WEXFORD — Summit Academy was able to stay within striking distance of Beaver Falls through the first two quarters. But in the second half, the Tigers’ pace simply proved too much to match.

Beaver Falls outscored the Knights by 19 points over the final two periods in claiming a 72-48 PIAA Class AA second round boys basketball playoff victory Wednesday night at North Allegheny High School.

At the center of the Tigers’ lethal offense were a pair of 6-foot-5 freshmen forwards — Josh Creach and Donovan Jeter. After combining to score 16 points in the first half, the duo dropped 27 after intermission.

“They’ve been doing it all year,” said Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega. “Donovan is very gifted at the offensive end and Josh has a relentless motor.”

“They really started to pound it down low in the second half,” said Knights’ coach Adam Petrosky. “They are a bit bigger than us and seemed to be one step ahead of us.”

Summit (17-7) trailed 43-36 with 3:50 remaining in the third period, but fell victim to a 9-2 run by the Tigers, who carried a 14-point lead into the fourth quarter. Jeter and Creach, who ended the game with 22 and 21 points, respectively, led the spurt.

Needing a boost from their perimeter game, the Knights never received it. They made just two-of-nine attempts from beyond the arc in the final eight minutes. They hit seven trifectas in the game, but also missed 19.

The missed shots from the outside made for a lot of easy rebounds for the Tigers, who grabbed 19 second-half boards to Summit’s 10. Twenty-three turnovers also hampered the Knights’ offense, including 12 miscues in the second half.

As Petrosky explained, his team’s troubles originated at the other end of the floor, where the Tigers shot 61 percent (30-of-49) from the field.

“When we aren’t stopping the other team’s offense and taking off in transition, we suffer,” he said.

The Tigers (20-7) shot extremely well in the first half (15-of-23), but their 13 turnovers helped the Knights trail just 34-29 at the break. Beaver Falls cleaned up its play in the second half, turning the ball over just three times.

“We had a freshman (Neshaud Akins) starting at point guard and he struggled early,” said Biega. “It was just a matter of making passes earlier in our sets and we did that later on.”

Dasonte White scored 18 points to lead Summit and Devin Montgomery chipped in with 12.

This season was one of the most successful in program history for the Knights.

“We won a section title and reached the second round of both the WPIAL and state playoffs,” said Petrosky. “I’m happy that the guys were able to experience that. I’m proud of them. To accomplish what they did in the short time they were together, it was incredible.”

BEAVER FALLS 72

Javon Turner 5 4-5 14, Neshaud Akins 0 1-2 1, Dan Stratton 4 0-1 9, Keyan Gibson 2 0-0 5, Josh Creach 8 5-9 21, Donovan Jeter 11 0-3 22. Totals: 30 10-20 72.

SUMMIT ACADEMY 48

Devin Montgomery 3 5-7 12, Dasonte White 7 0-0 18, Donte Tyson 3 0-0 6, Lemuel McFadden 3 0-0 8, Micheon Anderson-Meade 1 0-0 2, Shaquane Johnson 1 0-0 2, Michael Wright 0 0-1 0, Shaquan Cole 0 0-0 0. Totals: 18 5-8 48.

Beaver Falls 16 18 18 20 — 72

Summit Academy14 15 9 10 — 48

3-point goals: Beaver Falls 2 (Stratton, Gibson); Summit Academy 7 (White 4, McFadden 2, Montgomery).