WEXFORD — North Catholic girls basketball team saw its lowest scoring game of the season Thursday night as the Trojanetts defeated Keystone Oaks, 44-29, in round two of the WPIAL 4A playoffs at North Allegheny.

“I think you got to give Keystone credit,” North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann said. “As long as you end up with the win that’s all that matters, but we didn’t shoot very well and were having some trouble on the boards, however I thought we played well on the defensive end.”

Early on it looked like North Catholic was going to run the Golden Eagles out of the Tigers Den, putting up 18 points in the first eight minutes while holding Keystone Oaks to just eight. Tess Myers and Dani Short combined for 13 points in the first, each going 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

North Catholic defeated Keystone Oaks earlier in the season in a higher scoring affair, 54-46.

“We knew we could play with them. The size differential is something that is very hard for us to match up with,” Keystone Oaks coach Ron Muszynski said. “On a matchup scheme it was very difficult, but we know we can play with them, the shots just didn’t fall today.”

In the second and third quarters, the shots were not falling for either team, with North Catholic taking a slight advantage in that time frame, 13-12.

“We started to get to the hole a little bit better in the second half, while also getting up there for rebounds, which we weren’t doing at all earlier in the game” Rottmann said.

North Catholic was able to close out the game in the fourth, again behind Myers and Short. Myers put together seven points in the final frame, taking her total to 19 on the day, while Short added four to bring her to 14.

“We actually play like a diamond, that way we can pack middle and still get out to the shooters,” Muszynski said. “They’re a very talented group. They deserved to win.”

The Trojanetts shot 12 for 14 from the free throw line, while landing four treys, with three coming from Myers. Kylee Lewandowski also notched nine points.

North Catholic will be in unfamiliar territory with some out-of-section competition when they square off with Elizabeth Forward on Monday in the semifinals. A time and location still has to be determined.

“To be honest I do not know much about them just yet,” Rottmann said. “We will watch some tape and see. Sometimes you just don’t know about these out of section matchups.”

KEYSTONE OAKS 29

Isabella Bogdan 3 2-4 9, Jaylen Hoffman 2 5-7 9, Gillian Piccolino 2 3-3 8, Erin Feeney 1 0-0 3. Totals: 8 10-14 29.

NORTH CATHOLIC 44

Emma Pospisil 1 0-0 2, Kylee Lewandowski 2 4-4 9, Tess Myers 5 6-6 19, Dani Short 6 2-4 14. Totals: 14 12-14 44.

Keystone Oaks 8 5 7 9 — 29

North Catholic18 6 7 11 — 44

3-point goals: Isabella Bogdan, Gillian Piccolino, Erin Feeney; Kylee Lewandowski, Tess Myers 3.

Monday: WPIAL class 4A semi-final Elizabeth Forward, time and place TBD.