quarterfinals at Norwin High School.

The win sets up a rematch with Lincoln Park today in the semifinals at Ambridge.

Tipoff is 7 p.m.

Saturday, North Catholic imposed its will from the opening tip against Central Cambria, two days after needing an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer by Zach Offi to beat Shady Side Academy in overtime.

“We didn’t really want the drama this time,” said Trojans’ senior guard Kenny Fukon, grinning. “We really didn’t come out with a lot of focus (Thursday). We wanted to make sure we did that (Saturday).”

North Catholic did, building a 12-5 lead in the opening seconds of the second quarter.

The only glimmer of hope for the Red Devils came when they cut the lead to 14-11 early in the second, but the Trojans outscored them 23-6 the rest of the period to take a commanding 37-17 lead into the half.

That lead swelled to 56-22 after three quarters.

“Everything we tried today just didn’t seem to work,” said Central Cambria coach Adam Stephan. “They got to the rim with ease.”

North Catholic has been a deadly perimeter-shooting team this season, but attempted only two 3-pointers against the Red Devils — and made them both.

Instead, the Trojans chose to drive the lane aggressively, even with Central Cambria’s Matt Holsinger lurking inside.

Holsinger blocked seven shots in Central’s win Thursday over Franklin Regional.

“I was actually a little intimidated by their big,” said North Catholic coach Dave Long. “I saw him in the previous game. He altered like six, seven shots and blocked like 12, it seemed. I was a little bit concerned our players would back away a little bit ... but they were successful getting to the basket and finishing.”

North Catholic also ran a weave on offense designed to get Holsinger away from the basket to defend.

It worked.

“The idea was to get him far away from the basket and get him to work hard guarding whomever he’s covering,” Long said. “You make that big guy go way out there consistently, I don’t give a dang how good a shape you are, it’s gonna wear on you and the biggest bonus is it gets him away from the basket.”

With Holsinger neutralized on both ends of the floor, North Catholic’s quick guards had their way.

Fukon scored 16 points to lead the Trojans. Vinnie DiNicola added 14 on 6-of-6 shooting and point guard Isaiah Wilson added 11.

“Our coaches prepared us well and we all just played our part,” Wilson said. “I love my team. They play well. Zach and Vinnie and Kenny and John (Fukon), they all have my back and we play well together.”

North Catholic will face a familiar foe in Lincoln Park today.

The Trojans beat Lincoln Park in the WPIAL final earlier this month.

“It’s all gravy at this point. We’re looking forward to it,” Long said. “(Lincoln Park) has something to prove and I’m sure they’ll shoot better than they did down at the Petersen. At this time of year I think every team embraces the challenge.”

CWNC 63

Zach Offi 2-4 2-3 7, Isaiah Wilson 4-9 3-4 11, Kenny Fukon 7-10 2-3 16, John Fukon 3-3 0-1 6, Vinnie DiNicola 6-6 1-2 14, Jack Carmody 2-5 1-1 5, Dom Serventi 0-0 0-0 0, Danny Nyman 0-0 0-0 0, Mike Drambel 1-1 0-0 2, Kevin Wright 0-0 0-0 0, Ryan Feszko 0-0 2-2 2. Totals: 25-38 11-16 63.

CENTRAL CAMBRIA 40

Evan Bopp 4-10 7-12 15, Nate Gillen 1-9 0-0 3, Luke Bennett 1-6 0-0 3, Matt Holsinger 4-7 2-2 10, Billy Davis 0-1 0-0 0, Alex Persio 1-2 0-0 3, Tanner Melnyk 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Bezek 2-3 0-0 6, Blake Pellegrino 0-0 0-0 0, Nick Knopp 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 13-40 9-14 40.

CWNC 10 27 19 7 — 63

Central Cambria5 12 5 18 — 40

3-point goals: CWNC 2 (Offi, DiNicola); Central Cambria 5 (Gillen, Bennett, Persio, Bezek 2)

Today: Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic vs. Lincoln Park, PIAA 3A semifinal at Ambridge, 7 p.m.