OIL CITY — Consider it a lesson learned.

With straight A's, actually.

After having to overcome a sluggish start in the previous round against Blackhawk — forcing itself to rally from a 16-point halftime deficit to win — North Catholic jumped on Villa Maria early Saturday en route to a 61-41 PIAA Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal victory at Oil City High School.

“We knew we couldn't afford to do that again,” junior guard Emma Pospisil said. “With each round, the opponent gets tougher.

“The coaches preached to us the importance of coming out of the gate strong. We know what kind of program Villa has. We needed a fast start.”

Trojanette coach Molly Rottmann said slow starts had become a disturbing trend for her team.

“It happened in the WPIAL tournament, too, and we'd have to fight to come back,” she said. “You can't always expect to do that against quality teams. We got lucky that way.”

No luck was needed on Saturday.

North Catholic (25-3) had a 10-2 lead before the game was four minutes old. Pospisil scored the game's first points on a lay-up. Tess Myers began a huge day for herself with a steal at midcourt and fast-break lay-up the other way for a 5-0 edge.

Cassie Foster's trey just before the buzzer gave the Trojanettes an 18-6 lead at the end of the opening period. A 9-1 run to begin the second opened up a 27-9 edge against the cold-shooting Victors.

“We missed a bunch of shots early and they scored on us in transition,” Villa Maria coach Doug Chuzie said. “That's a great team and we have a lot of respect for them.

“They took the momentum and ran with it.”

Hannah Labonte hit a pair of treys for Villa Maria (22-4) to help pull her team within 27-15, but the Victors would get no closer. A 12-0 North Catholic run in the third quarter opened up a 46-20 advantage.

The Trojanettes' biggest lead was 29 at 52-23 with 7:05 left in the game.

“No way did we expect a game like this,” Rottmann said. “Definitely, this is the best we've played in the playoffs so far.”

Myers was at the head of the class, scoring a game-high 25 points. She sank three treys, collected seven rebounds and three steals.

“The big start was important to us,” Myers said. “I felt like we got into the flow of the game right away as a team and I was feeling it.”

Pospisil could sense that.

“Tess was getting open and in position to score,” Pospisil said. “She had a tremendous game.”

Pospisil wasn't so bad herself. She tallied eight points, nine assists and four rebounds. Foster added 10 points.

“Emma grabbed a couple of offensive rebounds right away,” Rottmann said. “She sank a couple of three's in the first half and her passes were amazing.

“I thought her energy level set the tone for us.”

Kylee Lewandowski had nine points, six rebounds and three assists for the Trojanettes, who won for the 19th time in 21 games. They will face Mifflinburg (26-4) in the state semifinals at 7 p.m. Tuesday at Saint Francis University.

Villa Maria had its seven-game winning streak snapped. Cassidy Creager had 12 points and eight rebounds for the Victors.

The team's top offensive threat, Holy Cross recruit Addy Cross, was just 1 of 13 from the floor and had seven points. Rachel Majewski, the Victors' top 3-point shooter, was held scoreless.

“This is the second straight year they've gotten us,” Chuzie said of North Catholic. “We're graduating four seniors and I'm proud of what we've accomplished. We just never got going today.”

VILLA MARIA 41

Hannah Kelly 0-3 2-2 2, Rachel Majewski 0-7 0-0 0, Addy Cross 1-13 4-6 7, Hannash Labonte 3-8 0-0 9, Ava Waid 1-3 0-0 2, Cassidy Creager 4-5 4-5 12, Kelly McKnight 1-1 0-0 3, Maria Denny 1-2 0-0 3, Ainsley Thunell 0-0 0-2 0, Margaret Constable 1-2 0-0 3, Carissa Dunham 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 12-45 10-14 41.

NORTH CATHOLIC 61

Emma Pospisil 3-5 0-0 8, Cassie Foster 3-5 2-4 10, Branygan Bianchin 0-0 2-2 2, Kylee Lewandowski 2-7 5-6 9, Lucy Waskiewicz 1-1 0-2 2, Tess Myers 10-17 2-3 25, Dani Short 2-3 1-2 5. Totals: 21-38 12-19 61.

Villa Maria 6 9 8 18 — 41

North Catholic18 14 18 11 — 61

3-point goals: Cross, Labonte 3, McKnight, Constable, Denny; Pospisil 2, Foster 2, Myers 3

Tuesday: PIAA 4A semifinal-North Catholic vs. Mifflinburg, 7 p.m., Saint Francis University