LORETTO — There are runs that a team uses to win a tournament, a big section contest or even a district playoff game.

What North Catholic dropped on Mifflinburg in the final seven minutes Tuesday night trumps all of them, for this outburst paved the final stretch to Hershey and the state championship game.

The Trojanettes scored the game's final 17 points, knocking out the Wildcats in a Class 4A girls basketball semifinal, 58-46, at Saint Francis University's DeGol Arena.

“The girls bought into the team philosophy this year and this was a true team win,” said North Catholic coach Molly Rottmann.

North Catholic (26-3) will face District 11 champ Bethlehem Catholic (27-4) in the state final at noon on Saturday at the Giant Center.

Mifflinburg hit a bevy of big shots to keep North Catholic on the short end of the score for the majority of the first three quarters. The opening minute of the final period showed no indication that this would change as the Wildcats received a bucket from Mara Shuck and a trey from Angela Reamer to take a 46-41 lead.

That's when the well went dry for the District 4 champions as Mifflinburg missed its final eight attempts from the field.

“We picked it up defensively and started pressuring them more,” said North Catholic junior guard Kylee Lewandowski. “We began guarding them better, too. They were on fire earlier in the game.”

Meanwhile, the Trojanettes commenced their onslaught with a basket from Emma Pospisil with 6:45 left in the game.

She added another bucket, Dani Short added two baskets and North Catholic made nine of its 10 free throws in the final period.

“Number 40 (Wildcats' center Libby Whittaker) gave us some trouble as we tried to run our offense in the first half,” said Rottmann. “Late in the game, we pulled Dani up to open up drives and Emma had a couple big ones and so did Tess (Myers).”

Short's basket with 5:24 left gave North Catholic the lead for good at 47-46.

Mifflinburg, which used every bit of its energy to top defending state champion Lancaster Catholic, 72-70 in overtime in Saturday's quarterfinal, did not run out of gas according to coach Kelly Griffith.

“We weren't tired,” she said. “We just stopped making shots.

“Defense has been there all season for us,” she added. “We knew that (Myers and Lewandowski) were good shooters and I thought we defended them well and fronted the post the whole game.”

Shuck did not start for Mifflinburg, but came off the bench to make several crucial shots, including two treys in the second quarter to help the Wildcats to a slim 24-23 lead at halftime.

Lewandowski left the game briefly midway through the second quarter with a right ankle injury. She had returned by the end of the half, but had a noticeable limp for the rest of the game.

She scored nine points, all on 3-pointers, the last one tying the game at 26 early in the third quarter.

“I had never rolled my ankle before and of course, it happens tonight,” said Lewandowski, who after being reminded of her return and the upcoming trip to Hershey, smiled and said, “I owe it all to my teammates. They were great tonight.”

Myers led all scorers with 19 points. Pospisil added 15 in the win.

Guard Riley Griffith paced Mifflinburg (26-5) with 16 points and Shuck scored 11.

North Catholic last made it to the state final — and won — in 2016.

“Getting back is something we wanted so bad and it takes so much to get there, it really hasn't sunk in yet for me,” said Rottmann.

NORTH CATHOLIC 58

Emma Pospisil 5 4-4 15, Cassie Foster 0 1-2 1, Kylee Lewandowski 3 0-0 9, Lucy Waskiewicz 0 0-0 0, Tess Myers 6 4-4 19, Dani Short 3 1-1 7, Belle O'Hara 2 1-2 5, Sarah Berardelli 0 0-0 0, Branygan Bianchin 1 0-0 2. Totals: 20 11-13 58.

MIFFLINBURG 46

Riley Griffith 6 4-4 16, Alaina Post 0 0-0 0, Cassie Keister 0 0-0 0, Regan Griffith 3 0-0 6, Mollie Bomgardner 1 0-0 2, Angela Reamer 2 2-2 7, Mara Shuck 4 0-0 11, Hayley Yoder 0 0-0 0, Libby Whittacker 2 0-0 4, Brooke Catherman 0 0-0 0, Olivia Erickson 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 6-6 46.

North Catholic 12 11 18 17 — 58

Mifflinburg14 10 17 5 — 46

3-point goals: North Catholic 7 (Pospisil, Lewandowski 3, Myers 3); Mifflinburg 4 (Reamer, Shuck)

Saturday: North Catholic vs. Bethlehem Catholic, noon at the Giant Center in Hershey